Building Global Supply Chain Leaders: Inside the MIT Global SCALE Network

- Welcome to another episode of "Supply Chain Frontiers," the MIT CTL podcast, where we explore the trends, technologies, and innovations shaping the future of supply chain management. I'm your host, Mackenzie Berry. Today, we're diving into CTL's International Alliance of Leading Research and Education Centers dedicated to supply chain and logistics excellence, called the MIT Global SCALE Network. Joining us are directors of the various SCALE centers, as well as of the Center for Latin-American Logistics Innovation, CLI, and the Graduate Certificate in Logistics and Supply Chain Management. All right, can you introduce yourself and your role in the SCALE Network?

- Sure. My name is Jay Guo. I have been with the China Center of the MIT Global SCALE Network since 2019. Right now, I lead the China Center. I'm responsible for both strategy and the daily operations. I also teach, lead research, and supervise graduate students and postdoctoral research fellows. And at the same time, I work closely with industry partners to translate challenges in supply chain practice into research and teaching cases. So, in a sense, my role is really about connecting global knowledge from the SCALE Network with China's dynamic supply chain ecosystem.

- And it is a very dynamic ecosystem. Why is it important to have a SCALE center at your particular location and at your university? And what would you say your SCALE center offers students?

- I think that's a very important question because today's supply chains are global systems. And China is a key part of that system. But more importantly, China is an irreplaceable node, not just in manufacturing, but also in markets, technology, and the global connections. And our insight is quite simple. If you want to understand the global supply chains, you need to be inside them, not just study them from outside, especially if you want to understand the key players. We are based in Ningbo, which is the largest port in the world for 17 consecutive years. The location is unique. It's a major cluster in China for logistics companies, manufacturers, and trading firms. So our students can get internships and the joint projects very easily. I think location matters, and we are right at the center of global trade.

- For listeners who may not know enough about China, could you give some more context about the role that China plays in the global market?

- Sure. Based on research from multiple sources, China produce close to 38% of global products. And there are a lot of connections between China and other regions. So you simply cannot ignore China by producing products locally or regionally. That's the reason we want to make connections across our MIT global SCALE networks around the global.

- Absolutely. And what are some of the research priorities at the Ningbo Center right now?

- As I mentioned earlier, supply chains are changing very fast today, driven by digital technology, sustainability pressure, and increasing global uncertainty. While people talk about a lot on artificial intelligence and the digital transformation, we actually observe that many companies are still struggling with basic issues such as network design, operation coordination. So, at our center in China, we work closely with companies and focus on their real needs. Things like inventory reduction, better network design, and building resilience. We adopt a demand-driven research approach. We work with both local companies and multinational corporations to solve the challenges they face. These projects allow us to combine advanced methodologies with practical implementation. Company can actually use things their daily operation and move forward.

- The SCALE Network's major event is SCALE Connect, which brings students from the global SCALE centers to the MIT campus for three intense weeks of career development workshops, seminars, industry speakers, advanced training, and a research expo where students present their work addressing real world supply chain issues to industry professionals. What have been your students' experiences at SCALE Connect?

- Our students really value it. The core value of SCALE Connect is that it gives students a truly global view of supply chains, something they cannot get from just a single location. During the event, our students meet students from other centers, learn from industry leaders, and present their own research findings. That's a very invaluable experience to their future career and to their current study. This experience really helps them grow. It turns them from students into globally aware supply chain professionals, and it helps them a lot when they move into industry. And we can clearly see the impact. Our students become much more confident and industry ready after the program.

- And you've spoken to the importance of a global education in supply chain, but I wonder if you can speak a bit more to why is it important to have a global education in supply chain?

- Supply chains are global by nature. So students need to understand different markets, different cultures, and the different ways of working. Today's environment is much more complex with geopolitical changes, disruptions, and uncertainty. So managing supply chains is no longer just about the efficiency. It's also about resilience and adaptability. That's why we often say, "one cannot manage a global supply chain with a local mindset." A global education gives students that broader view. It helps them connect what they learn in class with how supply chain actually work across countries.

