News

Somewhere beneath the graying shock of mad professor hair, the dark circles under his eyes and the Russian-strained, cigarette-stained baritone, there remains in Igor Pasternak a boy with a dream.

It has been this way since his curiosity was piqued growing up in the Soviet Union during the last throes of the space race. Photos of blimps and dirigibles in magazines fascinated him. By the time he was 10, with the encouragement of an airship designer to whom he had written, Pasternak was consumed with the idea of building a vessel that would float across the sky.

By Jim Rice

The recent cyber attacks and security breaches at Target and Home Depot drew executives’ attention to the vulnerability of their companies to this type of crime. The incidents exposed some 40 million and 56 million credit cards respectively, and in the case of Home Depot, occurred despite the company’s best efforts to protect the firm.

One of my favorite supply chain academics is Dr. Chris Caplice, executive director of MIT'S Center for Transportation and Logistics, because he leads research that is in the end highly practical and usually quite relevant for real supply chain professionals. He also adds to that an ability to articulate that research very effectively - both qualities not so common in academia.

By Dr. Yossi Sheffi, LinkedIn Influencer

I’m no fan of Big Government, but there are some cases where a system-wide view is much more efficient than a localized, distributed view. An example in the supply chain space is US maritime policy. A broader, and more topical example, is managing the Ebola crisis.

Americans have an almost visceral dislike for large, centralized government, and for good reason. Who wants to rely on the feds to provide local services such as trash collections or trust the authorities to spend local tax revenues wisely?

The University of Massachusetts Medical School will lead a team of doctors and nurses destined for Liberia, where they will provide care to the ill and train health workers in a nation ravaged by history’s deadliest outbreak of Ebola, officials announced Thursday.

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By Ranjana Mary Ninan and Christopher Sean Wang, MIT SCM Class of 2014

There is no better way to show the impact of major disruptions on supply chains than to convey the level of risk involved through a clear, impactful, visual device.

This is what MIT CTL researchers have done. They collaborated with two service providers, Sourcemap and AIR Worldwide, to develop an interactive mapping tool that evaluates operational risk, and flags the relative importance of key suppliers and manufacturers to the integrity of a supply chain.

By Dr. Yossi Sheffi, LinkedIn Influencer

There is no easy way to present this idea, so I’ll go right ahead and state it plainly.

If I could wave a magic wand, I’d impose a hefty gas tax on Americans. And by “hefty” I mean of the order of 50 percent to 70 percent. I would also require a different money allocation mechanism for the funds generated by the tax.

I can already hear the howls of anguish; many of them from my closest friends and colleagues. But before you dismiss the idea of a substantial tax on gasoline, please hear me out.

Seventy-seven million aging baby boomers—aka the Silver Tsunami, champions of the driverless car—are about to change everything in transportation. Again.

By Yossi Sheffi

Disruptive technology platforms are only as good as the human resources they leverage.

Technology can create new business models and transform existing businesses, but it takes more than technical wizardry to sustain commercial success over the long haul. It also requires a committed workforce, especially when the business involves the physical delivery of people or products.

We’ve been hearing a lot lately about the return of industry from foreign shores to the U.S.—a practice commonly known as reshoring—and how these repatriated companies are driving a manufacturing renaissance in America. It’s an enticing idea that resonates both politically and socially, but is it as big a trend as its proponents and various surveys claim?

By Dr. Yossi Sheffi, LinkedIn Influencer

Since the launch of the Apple Watch with much fanfare this month, there’s been a lot of talk about how the device will carve out a viable niche in the consumer electronics market.

Another, potentially bigger picture talking point is how Apple’s latest gizmo has the potential to spur significant growth in the ecosystem of apps that surrounds mobile devices. The growth of this technology has major implications for product supply chains.

By Hang Shi and Daniele Primavera, MIT SCM Class of 2014

Each point of sale (POS) in a retail supply chain generates a goldmine of demand data. The data can be used to drive upstream decisions, but the amount of time, effort, and cross-team collaboration needed often frustrates such applications.

