Practical, sustainable solutions won the day for a team of Deakin Business School students competing in a major case study competition.

Q. How do you get Australian retail giant Officeworks to improve its greenhouse gas emissions?

A. Ask a Deakin business student.

Specifically, you could ask the four Deakin students who came up with the winning proposal in the recent Victorian Universities Supply Chain Management Case Competition, hosted at the University of Melbourne.

Deakin’s team of Taha Kawaguchi, Tanisha Kumar, Sahil Yadav, and Livroop Gill, with academic mentors Dr Jason Li and Dr Sukanto Bhattacharya, came up with an innovative solution to the challenge set by Officeworks – to reduce their scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions (which include emissions from supply chain, waste disposal and product end-of-life treatment).

Their proposal, ‘Officeworks Reworks’, envisioned a circular refurbishment model focused on repurposing and reselling returned or slightly damaged products. Their goal was minimising waste, extending product lifecycles, and aligning with Officeworks’ sustainability commitments through a practical and scalable approach.

The competition was impressive, lining up teams from universities including The University of Melbourne, Monash, RMIT, La Trobe, Swinburne, and Victoria University. Taha Kawaguchi said, ‘The standard of ideas and presentations was truly inspiring.’

‘Our solution was designed to be practical, impactful, simple to implement, and aligned with Officeworks’s sustainability commitment’ said Taha.

The insights behind their model were informed by a visit to the Officeworks Customer Fulfillment Centre. ‘Observing Autonomous Mobile Robots, conveyor systems, product segregation, and packaging operations provided [our team] invaluable insights into the role of automation in enhancing logistics and distribution efficiency,’ said team member, Tanisha Kumar.

The team enjoyed the chance to work together and the opportunity to apply their knowledge in a real-world setting. “The competition was a fantastic platform to showcase our skills and learn from other talented teams,” Sahil Yadav said.

Regardless of their victory, the team members gained a great deal from their participation. Livroop Gill said, ‘The contest not only enhanced my knowledge in supply chain management and sustainability but also improved my problem-solving and employability skills.’

It’s a fantastic result for all involved.

Deakin offers a retail and supply-chain management major in the Bachelor of Business. Find out more.