- Thank you so much for being here, Chris. Can you introduce yourself and your role in the global education programs at CTL?

- Well, my name is Chris Mejia. I'm a research scientist at MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics. And I'm the director of the Graduate Certificate in Logistics and Supply Chain Management, the GCLOG program, and also the director of the MIT SCALE Latin America and the Caribbean Network.

- Why is it important to have an educational and research program in Latin America? What does this program offer to students?

- When we speak about education, particularly graduate education in emerging market economies, we typically face different challenges, such as fragmented commercialization. We have a dynamic consumer behavior. We have lack of proper infrastructure and sometimes also policymaking. So what we did is to create this educational program, the GCLOG, in order to train the students, professionals, to actually solve many of these gaps that we observe in the logistics system. So while they have the opportunity to come to MIT and grasp as much knowledge as they can, they are able actually to gain a little bit more, you know, like, understanding from the global perspective in better techniques. And at the end, what we are aiming to do is that they are able to come back as change agents to their home regions and make a difference to solve those problems that I just spoke about.

- When do students come to the MIT campus?

- Basically, our program is structured in four modules. They come here in July for three weeks, and in January for three weeks in what we call the MIT SCALE Connect Conference.

- What have been some of the GCLOG students' experiences at SCALE Connect?

- Well, this is a great moment for them because they are about to graduate, different from the rest of the master's programs that we have in the SCALE Network and also at CTL with the SCM program. So, for them, I would call this a pinnacle of the whole experience. It's a great culmination because they have been trained to receive plenty of good techniques that they can use and apply immediately. They passed through a capstone project that they have learned how to apply what they learned in July, and also previously in the first module that we call the GCx, that is online module, remotely working with different people. But at this period of time, they are able actually to grasp more experience of what the industry speakers that we bring are developing in terms of the next frontier of applications of supply chain management.

- With the capstones, they're always working with real world issues and real organizations. Is that correct?

- Yeah, that's correct. In the GCLOG program, something that we aim to develop is research capstone projects that connect to the reality of emerging market economies. Because despite this program, it was born in Latin America and the Caribbean 17, actually 18 years ago, we have decided to open it to emerging market economies in such a way that they are able to understand how Latin America, Africa, Southeast Asia connect to the rest of the world to add value to the corresponding, you know, services, commodities, et cetera, because we live in a global world.

- Can you speak to some context around the role that Latin America plays in the supply chain field globally?

- Yeah, absolutely. Plenty of the commodities that we are using around the world depend on Latin America and the Caribbean, right? We can speak about fruits, we can speak about minerals, but in a nutshell, I think that the role of Latin America is kind of the backyard of the United States and of many countries in terms of the commodities that we are receiving. And also, speaking about human talent. Many of the, you know, like, of these employees that we can get are coming from this region. There is a lot of growth there. And if we consider with whom the United States and other developed countries are developing business with, Latin America is definitely one of the first regions that we have in mind.

- What are some of the research priorities for GCLOG? And you've spoke to some of the importance of the context of Latin America, but what are some of the research priorities?

- For the GCLOG program, I go there to say that if there is an opportunity of a general organization, it can be an NGO or a non-governmental organization, a government, or sometimes, many times also, private organization. We will solve their problems. They can be related to transportation, global, you know, like, logistics. We are working with companies in the telecommunication sector, food and beverage, CPGs, logistics and 3PL providers, et cetera. So anything related to this spectrum. But in the case of Latin America and the Caribbean, we have coined like seven specific research tracks that we work on. And for that, I'm collaborating closely with our center there, that is the Center for Latin-American Logistics Innovation, with Daniel Prato and LOGYCA. So we are working in last mile delivery and, you know, like, urban logistics. This is very important because, as in any, you know, like, developing country, the urbanization rates are huge. And this creates a lot of complexity in the cities.

- And the infrastructure is challenging.

