Supply Chain Network analysis and recommendations for improved logistics within the SUPREME project

This report provides an overview of the main findings of work package 1 in the SUPREME project, which is funded by the Norwegian Research Council (Forskningsrådet). The primary objective of the project is to increase the resource utilization and value creation from whitefish rest-raw materials from the Norwegian sea-going fleet into valuable ingredients and WP1 focuses on mapping and logistics management. WP1 has previously published a report on supply chain process mapping, and this report follows up on that work by presenting a Supply Chain Network analysis and providing recommendations for improved logistics to increase utilisation of rest-raw materials (RRM) from the Norwegian sea going fleet.

The total utilisation of whitefish is fairly good compared to most other countries, but it is still possible to improve. The report provides and overview of where, when and in what format whitefish is landed in Norway, and the extent of current RRM utilisation. The whitefish landings are mostly concentrated over just a three-month period (February – April) and overwhelming majority of the catches are landed in just a handful of municipalities. It is therefore evident that in order to increase utilisation the focus should be on improvements where most of the raw material is available. Major part of the catches of the sea-going fleet is landed frozen, headed and gutted; and then exported in the same format. Much of the heads and viscera are not landed in these cases, and other raw materials do not become available in Norway. It is difficult for the sea-going fleet to make changes on their supply chain, as for example onboard technology, human resources and storage space limits the possibilities to preserve and land heads and viscera. In addition, the logistics are also very challenging in Norway.

Among the solutions suggested in this report is for the authorities to provide additional incentives for landing RRMs, particularly in the municipalities with significant whitefish landings. This could for example be in the form of adding to the infrastructure in the harbours, or by facilitating that a collector vessel would tranship RRMs to land. Probably the most practical and applicable solution identified in the report is however a rather “low-hanging fruit” that concerns improving information sharing between the different links in the supply chain. Sharing information between the fishing vessels and the processing companies would have mutual benefits in increasing revenue and increasing utilization.