News

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?

A modern car isn’t the mechanical device many of today’s older drivers grew up with, said Joseph Coughlin, director of the AgeLab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and another participant in the driving forum. “It’s a piece of software,” he said.

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Contract negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and U.S. West Coast waterfront employers are shining a light on the integrity of the U.S. ports system. If talks break down, import and export cargo flows will be at risk. One critical element missing from the debate is how to manage the risk of port disruptions and make these vital cargo-handling systems more resilient.

MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics’ Dr. Yossi Sheffi discusses the difficulty of same day delivery from online retailers. He speaks on Bloomberg Television’s “Bloomberg West.” 

Watch the full video.

By Ashley Dorna, Executive Vice President, Supply Chain and IT, Niagara Bottling, LLC, and Jim Rice, Deputy Director, MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics

You are grappling with age-old questions: What should my supply chain look like in the future? What new innovation can I apply to lower costs, increase service levels, and disrupt competitors?

By Dr. Yossi Sheffi, LinkedIn Influencer

Recent reports that Amazon.com is testing its own truck network for the delivery of orders to consumers’ doorsteps surmise, not surprisingly, that the move represents a threat to parcel carriers such as FedEx and UPS.

As is often the case when complex competitive strategies hit the headlines, however, there may be more to this story than meets the eye.

Community springs to action after the Philippines’ deadliest natural disaster

By Chris Caplice & Francisco Jauffred

Can both levers be coordinated to create the right level of resilience despite unforeseen changes in the environment, such as lead time delays, demand fluctuations or network failures?

According to Jim Rice, deputy director of the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics, folks in the industry are concerned that “a 20-fold increase in scanning will add enormous delays and costs, and those concerns have not been genuinely addressed yet.”

Read the full article here.

By María Jesús Sáenz, Program Director and Professor of Supply Chain Management for the MIT Global SCALE Network, and Luis Herrero, CIO and Supply Director for Leroy Merlin in Spain.

By Dr. Yossi Sheffi, LinkedIn Influencer

When asked if supply chain management (SCM) is simply moving stuff around quickly and cheaply, Yossi Sheffi, the Elisha Gray II Professor of Engineering Systems at MIT, smiles and poses his own question: “Are you crazy? It’s life. Everything you buy depends upon it.” Supply chains also create millions of jobs globally and “at salaries about equal to manufacturing jobs,” says Sheffi, director of the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics (MIT CTL).

By Dr. Yossi Sheffi, LinkedIn Influencer

Supply chain management (SCM) is no longer the Rodney Dangerfield of corporate functions.

While sales and marketing wins customers, SCM keeps them with excellent service and unfailing on-shelf availability. And these qualities are becoming even more important in the age of e-commerce.

Read the full article.

Regions and countries around the world are competing fiercely to hold on to factories while incubating new, high-tech industries. Yet, for many, there may be a more sustainable path to success: becoming a logistics center for transportation and distribution.

Business executives spend a lot of time fretting over the supply chain, and for good reason. Making the right decisions about mobile commerce and web-based logistics can make or break a company. Yet just when you think you've got a handle on it, the supply chain goes and changes again

The Supply Chain at MIT blog was named one of SupplyChainOpz's Top 50 Supply Chain Blogs of 2014.

Read the full article here.

By Bob Ferrari

This week, Supply Chain Matters had the opportunity to be invited to MIT’s Global Supply Chain and Logistics Excellence (SCALE) Research Expo 2014 which was held on the MIT campus.  These was the third consecutive year that we have attended this event and remain impressed with the caliber and potential of supply chain focused candidates within MIT’s international student programs. 

At MIT’s Research Expo 2014, the future of supply chain was on display

By Bob Trebilcock, Executive Editor, Modern Materials Handling

You would think that issues like cost reductions, customer service levels and fuel prices would top the list of things that keeps distribution, transportation and supply chain managers up at night. After all, those are the items by which we are most often measured when bonuses are handed out.

MIT's High-Viz Supply Chain Project is developing a way for companies to automatically map and analyze supply chain risk. Bruce Arntzen, executive director of the Supply Chain Management Program at MIT, explains the methodology underlying this project, progress to date and barriers that still exist.

Read the full article and watch the video here.

By Jim Rice, Deputy Director, MIT CTL

This is the first in the series of Innovation Strategies columns from the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics. In the coming issues, MIT CTL will explore the development and implementation of innovative supply chain solutions and practices.

Revolutionary innovations capture the imagination and motivate people. But how many supply chain innovations (SCI) are truly revolutionary?

Supply chain and logistics play key roles in responding to both acute and chronic humanitarian crises. Whether the cause is a natural disaster, armed conflict or simply undeveloped infrastructure, Jarrod Goentzel says the MIT Humanitarian Response Lab is working to improve supply chain response.

Read the full article and watch the video here.

Chris Caplice, executive director of the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics, discusses his research on identifying dominant designs in logistics and how these designs, in which companies are heavily invested, may be disrupted by emerging trends. [Run Time (Min.): 10:20]

Watch the video here