- Correct, so the infrastructure is very important. However, that second component, we treated it through something that we pioneered that we call "logistics for sustainable development" or "logistics public policymaking." So infrastructure development, logistics connection or articulation, and transportation, because it's everything that moves and connects dots to dots, you know? That's a second research track. The third one is sustainable supply chains. Everything is also related to communities, social impact, and environmental impact. We also, given that it's a network of 47 universities that we are collaborating with, we speak about educational innovation in supply chain management. We also work in supply chain management for agri-food ecosystems, humanitarian logistics. That's another topic that we are managing there. And the last one, it's emerging technologies and operations research with artificial intelligence applications. So, as you can see, we have a little bit of everything.

- And more largely, why would you say it's important to have a global education specifically in supply chain?

- So, when we speak about global education, I think that is very important to have maybe three specific components, you know? I think that the MIT SCALE global network provides that one way or the other or any of our educational programs. So, number one, there should be a component that allows students to collaborate with each other with a multicultural, multi-country perspective. If you go to any working environment, so you will need to make decisions together with other colleagues that don't necessarily share the same opinion than you. We live a global world. I believe that the next generation of logisticians need to be trained on that. So, second, globalization. It affects those every time we are experiencing actually right now the consequences of many of these issues with the closure of this Strait of Hormuz. Just for instance, or tariffs, et cetera. So logisticians and our professionals need to be prepared to manage those levels of uncertainty. The consequences that this global impact in the macroeconomic sphere, the macropolitics sphere, is going to create an impact in their local supply chains. And the third one is you need to actually consider how globalization or global supply chains might, you know, like, drive the future of the discipline. Because without that, all the resources, all the commodities that we depend on are not located in developed countries. Most of them are located in what I call "emerging market economies," right? Developing countries. So we need to understand how to create the strategies that will facilitate that. And something that I would consider that the GCLOG program allows the students to have is I believe in those programs that have the opportunity for you to prove that you learned something. If you don't have a capstone project, and fortunately this is something that any of our SCALE programs have, you're not going to be able to learn it. You actually learned it.

- So glad to have you on the podcast. Daniel, can you introduce yourself and your role in the MIT Global SCALE Network?

- I'm Daniel Prato, current research manager at the Latin American Center for Innovation in Logistics. My role basically is to bring or to close the gap between academy and research. For all over Latin America, we are aiming to improve the logistics capabilities in terms of what the world needs in terms of innovation or standards or a training for people who has a more strategic visual of the supply chain all over the region.

- Can you speak to, I know you're based in Bogota, Colombia. Why is it important to have a SCALE center in Colombia? What role does it play in our supply chains at large?

- Well, that's an interesting question. The CLI is the unique or the only center in the network that is not a university. So we work directly with companies, and where we are aiming to do is to close the gap between we're working with private sector government entities and in both the academia to make applied research projects that has, that allow us to have actually real access to data from those companies to make experience in which students from different areas can participate and can work in experience-based learning methodologies in order to strong the Latin American capacities or for talent. So we are basically working for industry, for companies that share data with us. In some cases, we have the opportunity to share this data to students or make new methodologies or to publish some papers or to bring a new agenda in terms of sustainability and other topics. We are in a strategic point from the geographical point of view in Latin America, close to Panama Canal, close to interesting economies like Brazil, Peru, even Chile that has a significant importance in terms of logistics and supply chain in Latin America.

- Just so our listeners have a sense of scale, how many different countries does CLI's work touch?

- Well, CLI has a direct involvement with more than 2,000 companies. And we also have, like, the Latin American SCALE Network that involves more than 40 universities from Mexico to Argentina. We have participation in almost all the countries. All Latin America is covered by our partner.

- So you all are really maintaining such a large scale here in the work that you do. Your research priorities must be very robust and far-reaching, but could you speak to some of the research priorities at CLI right now?

