News

Why we need operations and management research

From malaria testing to micro-retail stores to global business operations, a clear understanding of what is happening in the supply chain is essential to exist and succeed. Observation of operations and knowledge of human actions alone are not enough. According to W. Edward Demming, "The world is drowning in information but is slow in the acquisition of knowledge." MIT CTL and SCALE researchers take aim at the deluge of information and translate it into working knowledge with their applied research.

By: Bryan Reimer

The convenience of low-cost on-demand personal mobility has taken our roads by storm. Young and old alike are leveraging ride-hailing platforms at an increasing rate. Driverless taxis may further accelerate the use of personal or shared ride-hailing services as part of an increasingly automated lower cost mobility system. The ramifications for personal vehicle ownership, environmental impact, use of public transport, and congestion are not yet well understood.

The 2018 New England Supply Chain Conference Hall of Fame Award winner is Bruce C. Arntzen, Ph.D. He has contributed in distinctly outstanding ways to the Supply Chain profession. The following summary is an excerpt from the full article.

BOSTON – In August, when US President Donald Trump proposed to freeze fuel-efficiency standards for cars and trucks, environmentalists and their supporters were outraged. Now, the temperature of the debate has risen again, following a special report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that highlights the urgent need to take drastic action to curb carbon dioxide emissions.

The chorus of warnings that another recession is imminent seems to be getting louder by the day in the business community. The many possible triggers of another downturn include America’s trade dispute with China and rising corporate debt. Can companies draw lessons from the Great Recession of 2008 that will help them weather the next financial storm?

MIT Transit Lab paper accepted for Millar Award

Comfort is an important aspect of the transit passenger experience. Crowding can significantly decrease passenger comfort, disrupt service delivery and act as a deterrent to public transit usage. A recent paper published by the MIT Transit Lab was the winner of the William W. Millar Award for best paper in public transportation research. The paper sought to measure transit crowding in new ways.

Humanitarian Logistics Award

The American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN) today announced its second annual Humanitarian Logistics Awards at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) EDGE conference. The awards highlight the critical role of logistics in saving lives in times of natural disaster.

Organizations pursue MicroMasters programs 

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) is providing its employees the opportunity to join the online MicroMasters program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. This is part of DEWA’s strategy to develop the capabilities of young Emiratis and its commitment to continuously develop the skills of its staff according to the highest international educational and training standards.

Warren Buffett said that in Business, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.” It has been more than two decades now since a 1996 issue of Life magazine depicted a Pakistani boy sewing a Nike soccer ball, reportedly for six cents per hour. After the story, the company lost more than half its market capitalization in just one year – it took Nike six years of demonstrated social responsibility to recuperate.

Companies and cities in the US are banning plastic straws ostensibly in an effort to curb the huge volumes of plastic waste being dumped in the world’s oceans.

But the real reason for these bans has more to do with corporate image-building than environmental sustainability.

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, September 5, 2018 – An MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics (MIT CTL) research project titled “Converting Zombies into Learners: Improving MITx MicroMasters MOOC Learner Retention” has been awarded a grant of more than $ 124,000 by the MIT Integrated Learning Initiative (MITili).    

When the 3PL Value Creation North America Summit 2018 convenes in Chicago this October, shippers will hear from a diverse group of industry experts on how to drive the best deals with their lead providers in both the global and domestic arenas.

The Walt Disney Co. announced late last month it will eliminate single-use plastic straws and plastic stirrers at all owned and operated locations across the globe.

Disney introduced the ban in response to concerns over the amount of waste plastic being dumped in the world’s oceans. The company described the decision as “another important step in our journey of environmental stewardship.”

MIT AgeLab Research Scientist Bryan Reimer spoke at a TEDx event in Waltham, MA about the challenges ahead for making vehicles safer and what solutions are most sensible. Road traffic injuries are the 8th-leading cause of death worldwide. Over 1.25 million fatalities and 50 million non-fatal injuries occur per year globally. By many measures, traffic accidents represent a vastly undertreated public health crisis. Are autonomous vehicles the answer?

NINGBO, CHINA, July 25, 2018 - The 11th International Conference of Chinese Scholars Association of Management Science and Engineering (CSAMSE) was hosted by the Ningbo Supply Chain Innovation Institute China, a member of MIT Global SCALE (Supply Chain and Logistics Excellence) Network, from July 14-16, with the theme of “Building Intelligent Supply Chains”. The conference arranged 4 keynote speeches, 2 industrial panel discussions, the Young Scholars Colloquium, the Female Scholar Luncheon and 46 technical sessions.

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, July 3, 2018 – The Master’s Program of MIT Global SCALE (Supply Chain and Logistics Excellence) Network has been ranked as the world's No. 1 graduate business program in supply chain and logistics by Eduniversal. The Paris-based global rating agency for higher education ranked the MIT SCALE master’s program as No. 1 for the third time.               

For most companies, sustainability is not a simple case of “profits vs. planet” but a more subtle issue of people looking for jobs and inexpensive goods versus others who seek a pristine environment. Here’s how your supply chain can satisfy these conflicting motivations to achieve both economic growth and environmental sustainability.

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Supply chain resilience has received a considerable amount of attention over the last decade or so, and although companies have achieved much in making their supply chains more resilient, many are still unprepared for disruptions. For example, a 2017 Zurich Business Continuity Institute survey with 400 responses found that 23% of the respondents experienced a supply chain disruption leading to at least $1 million losses and 9% experienced a loss in excess of $100 million.

If you’re one of the countless people wringing their hands over the prospect of artificial intelligence (AI) taking over the world, you might want to take a closer look at the kind of world AI is supposedly inheriting.

It’s a world where human flexibility and adaptability are needed more than ever.

AI can outperform humans in various ways but dealing with unrelenting change is not one of them – especially the fevered variety we are now subject to every day.

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, May 18, 2018 – The MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics announced a new scholarship in partnership with AWESOME (Achieving Women’s Excellence in Supply Chain Operations,  Management and Education), an industry-wide organization for senior-level women in the supply chain field.

Yossi Sheffi, Director of the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics, has done it again.

Yossi Sheffi says,

Densely populated and digitally connected megacities will create an urgent demand for inner-city, hyperlocal fulfillment centers says Dr. Matthias Winkenbach, Director of the MIT Megacity Logistics Lab.

Winkenbach’s analysis is part of a new white paper titled Roadmap for Change: The Flexible Industrial Distribution Facilities Network of the Future published by the Industrial Asset Management Council (IAMC).

In a new book, MIT professor Yossi Sheffi examines the trade-offs companies face when grappling with sustainability issues.

In 2010, the environmental group Greenpeace launched an online campaign against Nestle, the food-production giant. Nestle’s KitKat bars, the campaign charged, contained palm oil supplied by a company that was improperly clearing rainforests.