STOR-i PhD student, Ben Lowery, was selected to talk about his research on innovative data solutions for managing mobile phone stock.

The Tesco ‘Data Mashup’ is an annual internal event showcasing the work done by Tesco data scientists across the business. Hosted at the Queen Elizabeth II centre in Westminster, this year’s event was themed “Innovate with Data” and featured 42 talks, with research covering a wide range of topics from machine learning to prescriptive analytics.

Ben was selected to present his findings on “innovative data solutions for managing mobile phone stock”, on behalf of Tesco Mobile. For what motivated the talk, Ben commented “The management and control of stock for end-of-sales-life products, in a business with integrated online and offline storefronts facing uncertainty in demand poses a great deal of operational challenges. Historically, there has been much research into inventory control under uncertainty. However, inventory control at the end-of-sales-life remains an under-researched area within the literature and practice. In particular, the challenge of optimising stock levels to ensure remaining stock is sold, as well as preventing stockouts and unsatisfied customers, is vital.”

On attending the event, Ben said, “It was an illuminating event, in particular seeing research being applied to a real business context. It was a great experience presenting in front of a large audience and receiving helpful feedback from practitioners, to help further the application of my work.”

“I’d like to thank the Tesco Mobile data science team on help preparing for the event. My industry supervisor Louise Lloyd (Tesco Mobile), Craig Russell (Tesco Mobile), and my Lancaster supervisors Anna-Lena Sachs and Idris Eckley (Lancaster University).”