- Yeah, this agenda or these priorities, most in most of the case, comes from industry and for governments. And what we are working right now is basically four topics. The first one is related to decarbonization and freight transport transformation. Colombia is one of the main countries that has a significant challenge regarding the NDCs task from the United Nations system. And we are, like, working in initiatives where more than 40 companies share data with us in order to develop decarbonization plans, not just for companies, but for the government, how to help governments to implement and to achieve the strategies in terms of reduce the dependent, the connection to fossil fuels. The second one is in terms of collaboration. What we are aiming to do is that more companies can collaborate and share assets, can share information, can share people. The third line of work is related to we have a 2050 framework being where we are creating reliable and sustainable methodologies for long-term strategy planning. How base it on the, for example, of the demographic impact that we are going to have in 25 years. Business models and the value networks can prepare in order to ensure their sustainability in a long-term timeframe. And the last one is related to circular economy and food safety and how to design resilient networks and how to minimize waste. We can ensure the availables of supply in terms of materials, in terms of how business model can be, like, can be like living systems that can, that has the capability to regenerate and to make a intelligent management of the waste, for example.

- That's a great way to phrase it as a "living system," right? Because the supply chain is never over. It's continuously running. So it's really helpful to think about it as a living being, in a way. So I just wonder if you can give us a bit more history of how CLI was started, and how do you all approach the difficult work of collaboration, of getting these different players at the same table, whether from government, from companies, from nonprofit organizations, and from academia as well?

- That's a very good question. We have found that there are, like, three main aspects of collaboration related to trust, to information, and to have an alignment in the business model objective. So when we can have the combination of those three points, we can start to think in collaboration. But one of the main question is, "how to build trust?" "How do you measure trust?" And what we have done is related to how to convince companies, partners, to give us information, for example. And one way to respond to the information that they give us to, that they give us, is to generate value with their data. And to be so careful that do not have, like, a impartial point of view of the information that we have. So, in terms of trust, we have strong background in terms of neutrality. We don't take part of decisions that can benefit to a simple company, but we have, like, broad point of view that what kind of decisions can benefit as much companies as possible.

- Absolutely. I think trust is so difficult, right, in the beginning, but just like real relationships, that's where it all begins. We were speaking a bit earlier to SCALE's major event, the SCALE Connect program. I'm curious if you could speak to the impact that you've seen SCALE Connect have on students from the various centers.

- SCALE Connect has been very interesting for us because we are invite as faculty or professor to share the experience that we have in working with private sector. So we take this knowledge to the classroom through real workplaces. So we have, like, some methodologies related to hands-on workshops and role-playing games, so the students has the opportunity to think as a CEO, as a sustainable manager, as a finance manager, and what are the decision that they need to take in order to has sustainable business model, for example, or to implement collaboration strategies, or to have take decisions related to decarbonize process. So this approach give the students a closer look to the actual needs and pressure for industry.

- And this may sound like an obvious question, but I wonder if you could speak to why is it important to have a global education in supply chain specifically?

- Well, we are particularly in times where the geographically politics restrictions from governments in terms of the regulatory framework need lead us to rethink, to have a different approach of what supply chain needs. And also, it's important to mention that our region, particularly in Latin America, face a significant challenge regarding the availability of specialized talent. So in 20 years, we are not going to have as much people as we have now working our operations in our business model. So it's important to have a global education that give us a more strategic point of view of what can we do with talent. How can we train people that not just think about an operation, but think about a business model, about create new strategies, new business model, new configurations of the supply chain that may make it more competitive, more productive, and that can actually navigate in this global complexity that we have.

- Today's episode is brought to you by the MIT Global SCALE Network, an International Alliance of Leading Research and Education Centers dedicated to supply chain and logistics excellence through innovation. Learn more at scale.mit.edu. Rafael, could you introduce yourself and your role within the MIT SCALE Network?

- My name is Rafael de Miguel Gonzalez. I am a full professor at the University of Zaragoza, and I serve here as academic director at Zaragoza Logistics Center. And in this role, I try to oversee the academic strategy, the program development, and overall the quality of our educational offering, ensuring that they align with the standards of the MIT Global SCALE Network. I work closely with faculty, with researchers, and particularly, of course, with our friends and good partners 23 years ago of the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics to foster innovative learning experiences, and also to strengthen global collaboration across the SCALE centers. So my mission here is to help to develop the next generation of supply chain leaders.

- Wonderful. And can you speak to why is it important to have a SCALE center in Zaragoza, in Spain, and in your university in particular?