The MIT CTL researchers developed models to show how a leading CPG manufacturer can use large volumes of POS data to improve supply chain performance.

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By Dr. Edgar Blanco and Ken Cottrill

Getting the experts and material into West Africa is difficult as many airlines have canceled flights to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Shipping Lines are refusing to dock at the countries' ports.

Dr. Jarrod Goentzel is interviewed by Jackie Northam for NPR's Morning Edition news segment.

Right-click and choose 'Save As' to listen to the news segment (MP3).

“Relatively few” of companies’ announced “reshorings” of manufacturing to the US have actually gone ahead and the trend’s effect on employment has been a “drop in the bucket,” research by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology academic suggests.

The work, by Jim Rice, deputy director of MIT’s Center for Transportation and Logistics, throws into doubt expectations that the US economy might enjoy significant growth in manufacturing employment through job repatriation.

With the crisis in Iraq, four countries are now experiencing severe humanitarian emergencies involving the displacement of millions of people, something experts and relief groups say hasn’t been seen in decades.

Iraq, Syria, the Central African Republic and South Sudan are all going through Level 3 emergencies, the United Nations’ highest classification of a humanitarian crisis.

By Hiral Nisar and Joshua Rosenzweig, MIT SCM Class of 2014

By Edgar E. Blanco

Picture a truck delivering product in a traffic-choked megacity and physical obstacles such as a maze of one-way streets come to mind. But hindrances like these are manifestations of a more fundamental problem: constantly changing traffic regulations.

How do companies overcome regulatory speed bumps in sprawling urban areas where government is highly fragmented and the movement of passenger vehicles often takes precedence over freight flows?

One approach that some companies are trying is to develop win-win relationships with city regulators.

Contact:
Sarah J. Smith
Communications Specialist
MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics
+1 617.253.4592 / sajsmith@mit.edu

Registration Link: http://goo.gl/uTykIc

Companies cut expenses and carbon when they ‘compete on the shelf and collaborate on the back of a truck’. But how to build the trust it needs to succeed?

When Ocean Spray opened a new distribution center in Lakeland, Florida in 2011, the facility’s proximity to a rail yard used by a competitor created a behind-the-scenes opportunity to work together.

By Dr. Yossi Sheffi, LinkedIn Influencer

In 2012 Battushig Myanganbayar became one of 340 students to earn a perfect score in the sophomore-level MIT course Circuits and Electronics, reported the New York Times. What is remarkable about this – aside from the student’s exceptional grade – is that the 15-year-old boy was living in Mongolia at the time and was one of 150,000 students taking the course.

By Dr. Roberto Perez-Franco

In early 2011, Lamynix, a leading manufacturer of specialty laminates, was approached by one of its major customers with an enticing contract. VideoFlat offered a premium price to buy a protective film that was twice as wide as the usual size for its new generation of high-end flat screen TVs and computer monitors. The catch: In order to be ready for the product launch, the new laminate had to be in production within 12 months.

Read the full article here. (PDF)

By Brad Gilligan and Huiping Jin, MIT SCM Class of 2014

Products received from suppliers are not always available exactly when retail channels need them.  Items that arrive way too early clog up warehouse space while latecomers often incur expediting costs and lost sales. By tailoring transportation methods and distribution center processes to match the delivery speed required of each product, companies can reduce the cost of transportation, prevent excess inventory, and eliminate lost sales.

By Dr. Yossi Sheffi, LinkedIn Influencer

The 2014 FIFA World Cup is finally over. If you’re not a soccer fan maybe you’re still wondering what all the fuss was about. But followers of the game (including myself) now have to wait four long years before the next tournament.

Until then, we can revel in the memories of what was one of the most entertaining competitions in recent decades. And we can draw some important lessons from this wonderful spectacle – including ones that are particularly relevant to supply chain leaders.

By Chris Caplice and Shardul Phadnis

We know in the U.S. that the nation’s transportation infrastructure urgently needs investment. The same is true in many other parts of the world. Why aren’t more projects underway?