In 2008, the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics and the logistics education and GS1 firm LOGyCA, signed a multi-year agreement to create the Center for Latin-American Logistics Innovation (CLI) as part of the Global SCALE Network of supply chain research centers. Through this partnership, the SCALE Network has developed a vibrant academic and research network through Latin America.
Innovative Educational Programs
The SCALE Latin America flagship student program is the Graduate Certificate in Logistics and Supply Chain Management (GCLOG), the most extensive non-formal education program of its kind in Latin America.
The GCLOG program started in July 2009. Presented by MIT CTL faculty, the program’s overarching goal is to train aspiring logistics and supply chain professionals in the region. Top-performing students, who are attending specialization or master-level programs in logistics, business management, and industrial engineering, or similar programs in universities throughout Latin America are eligible for the program. Through 2013, the GC-LOG program has graduated four cadres that include 66 students from 19 universities in eight countries in the region (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru & Mexico). The 2014 class of the GCLOG program, the largest to date, includes 39 students selected from 94 applicants from 17 universities in six countries in Latin America. Learn more about the GCLOG program here.
Other educational accomplishments include:
- Completed six open enrollment and executive education events reaching close to 1,000 professionals in Colombia and Brazil
- CLI hosted five MIT students in Colombia to support active research projects in diverse topics of logistics and supply chain management including sustainability.
Strengthening a Regional Academic Network
CTL and CLI have cultivated deep relationships with 27 top Latin American universities. The SCALE Network is using this network to provide opportunities for academics from the region to improve teaching methods and program content in the supply chain field at their local universities. This is achieved through a series of English-language academic workshops that take place annually at various venues in the region. The vision is to make these events pre-eminent conferences where research ideas and educational experiences further develop logistics and supply chain management faculty across the region.
Through 2012, CTL and CLI have hosted seven workshops with faculty from 27 academic partners in Latin America. Workshop locations include Cambridge, Colombia, Brazil, Panama, Chile and Ecuador. These workshops aim at strengthening the educational programs of the local universities as well as jump-start collaborative research projects in the region. Over 100 faculty members from the region have participated in these events. The Fall 2012 workshop, hosted in Quito, Ecuador, brought together 28 academics from 17 different institutions across nine Latin-American countries. The Fall 2013 workshop will be hosted in Lima, Peru.
CTL has also hosted faculty and advanced graduate students from Latin-America for three-to-nine month research stays. In the past five years, seven faculty from Colombia (2), Chile (2), Panama (1), Ecuador (1) and México (2) have taken advantage of this program. All these stays have resulted in joint research projects and collaboration in the region in the region.
See the SCALE Latin America Academic Conference Proceedings
Building Research Capabilities
CLI currently has six full-time research staff in Colombia. The center also supports a number of research affiliates, who are faculty members at various institutions in the region. CLI researchers have engaged in dozens of applied research projects and are regularly contributing to international conferences.
The government of Colombia has officially recognized CLI as a Center of Technology Development in the area of logistics and supply chain management, giving it access to special funding sources as well as tax benefits for corporate partners.
Starting in 2013, CLI is hosting the second post-doctoral researcher. He is originally from Mexico, where he completed his doctoral studies and is expected to stay at CLI until 2015. The first one was originally from Peru and has now joined the faculty of Universidad de la Sabana, a top Colombian University.
Partnering with the Private Sector
An integral part of CLI activities in the region includes collaboration with corporate partners. To date, CLI has 12 corporate strategic partners. Most of these enterprises are headquartered in Colombia, but operate in four or five countries in the region. They include: Suppla (third-party logistics, warehousing, and transportation); Almacenes Éxito S.A. (retailer); Alpina (maker of milk and dairy products); Argos (cement manufacturer); Colombina (candy maker and distributor); Nutresa (food manufacturer); Inversiones Mundial S.A. (industrial conglomerate, mainly paint products); Seguros Comerciales Bolívar (insurance company); Team (edible oils and margarine manufacturer); Unilever (consumer goods manufacturer); Corona (home improvement retailer and manufacturer)
A CLI strategic partner invests $250,000 over 10 years, and $150,000 of this subscription can be used to underwrite participation in research consortia. In addition, these top-level partners receive special access to the SCALE Network educational offerings and research results, steer CLI priorities, and play a critical role in setting the center’s research and education agenda. These organizations are leaders in logistics innovation in the region.
Contacts
Dr. Edgar E Blanco (eblanco@mit.edu) has been the Executive Director of the SCALE Network in Latin America since 2008. Dr. Roberto Perez-Franco is the Director of the GCLOG Program.