- Well, having a SCALE center in Zaragoza, it's essential because ZLC was the first of the centers of the network. We were created in 2003. It was the first expansion of the MIT CTL. And we are deeply integrated with all the centers. So this long-standing collaboration with the MIT CTL and source that our academic programs, that our research agenda and our industry partnerships consistently reflect the highest global standards in supply chain. And also, Zaragoza is a region offering and unique ecosystems for logistics and supply chain innovation. We have PLAZA. PLAZA is the largest logistic park in Southern Europe. We are one important hub at the heart and the real and dynamic environment where global companies like Inditex and Amazon, operate daily. So Aragon is has became a major logistics hub in Southern, in Europe. And consequently, Zaragoza Logistics Center serves as a talent hub, talent engine supporting the growth of the sector, the local, regional, and national sector.

- Can you speak to what your SCALE center offers for students and why students would want to attend your center.

- Well, this important connection with the industry, with the local environment, but particularly, offers connections to total logistic experience and some innovative operations in the field. In addition, we offer something that nobody can offer. Zaragoza students benefit from a much lower cost of living, but living in a city that offers a excellent quality of life, safety, a vibrant cultural environment, and an attractive Mediterranean lifestyles. We are also, we can deliver programs in Spanish, which makes it very attractive to students coming, coming from Latin America or Spanish-speaking students coming from the US. So we offer the added value of cultural life and quality of life here without the same level of higher education. So we are able to combine both.

- What are some of the research priorities at the Zaragoza Center right now?

- Well, at ZLC, our research priorities are driven by three powerful forces. First of all, our deep participation in the European Union-funded research programs. Secondly, the strategic role of Zaragoza and Aragon, as I've explained before, as a major European logistics hub. And third, the consolidation of the excellence of our PhD program. So, first of all, the European Union-funded research is at the core of our academic strategy. Zaragoza Logistics Center has participated in 44 European Union funded research projects. This is a project that, for the audience in the United States, is more or less than the National Research Council-funded projects. So they are the top of the top well-funded projects with a very competitive selection of the projects. And the reason of this success is the close cooperation with industry partners to provide real benefits to logistics companies. So the main topics on research, they are sustainability, decarbonization, digitalization, and process automatization, urban mobility, last mile logistics, risk management, resilience, human capital, skills for the future. So, secondly, as I've told you, the role of Zaragoza at Major Logistics Hub is a unique differentiation, the proximity of Inditex. Inditex is the world third largest clothing company by market capitalization in the world just after Louis Vuitton and Hermes. This presence of Inditex really supports research in fashion, supply chains, demand sensing, and fast response systems, or robotics for logistics operation. Beyond our geographical and infrastructural strengths, Zaragoza Logistics Center has been also a leader in our PhD program on supply chain. We have been able to train and to deliver the PhD diploma of really important and interesting leaders of thinking of and creation of knowledge in the topic of supply chain.

- As you all well know, SCALE's major event is SCALE Connect. What have been your students' experiences at SCALE Connect?

- ZLC students always come back from SCALE Connect, come back from Boston, saying it's one of the best of the best program. They love the chance to experience MIT up close, meet the students from all over the world, all over the rest of the SCALE centers, and work in a truly global environment. The workshops, the company talks, the advanced training sessions are really intense there. But the students find them incredibly motivating for their future and for their promoting career. The highlight for many is their research expo, where, at this event, they get to present their projects to industry leaders and received real actionable feedback from companies. And beyond the academic side, they really enjoy the energy of being on MIT campus and exploring Boston and Cambridge.

- This may seem like an obvious question, but why is it important to have a global education in supply chain specifically?

- Well, it's very easy to answer because supply chains are global. There's no way around it. Is the part of the economy more global than any others? Companies operate twenty four seven across continents, disruption, travel instantly. So talent needs to be global. Talent needs to understand how decisions made in one region affect the entire international economy. Global education and supply chain prepares our students to work across cultures, understand markets, and collaborate with partners worldwide. And being part of the MIT SCALE Network give to our students exactly that. A truly global mindset and the skills to lead in an increasingly interconnected world.

