Supply Chain Frontiers issue #22. Read all articles in this issue Death and taxes are two of life’s certainties; another is that world populations are aging. The resultant demographic shifts will have a profound impact on the work place and the way firms operate. As these age-related changes reshape organizations...
Supply Chain Frontiers issue #19. Read all articles in this issue. Identifying the events and trends that will shape future supply chain strategy sounds like a job best left to futurists and other business gurus, but these nuggets of knowledge can be mined by anyone. All it takes is a...
Supply Chain Frontiers Issue #18. Read all articles in this issue A one-day conference sponsored jointly by the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics (CTL) and the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) on energy-efficient supply chains will take place at MIT, Cambridge, MA, on April 30, 2007.The event...
Supply Chain Frontiers issue #15. Read all articles in this issue. Supply chains that support and reinforce corporate competitive strategy are far more powerful as drivers of success than those that focus narrowly on short-term gains such as cost savings. But supply chain professionals are often too busy with day-to-day...
Supply Chain Frontiers issue #15. Read all articles in this issue. The MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics is creating a taxonomy that will classify supply chains according to the characteristics of the businesses they support. Just as humans and whales are both classified as mammals, even disparate businesses in...
Supply Chain Frontiers issue #14. Read all articles in this issue In the year 2025 some 25% of the US population will be over 60 years of age, and an estimated 30% of Europeans will fall into this age bracket. The former USSR will be even grayer; it is estimated...
Supply Chain Frontiers issue #12. Read all articles in this issue Supply chain management has grown beyond its operational roots to take on a more strategic role, a transition that can be attributed to the strong impact of integrated SCM on companies' operational and financial performance. Enterprises such as Wal-Mart...
Supply Chain Frontiers issue #12. Read all articles in this issue The MIT Supply Chain 2020 research project will use a process for mapping the future of supply chains that is based on Royal Dutch Shell's well-known scenario planning methodology and widely used by successful Fortune 500 companies. Larry Lapide...
Supply Chain Frontiers issue #12. Read all articles in this issue Environmental regulations are changing the way supply chains are designed and managed. The problem is that the sheer number of regulations, other influences such as changing consumer sentiment, and the complexity of global trade, makes it difficult for companies...
Supply Chain Frontiers issue #10. Read all articles in this issue Best practices have served a purpose in the quest for supply chain excellence, but companies need to shift their focus to other measures if they are to meet the competitive challenge of changing markets. This is one of the...
Supply Chain Frontiers issue #9. Read all articles in this issue. Two Research Associates have joined CTL to work on the Center's expanding portfolio of supply chain research projects. Mahender Singh received his PhD from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he taught Operations Management. He is a graduate of...
Supply Chain Frontiers issue #9. Read all articles in this issue. Large commercial aircraft manufacturers are cutting lead times and outsourcing more assembly work to tier-one suppliers. The aim is to smooth out the market turbulence that locks the industry into perpetual boom-and-bust cycles. Along the way the supply chain...
Supply Chain Frontiers issue #8. Read all articles in this issue. The Future of RFID on Both Sides of the Pond In March, the European Advisory Council of the SC2020 Project met in Neuss, Germany, at the Future Store, a working supermarket equipped with a range of technological innovations including...
Supply Chain Frontiers issue #6. Read all articles in this issue. In December 2004 the MIT Supply Chain 2020 Industry Advisory Council visited the Austin, Texas, headquarters of Dell Computers. The Council discussed the future of supply chains and talked with company chairman and founder Michael Dell about his company's...
Supply Chain Frontiers issue #6. Read all articles in this issue The MIT Supply Chain 2020 project is ramping up in Europe with the engagement of students and faculty at the Zaragoza Logistics Center, Zaragoza, Spain. Complementing the CTL research effort in the United States, the Zaragoza SC2020 team is...
Supply Chain Frontiers issue #6. Read all articles in this issue. During the heady days of the Internet bubble it was predicted that e-commerce would open the way for closer supply chain collaboration, involving tightly integrated trading communities that share risks and rewards and compete as seamless entities. That vision...
Supply Chain Frontiers issue #5. Read all articles in this issue Dr Larry Lapide, Project Manager of the Supply Chain 2020 Project, meets Michael Dell during the Industry Advisory Council meeting hosted at Dell. In December the MIT Supply Chain 2020 (SC2020) research group took its search for supply chain...
Supply Chain Frontiers issue #5. Read all articles in this issue. Long-range business forecasts are notoriously uncertain, but that does not stop pundits from attempting to divine the future. An extensive review of predictions carried out for the Supply Chain 2020 research project revealed some agreement on the future shape...
Supply Chain Frontiers issue #4. Read all articles in this issue. The future shape of supply chains and how to make them more resilient, postponement strategies in manufacturing, and procuring transportation services, are among the projects that make up CTL's highly varied research agenda. Here is a summary of the...
Supply Chain Frontiers issue #4. Read all articles in this issue. Supply chains do not have nationalities and excellence can be achieved in any part of the world, but there are regional nuances that distinguish supply chain management models in different geographies. These regional disparities emerged during the first meeting...
Supply Chain Frontiers issue #3. Read all articles in this issue. The MIT-Zaragoza International Logistics Program, an academia-government partnership between the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics and the Government of Aragon in Spain, inaugurates its graduate education program on August 30, 2004. The program's first Master's Degree in Logistics...
Supply Chain Frontiers issue #2. Read all articles in this issue No prizes for guessing which major companies tend to be associated with excellent supply chains. But there are lesser known innovators such as the pizza chain Domino's which offers a 30-minute guarantee that is a model for high-speed, build-to-order...
Supply Chain Frontiers issue #1. Read all articles in this issue What will supply chains look like 15 years from now and how can corporations be prepared for the new competitive environment? Without time travel there is no sure way of finding out, so the MIT Center for Transportation &...
Supply Chain Frontiers issue #1. Read all articles in this issue. There is wide agreement that supply chains are becoming more complex, but relatively little consensus on how to govern them. That situation needs to change. The competitive climate is shifting, and companies cannot afford to lose control of the...
