News

MIT News discusses with Josué C. Velázquez Martínez about his focus on logistics sustainability and small firms in emerging markets.

MIT FreightLab Co-Director David Correll discussed how sharing data among shippers, brokers, and carriers could address recurring issues in FreightWaves.

“The amount of dwell that we expect a driver to experience at a facility drops almost exponentially with repeated visits to that facility,” Correll said. “The brass tacks implication of that is that keeping people in the supply chain with consistent routes or consistent route expectations leads to things running more smoothly and effectively.

Fast shipping can get products into the hands of the consumer very quickly, but MIT Sustainable Supply Chain Lab Director Josué C. Velázquez Martínez says that it comes at the cost of increased carbon emissions. 

As companies remedy shortages related to Covid-19, many are wondering what will be the cause of the next big disruption. CTL Deputy Director Jim Rice says that instead of focusing on solutions to specific disruptions, that they should instead build resilience to protect against any threat.

David Correll, Principal Investigator for the State of Supply Chain Sustainability, was recently featured in The Wall Street Journal showcasing the work and findings of this year's report—namely, that pressure on firms to strengthen their supply chain sustainability efforts has been sustained and incr

It's a paradox: You won't know if or how an investment in supply chain resilience pays off until you actually have to use it—which, ideally, you won't.

The major disruptions of the last few years have made supply chain resilience top of mind of many companies. But because resilience is so hard to measure, it's very difficult to know how much to invest in it.

On September 13, 2022, MIT AgeLab co-hosted a celebration honoring the 10th anniversary of Boston Bridge, a nonprofit professional development organization in the field of aging with a longtime AgeLab association.

CTL Executive Director Chris Caplice spoke to Vox's Recode for their article "8 experts diagnose the supply chain". In his view, it was never really broken. "Supply chains just adjust, but they were hit with a global pandemic," he said. "You saw all the warts and everything, but it kept working."

Caplice went on to explain further.

Mobility Confidence Index Study in Collaboration with PAVE and MIT Advanced Vehicle Technology (AVT) Consortium  

TROY, Mich.: 4 Oct. 2022 — As the automotive industry methodically advances toward greater vehicle automation, consumer readiness for higher levels of automation remains low—even declining slightly from 2021—making it challenging to bring vehicle buyers into the modern mobility movement. According to the J.D. Power 2022 U.S.

Since 2015, the MIT AgeLab has awarded scholarships to high school students who developed intergenerational programs — initiatives that bring together younger and older people for knowledge-sharing and social connection — in their communities. On Sept.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, as much as a third of all fresh food produced is lost or wasted before it reaches our tables. The World Union of Wholesale Markets Conference in Abu Dhabi this October aims to "opportunity to reshape global food systems," say the event organizers.

When FedEx told CNBC that their current dip in shipping volume is a starting sign of a looming global recession, shipping company stock prices dropped. MIT Megacity Logistics Lab Director Matthias Winkenbach says that this may be a wake up call to FedEx and other shipping and logistics companies to change how they approach necessary innovations.

In the face of supply chain disruptions, such as Covid-19, the Ukraine War, and high inflation, MIT LIFTLab and MIT Sustainable Supply Chain Lab director Josué Velázquez Martínez says that there is a silver lining: organizations are learning that supply chains have tangible vulnerabilities to focus on, and that they need to focus on building resilience.

Özden Tozanli and Maria Jesús Saénz write in MIT Sloan Management Review about the immense potential of Digital Twins in Supply Chain

When the pandemic hit in March 2020, many companies had to scramble to keep operations in motion. Employees were sick or wanted to stay home if possible, manufacturing stalled in many places, and at the same time, consumers turned to e-commerce for anything and everything. It was a perfect time for companies to let their goals for sustainable supply chains slide.

The Russia-Ukraine war is having an outsized impact on the global supply chain, impeding the flow of goods, fueling dramatic cost increases and product shortages, and creating catastrophic food shortages around the world, according to experts at a virtual symposium hosted by the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics.

The upheaval to the supply and demand of goods is exacerbating the already untenable human toll of the conflict, which shows no signs of abating.

In an article for Forbes, MIT AgeLab Director Joseph Coughlin describes the clear difference in loneliness reported for retired men and women, as well as the many negative health impacts of being lonely. Longevity planning is about living well in later life, not just financial planning. Without rich social connections, health, even coupled with ample wealth, might still result in unhappiness in older age. It appears that men, in particular, must work harder than most women to invest and build their social portfolio.

Increasing strain on supply chain workers, lower wages, and inflation, among other factors, are leading to strikes across the world that heavily impact many different supply chains. MIT FreightLab Co-Director David Correll, whose research focuses on the working experiences of the American long-haul truck driver, was asked for comment for a piece about labor disruptions along supply chains.

The Wall Street Journal asked CTL's Katie Date about a recent study which found that women perform more efficiently than men in logistics planning. Date, who heads MIT's Women in Supply Chain Initiative, points out that while the University of Akron and University of Arkansas researchers' study was based on a simulation, diversifying supply chain operations could provide great benefits for companies.