- Thank you so much, Rafael, for joining us. Hello, Maria, so glad to have you on the podcast today. Just wondering if you could introduce yourself and your role in the SCALE Network.

- Thank you very much for having me here. It's a pleasure contributing to the SCALE Network because I have been connected with the SCALE Network since 2003, when we started the new research center at Zaragoza, Zaragoza Logistics Center in 2003, with Professor Yossi Sheffi. Since then, I have been working with the SCALE Network from multiple angles. I have been doing research at Zaragoza, but also teaching. I have contributed to also to the master programs in the different SCALE centers. And now my role at MIT is as the executive director of the MIT Supply Chain Management Master's Program. And also, I am the director of the MIT Digital Supply Chain Transformation Lab.

- People may not think of it, but the MIT SCM program is an important part of the SCALE Network, one of the centers. How do students benefit from the Global SCALE Network?

- Yeah, in multiple ways. First, they have the responsibility of host, the students coming from different SCALE centers to MIT in general for these three weeks. First, our network on supply chain management multiplies and multiplies our reach as well. So with the SCALE Network, our students connect with professionals and alumni from all over the world for global recruiting, career development, as well as with those that are shaping global supply chains in every single region. So it's a good way of creating a global network of professionals that support this future shaping of the supply chains coming from all over the world. The network also expands the depth and breadth, both, of applied research and practical knowledge coming from complementary areas of supply chain management.

- Can you speak to what are some of the research priorities that students are undertaking right now? What are some of the capstone themes that you're seeing?

- Every year, we are doing around 40 capstone projects focused on dealing with the data-driven challenges of our companies that are global companies shaping the future of their supply chains and their operations. We are aligned with the research labs at the Center for Transportation and Logistics. In research, big research, major research themes like intelligent and autonomous supply chains, talking about AI-driven data-centric end-to-end supply chains. Also in the area of supply chain strategy and network architecture. When we, with the students and researchers in our capstone projects, we are providing design and analyzing different structural configurations for the supply chain networks for our sponsored companies. Also, we are designing the future logistics infrastructure with systems going around shipping freight, different approaches to mobility infrastructure, for example, ports, train, transportation networks. Also, we approach sustainability and circular supply chains, how we can design the different trade-offs behind sustainable supply chains, efficient supply chains in supply chain networks, and critical systems on supply networks tackling resilience.

- I think it's important too for listeners to know that in terms of the research capstones, nothing is theoretical. Everything is real world supply chain issues that students are actively working on.

- You are totally right. Actually, we are innovating the supply chains of the sponsored companies, applying all the research developments that the laboratories are doing in their theoretical research, but then apply research typically in a very narrow, data-driven, very well-defined scope of a capstone project, that is that our students are working with the researchers from MIT CTL during 10 months in order to first understanding what are the challenges, what are the expectations, and the multiple views of the different stakeholders involved in this particular narrow challenge. And then the students apply the methodologies that we are teaching in our master's program from different avenues in every single scope in order to contribute with a solution that, in most of the cases, is tested with different proof of concept or different pilots that are applied into the particular companies and their supply chains. Every single year, 40 new ideas that have presented initially in the SCALE Connect conference, we have one day that we named this our "SCALE Expo." When our students from MIT, together with the students coming from all over the SCALE Network, they are presenting their midstream outcomes for these 10 months capstone projects.

- And it really lets people know what's cutting edge, what's top of mind for companies right now.

- Exactly. Exactly. With the latest development. So it's a great combination of latest research development coming from the laboratories. And those developments are applied into the innovation and are impacting those companies in the sponsored company's supply chain set, which is a good cycle of how to convert research into reality and into direct impact with the professionals that are our supply chain students that will become, two weeks after presenting these solutions, they will become graduates from our master program that will impact all over the world.

- You mentioned SCALE Connect, one of the most important parts of the SCALE programming that students undergo every year. What have been MIT SCM students' experience at SCALE Connect?

