Drayage, which involves transporting goods from ports to drop facilities, has become increasingly difficult to predict due to the volatility of macroeconomic conditions. As a result, our sponsor company, a third-party logistics (3PL), sought to identify the key macroeconomic indicators that affect drayage volume and whether these indicators vary by...
This capstone project studies the methods to effectively calculate scope 3 emissions for the packaging boxes of Dell Technologies. The study emphasizes that all sustainability elements are interconnected, and trade-offs need to be considered to optimize overall sustainability in packaging. The model answers questions such as the relationship between material...
COVID-19 vaccine access inequity was a major challenge during the pandemic. This inequity was present between countries and regions and within cities. We developed a novel approach to measure and improve vaccine access equity to address this issue. Our approach first created a vaccination attainment index based on CDC COVID-19...
This capstone project evaluates the application of stochastic optimization techniques in middle-mile transportation planning, incorporating historical variance in transportation time and yard dwell time. Wayfair's current middle-mile planning process uses advanced forecasting and optimization techniques, but it struggles to account for the randomness and variation of the real world. To...
To mitigate operational disruptions, oil and gas companies maintain high levels of Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO) inventory. However, our sponsor company was found to have twice the nonmoving inventory value compared to its competitors, prompting an interest to reduce inventory holding costs — the cost associated with the storage...
The global transportation sector holds the top position as the primary source of greenhouse gas emissions, with road transportation, especially heavy-duty vehicles, being the primary source. Greenhouse gases significantly impact global warming by trapping heat in the Earth's atmosphere, causing rising temperatures. This phenomenon, the greenhouse effect, results in various...
Over the past decade, the oilfield services industry has experienced two major trends: the drive to reduce costs and the push for sustainability. In this context, our sponsor company seeks to optimize the distribution of materials and supplies in their global network, while considering both distribution costs and greenhouse gas...
Food insecurity is a problem that affects people in every county within the United States. To combat this issue, many organizations across the country provide charitable food assistance to their communities. The demand for these services is variable, and many of these organizations do not have a consistent method of...
An organization’s procurement process is pivotal for its success in a competitive market. The increased uncertainty and complexity of post-pandemic supply chains have made procurement a more valuable focus point among organizations and a differentiating factor to achieve a competitive advantage. The sponsor company of this study believes that the...
Design of supply chain networks is a key strategic decision in supply chain management. Our capstone sponsor Armada is a supply chain service provider to restaurant chains across the United States. The company is envisioning a redesign of their current service network based on two components: (1) the addition of...
Product portfolio complexity poses a significant challenge for many consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers, resulting in higher costs, risks, and production time. This work aims to assist the sponsor company in managing and measuring its complexity and determining the financial impact of delisting complex SKUs. We used a four-phase methodology...
This work presents a multi-echelon inventory optimization model for a manufacturing company to evaluate optimal inventory levels for a selection of products and their sub-components. The guaranteed service model is employed to identify potential improvements in inventory allocation while maintaining service levels. The model's results are compared with the company's...
Our sponsor company is a leading player in the healthcare market. Its procurement organization is split into three divisions: corporate, business unit, and global services. The procurement strategy is set by corporate procurement, and then business unit and global services perform the procurement execution, and measure their procurement through metrics...
After the Covid-19 pandemic, organizations re-evaluated their supply chain strategies and began a race to build resilience in their networks. However, quantifying the level of resilience of any supply chain is a complex task, given the uncertainties associated with disruptions and the dynamics of global markets. This paper proposes a...
In our increasingly interconnected global economy, businesses confront heightened risks of supply chain disruptions. This capstone project, sponsored by Tempur Sealy International Inc., a leading manufacturer in the mattress industry, focuses on evaluating and enhancing supply chain resilience to mitigate these disruptions. The project introduces a unique methodology that combines...
Motor carriers with tight margins and cost constraints are under increasing pressure to improve utilization of their labor and assets. Many carriers face theft of their trailers that are exchanged between shippers, carriers, and contractors. Our project aims to answer the following question: How can trucking companies incorporate anti-theft measures...
Our project analyzes the trade-offs between costs, service level, inventory strategy, and CO₂ emissions in a global food and beverage retailer's current network design. We analyze the network design of a perishable product and evaluate which levers or variables can change (transportation mode, suppliers’ locations, inventory) in their existing network...
This study addresses the global issue of food waste in wholesale markets, where 1.3 billion tons of food are wasted annually (in the whole value chain) while millions face food insecurity. Our contribution is a preliminary framework to tackle food waste challenges and promote a more sustainable and efficient food...
Having recognized the growing need for decarbonizing the maritime transport industry, the sponsor company is assessing the economic feasibility of implementing Green Intermodal Corridors. For a route to be considered a viable option as a Green Corridor, it must have the potential for significant decarbonization while also being economically implementable...
This capstone explores different classical time series forecasting models to forecast cloud usage for an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) provider. The objective is to provide forecast information to help with capacity planning and propose a pricing model to optimize the capacity and manage revenue. The Mean Absolute Percentage Error...
Nanostores, small family-owned businesses, are a critical component of the Mexican economy, providing employment and acting as major customers for consumer-packaged goods companies. Our capstone paper presents a study of innovative business models aiming to help nanostores survive and grow, at a time when the Mexican economy is projected to...
Climate change is a global problem, and CO2 emissions are the primary cause of rising temperatures. Many companies, including our capstone sponsor Maersk, have committed to reaching net zero emissions by setting decarbonization targets. In this project, our goal was to identify specific actions that could be taken at the...
In 2021, The United States trucking industry generated over $400 billion in revenues. As the economy cycles through waves of contractions and expansions, the transportation industry moves through cycles of slack and tension. This research quantifies the relationship between TL market tension metrics and key LTL metrics on a national...
The beauty and personal care industry has undergone significant changes in recent years, with consumers becoming increasingly concerned about the ingredients used in their skincare products. There has been a growing preference for natural and organic ingredients, with many consumers looking to avoid products that contain harsh chemicals or synthetic...
Humanitarian action saves lives by delivering supplies following a disaster. To effectively prepare, large humanitarian organizations solve optimization models to allocate inventory minimizing expected time-to-respond. However, these organizations also rely on transportation carriers to deliver this inventory, a feature often omitted from such models. Part of the reason is that...
