This work presents a multi-echelon inventory optimization model for a manufacturing company to evaluate optimal inventory levels for a selection of products and their sub-components. The guaranteed service model is employed to identify potential improvements in inventory allocation while maintaining service levels. The model's results are compared with the company's...
Our sponsor company is a leading player in the healthcare market. Its procurement organization is split into three divisions: corporate, business unit, and global services. The procurement strategy is set by corporate procurement, and then business unit and global services perform the procurement execution, and measure their procurement through metrics...
After the Covid-19 pandemic, organizations re-evaluated their supply chain strategies and began a race to build resilience in their networks. However, quantifying the level of resilience of any supply chain is a complex task, given the uncertainties associated with disruptions and the dynamics of global markets. This paper proposes a...
In our increasingly interconnected global economy, businesses confront heightened risks of supply chain disruptions. This capstone project, sponsored by Tempur Sealy International Inc., a leading manufacturer in the mattress industry, focuses on evaluating and enhancing supply chain resilience to mitigate these disruptions. The project introduces a unique methodology that combines...
Motor carriers with tight margins and cost constraints are under increasing pressure to improve utilization of their labor and assets. Many carriers face theft of their trailers that are exchanged between shippers, carriers, and contractors. Our project aims to answer the following question: How can trucking companies incorporate anti-theft measures...
Our project analyzes the trade-offs between costs, service level, inventory strategy, and CO₂ emissions in a global food and beverage retailer's current network design. We analyze the network design of a perishable product and evaluate which levers or variables can change (transportation mode, suppliers’ locations, inventory) in their existing network...
This study addresses the global issue of food waste in wholesale markets, where 1.3 billion tons of food are wasted annually (in the whole value chain) while millions face food insecurity. Our contribution is a preliminary framework to tackle food waste challenges and promote a more sustainable and efficient food...
Having recognized the growing need for decarbonizing the maritime transport industry, the sponsor company is assessing the economic feasibility of implementing Green Intermodal Corridors. For a route to be considered a viable option as a Green Corridor, it must have the potential for significant decarbonization while also being economically implementable...
This capstone explores different classical time series forecasting models to forecast cloud usage for an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) provider. The objective is to provide forecast information to help with capacity planning and propose a pricing model to optimize the capacity and manage revenue. The Mean Absolute Percentage Error...
Nanostores, small family-owned businesses, are a critical component of the Mexican economy, providing employment and acting as major customers for consumer-packaged goods companies. Our capstone paper presents a study of innovative business models aiming to help nanostores survive and grow, at a time when the Mexican economy is projected to...
Climate change is a global problem, and CO2 emissions are the primary cause of rising temperatures. Many companies, including our capstone sponsor Maersk, have committed to reaching net zero emissions by setting decarbonization targets. In this project, our goal was to identify specific actions that could be taken at the...
In 2021, The United States trucking industry generated over $400 billion in revenues. As the economy cycles through waves of contractions and expansions, the transportation industry moves through cycles of slack and tension. This research quantifies the relationship between TL market tension metrics and key LTL metrics on a national...
The beauty and personal care industry has undergone significant changes in recent years, with consumers becoming increasingly concerned about the ingredients used in their skincare products. There has been a growing preference for natural and organic ingredients, with many consumers looking to avoid products that contain harsh chemicals or synthetic...
Beginning in 2020, the e-commerce grocery retail industry grew rapidly, largely due to the COVID- 19 pandemic. In addition to this shift in consumer shopping preferences, retailers are facing another challenge: a looming labor shortage. This shortage of workers has caused enormous disruptions across the supply chain, particularly for activities...
The emphasis on sustainability within supply chains across industries has increased in recent years. Today, companies across the globe report on sustainability efforts and progress each year and set goals to reach ambitious environmental and social sustainability targets. This increased focus has prompted questions regarding how sustainability practices are interpreted...
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), home to almost 27,000 students and staff with almost 400 departments, labs and centers, has a largely decentralized procurement system and informal reverse logistics flow or cost rebate programs for office supplies. Building on the success of the centralized procurement process for personnel protective equipment...
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are 2.6 times more likely to be rejected for a loan than a multinational, and the worldwide trade finance gap for SMEs is estimated at $1.7 Trillion USD. The main barrier to finance for SMEs is the high costs of due diligence during the financing...
Companies can expect to lose almost 42% of one year’s profit every decade because of supply chain disruptions. Working to have better supply chain resilience and robustness is now a necessity to stay competitive and profitable. This capstone addresses the creation of a comprehensive and scalable vulnerability assessment framework for...
Disruption in supply and demand causes imbalances in inventory positions across an enterprise’s supply chain network. In the medical device industry, having the right product at the right location in the right quantity is of critical importance. Therefore, companies thrive to maintain an optimal inventory position across their distribution network...
Within the electric distribution space maintaining a balanced inventory of spare parts forms a critical component of resiliency and restoration in the event of an outage. We find that leveraging network design provides an opportunity for utility companies to improve the effectiveness of the inventory they hold, enabling better service...
The Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) is a problem that has been formally studied since the 1930s and attracts great theoretical and practical interest. The theoretical aspects are particularly interesting as the TSP is an NP-hard problem and exact solutions for large TSPs are difficult to obtain. On the practical side...
In today’s business world, supply chain resilience has been brought to the forefront of management topics due to the increasing number of both natural and manmade supply chain disruptions in the past decades. Without an effective method to identify the most impactful resilience actions to take and the amount of...
Global warming is a reality. According to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Earth’s average temperature may increase by another 1.5°C to 2.0°C in the next thirty years, causing extreme weather, deteriorating air quality, depleting resources, and disrupting economies. By 2025, an estimated 1.8 billion people worldwide may...
For a broker in the transportation industry, one of the most critical decisions for the carrier representatives within the company is determining which carrier to select for a customer load. In order to determine which carrier would be the best for a shipment, certain criteria need to be selected in...
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ecommerce share of retail has grown at an accelerated rate, increasing the number of home deliveries and delivery speed expectation from customers. Moreover, demand variability over the year and delivering a wide variety of products in terms of weight and volume has...