- It's a core element of our master's program. Why? Because it's a way of connecting with all these global professionals coming from all over the world, how to learn, how to experience leading global teams, multicultural approaches to worldwide challenges. All of them are supply chain professionals because they are bringing supply chain experience before entering into our master's programs. They learn from global supply chains, from the professional, operational, very technical side, but also how to deal with global leadership and how to deal with their own transformation as global leaders.

- And a lot of it is soft skills too, like learning, how do I interact with people from different cultural context, right?

- So important.

- In different business markets.

- So this is so important. And this is something that you can only learn, these kind of soft skills, when you interact with multiple individuals who are bringing their multiple perspectives. So it's not your narrow perspective only. I mean, you can learn and you can create impact all over the world only if you experience these global leadership approaches.

- Speaking of global impact, it may seem like an obvious question, but why is it important to have a global education in supply chain specifically?

- Yeah, we are experiencing all these global challenges and opportunities that make a supply chain a unique mechanism in order to tackle with all these uncertainty and vulnerabilities all over the world. Providing all these global education in supply chain is a way of learning and also, in our site, teaching all these complex and dynamic supply chains.

- Seems to me like, more than anything, supply chains also demonstrate how much we depend on each other. Like we've heard of the "butterfly effect." If you make this small action, you may not know how much the ripple effect will have. And there's so much complexity to that.

- Exactly. You nail it because the global SCALE Network brings all these opportunities of understanding how deep, how complex, how dynamic are supply chain networks.

- Thank you so much for being on the podcast. So glad to have you. So good to meet you, Jan, and to sit down with you. Can you start out by introducing yourself and your role in the SCALE Network?

- I'm Jan Godsell. I'm a professor of operations and supply chain strategy. And when I first joined Loughborough, I was Dean of Loughborough Business School, and I'm still Dean. But I'm also now the director of the UK Supply Chain and Logistics Excellence Center, or, as we like to call it, the UK SCALE.

- And could you speak for our listeners about why it's important to have a SCALE center in the UK and at Loughborough University specifically?

- When I was 15, I always wanted to work in manufacturing, and fairly early on in my career, I got to work for Dyson when they were a scale-up. And as I worked for Dyson, I realized that manufacturing wasn't going to make them successful. What we needed to do was to better understand customer demand with all of the retailers who were clamoring to get Dyson's to increase their own sales. But also, we needed to increase the capacity of the supply base of small and medium-sized enterprises that were making the parts that went into Dyson's. And so I quickly realized that the success of this scale-up organization at the time was linked not to just one process manufacturing, but was really linked to that ability to coordinate the end-to-end supply chain. And, you know, roll forward nearly 30 years, Dyson is one of the largest organizations in the world, and James Dyson personally, one of the richest men in the UK. And I'm now in academia, but those same principles really hold true that what the world requires, particularly at these times of more uncertainty, is an ability for us to try to ensure that everybody can get access to the things that they need at an affordable price when they need them. And that will only get to them through the power of supply chains. And in the UK, we are a small island. It's really important to the UK to make sure not only can everybody in the UK get access to the things when they need them at a price that they can afford, but also that we understand the role that the UK plays in this complex network of global supply chains. So it's really a great honor to be able to host UK SCALE at Loughborough University.

- Absolutely. I'm really touched to hear the personal connection too, of you starting out in manufacturing. It's a really full circle moment. What can you say about what your SCALE center offers to students in the UK?

- So our center's relatively new. This is our first year of offering a master's in supply chain management. But we're developing a pathways model, so we're going to have a range of degrees that use the same pathway around supply chain analytics, supply chain management, business analytics. And what they offer students is this really unique ability to be able to blend theory into practice, something that Loughborough's been really good at. We have the largest lived-in campus in the UK, right at the heart of the UK. So we are the center of manufacturing and logistics in the UK. But as our students will also get that opportunity to do a capstone project, which gives them a chance to turn all of the theory that they're learning into practice to make a difference to an organization. And what we tend to find is that that then really amplifies their ability to go on to good jobs.

- And can you speak to some of the research priorities at the center right now?

