Supply Chain Mapping and Visualisation of UK Rail Sector

The UK government in 2018 announced a rail sector deal in conjunction with the UK Rail
Industry and identified four key pillars to double export performance by 2025 (HM
Government, 2018) as follows.
1. Digital transformation
2. Innovate intelligent mobility
3. Create sustainability in UK rail sector
4. Improve exports and investment
The area of research in this developmental paper is creation of a UK rail supply chain map to
identify strengths and weaknesses to improve exports and investments thereby meeting
objectives three and four. Authors involved in this project liaise with different stakeholders
from Unipart Rail, Department for International Trade, Railway Industry Association,
Department for Transport, Depart for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. This paper
consists of a brief rationale for the project undertaking followed by an initial literature review
to understand the historical importance of using big data analytics and visualisation in the rail
industry in UK and globally. This paper will investigate and conduct data analytics methods to
create a comprehensive supply chain visualisation through Microsoft Power BI. Outcome of
supply chain mapping will aid towards improving the export capability of the UK Rail sector
by enabling the stakeholders to identify strengths and weaknesses of suppliers in different
geographic clusters.
Keyword: Rail Supply Chain, Big Data, Visualisation, UK Rail Sector