- So the UK government likes to look at industrial strategy through what they call a "theory of change." And the big impacts that the UK government is trying to achieve through that "theory of change" is productivity, resilience, sustainability, and better jobs. And so we think it's really important to make sure that all of the work that we do talks to those end goals that both the government and firms and ecosystems within supply chains are trying to achieve. We actually organize ourselves to take a problem-centered approach to our work. So what we like to do is talk to business and to understand their issues, and then we will triage them to the best research mechanism that we have that could help them to solve their problem. Now, that could, at the lowest level, be a capstone project. It might be in the UK, we have a mechanism called a "knowledge transfer partnership," which is a government-funded mechanism that enables capability development within a firm with quite a high 50% to 60% government funding. It could be through setting up a doctoral studentship, or it could actually be directly through doctoral research. The themes of that research, obviously, at the moment, quite a hot theme is around digitalization and AI. Other work looks more clearly at supply chain strategy and global network design, building upon principles of things like supply chain segmentation and demand profiling. We also do quite a lot of work around supply chain resilience, but not just looking at how we build more resilient networks, but also the links that we have to insurability and finance and how supply chain insurability, finance, and resilience work together.

- Can you speak to what your students' experiences at SCALE Connect have been like? I know it was y'all's first time this past January, which was exciting.

- Yeah. I think they found it game-changing, you know? And in actual fact, so much so that our business analytics students who share a number of modules with our supply chain students have actually said, "Can we go too?" And I think that's because it's that combination of skills development, leading edge content, but that ability also to give your capstone project, your business project, an airing and to get feedback and guidance that might direct you on how you shape that research going forward. It gives those students the opportunity to start to build their own global network, and that opportunity to meet and learn from students from around the world, and also the faculty from across the global SCALE Network, I think, is just second to none and is a really unique opportunity.

- It may seem obvious, but I wonder if you could speak to why is it important to have a global education in supply chain specifically?

- So, in the UK, historically, Loughborough would've been, and Leicestershire in the surrounding area, would've been quite at the heart of the industrial revolution, particularly around the industries of things like textiles and the way that we made garments. If we look to that type of industry now, very little of it is made in the UK. In fact, some of the markets where those products may have been made, such as Sri Lanka, they're no longer favored either, is perhaps countries like Vietnam or Cambodia. Essentially, supply chains, by their very nature, are global. The raw materials can only be grown or mined in certain countries. Other countries will have the capabilities to be able to turn those materials into different components, but then may not necessarily have the expertise to join those components together into finished goods. By their very essence and their design, supply chains are global. And if we look to the future, and if we look to create business models and businesses that are not just driven by economic growth, but seek, as we do at Loughborough Business School, to get a better balance between economic growth in a way that doesn't cross planetary boundaries, so is more sustainable and can reduce social inequities, then supply chains are gonna be the way that we do this because every country around the world has unique strengths, both in terms of their people, in terms of their infrastructure, and in terms of the natural resources that they may have within the ground. And if we've got a goal to make sure that everyone in this planet can essentially get access to the things that they need when they need them at a price then they can afford, then actually we need to come together to significantly rethink how we configure our global supply chains.

- They're the magic behind the curtain, right? But we're trying to bring it to the forefront. There's a tremendous amount of work, of course, happening behind the scenes. Well, thank you so much for joining us, Jan. That wraps up this episode of "Supply Chain Frontiers." A big thank you to doctors Jan Godsell, Rafael de Miguel Gonzalez, Jay Guo, Chris Mejia Argueta, Daniel Prato, and Maria Jesus Saenz for sharing their expertise and insights into the importance of a global education in supply chain and logistics. "Supply Chain Frontiers" is recorded on the MIT campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Our sound editors are through David Benjamin Sound, and our audio engineer is Kurt Schneider of MIT Audio Visual Services. Our producer is myself, Mackenzie Berry. Be sure to check out previous episodes of "Supply Chain Frontiers" at ctl.mit.edu/podcast, or search for us on your preferred podcast platform. I'm Mackenzie Berry. Thanks for listening, and we'll catch you next time on "Supply Chain Frontiers."