Innovation in Motion: Shaping the Next 50 Years of Supply Chain

Warehouses are undergoing a fundamental transformation—in response to the explosion of growth in the e-commerce space and worldwide large-scale supply chain disruptions, warehouses have gone from places simply for goods to sit to highly interconnected, automated hubs of activity. Warehouses of the future leverage new technologies in automation and digitalization to enhance precision, flexibility, and efficiency to adapt quickly to changing market and supply chain trends and needs. In this episode, we're joined by Miguel Rodríguez García, a Postdoctoral Associate at the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics, and Erez Agmoni, Global Head of Innovation (Logistics & Services) at international shipping giant Maersk. Miguel and Erez take us through the changes and technologies that are transforming warehouses and the ways in which companies are seeking to make these transformations sustainable. The warehouse of the future signifies a forward-thinking model that aligns operational efficiency with a sustainable approach to warehousing, which is pivotal to the evolution of contemporary supply chains. For the full white paper, "The Warehouse of the Future," click here.

On this episode, we're joined by Melanie Nuce-Hilton, SVP for Innovation and Partnerships at GS1 US, a nonprofit standards organization best known for administering the Universal Product Code (UPC) barcode—and celebrating its fiftieth anniversary right around the same time as MIT CTL. Melanie talks all about the history of supply chain standards over the last 50 years, including the UPC barcode, RFID, and others. And she also discusses the exciting innovations that are on the horizon to uncover new possibilities for industry stakeholders.

MIT CTL Research Scientist David Correll joins us to share findings from the State of Supply Chain Sustainability 2023. Pressure on firms to make their supply chains more sustainable has increased over the past four years and isn't going anywhere, though the distinct areas of sustainability on which that pressure focuses are constantly changing. Indeed, sustainability is complex and contains multitudes. The report also takes a look at firms' progress on achieving their Scope 3 emissions goals. The full State of Supply Chain Sustainability report is available free at sscs.mit.edu.

In this episode, MIT CTL Director Yossi Sheffi, an expert with nearly five decades of experience in the supply chain and logistics areas, sits down with Susan Lacefield, Executive Editor of Supply Chain Quarterly. Yossi and Susan discuss the miracle of modern global supply chains—a magic conveyor belt that moves goods from mines and forests to supermarket shelves. They also discuss supply chain resilience in the face of major disruptions, the growing role that AI will play in supply chains, and how that affects practitioners, businesses, and consumers alike.

"Hope is not a strategy." In this episode, we are joined by Kathy Fulton, Executive Director of the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN), who discusses her work connecting private-sector resources with disaster response needs: a "gray sky" response, after a disaster hits. For instance, if a supplier has excess food they need to offload, ALAN will connect them with a warehouse with the capacity to accept the delivery. ALAN forges partnerships between various players in the supply chain as well as between the public and private sectors, which, along with information sharing among all parties, are critical to fostering collaboration in order to respond effectively to a disaster and to strengthen future disaster preparedness.

In the wake of a disaster, restoring supply chains can be critical in assuring that the most vital needs of affected communities are met. In this episode, Tim Russell and Lauren Finegan of the MIT Humanitarian Supply Chain Lab discuss the fundamentals of humanitarian logistics and disaster response—including how to best build resilient communities, how the public and private sectors can work together for optimal disaster response, and how their research and work helps inform and strengthen disaster response work worldwide. Learn more about the work of the MIT Humanitarian Supply Chain Lab.

Supply chain design has traditionally been conducted with only one dimension in mind: cost minimization. The conventions of supply chain design date largely from the 1990s. But major technological strides have been made in the years since, allowing for much more complex considerations to be taken into account. So most companies, by using this obsolete approach, are putting themselves at a competitive disadvantage. Today's episode features Milena Janjevic, Research Scientist at the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics, and Mike Bucci, a Senior Director for Solutions Delivery at Coupa Software. Milena and Mike discuss how they're seeing the field evolve, touching on four big opportunities to take supply chain design from a cost-minimization exercise to an engine to drive value creation: Extending the scope of supply chain design Incorporating tactical decision making Accounting and planning for risk and resilience Adapting new technologies and business models For more, learn about the Supply Chain Design Initiative at the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics.

Truckload transportation services procurement is costly and time-intensive. These months-long procurement events typically result in thousands of contracts between shippers and carriers. The contracts cover each of the shipper’s product distribution lanes or origin-destination pairs. Due to truckload supply and demand uncertainty, shippers often adopt a coverage strategy to secure contracted capacity on combinations of lanes to meet expected demand. However, this strategy leads to unnecessary costs and inefficiencies. We find that many lanes never end up being utilized. We refer to contracted lanes on which no business materializes as "ghost lanes." On today’s episode, research scientist David Correll speaks with Tilburg University postdoctoral researcher Angela Acocella Ph.D. '22 on the hidden costs and possible reasons for ghost lanes. Read more. https://ctl.mit.edu/pub/workingpaper/hidden-costs-not-so-friendly-ghost-lanes 

This episode marks the second installment of research scientist David Correll speaking with the 2021–22 MIT CTL military fellows: US Army Col. Joe Parker, Lt. Col. Brian Young, and Louisiana National Guard Lt. Col. Stephen J. Luebbert. Today’s conversation is all about empathetic leadership. Parker, Young, and Luebbert discuss how leading teams in high-stress environments like military combat requires empathy and humility. They revisit continual process improvement, applying the "red cell" strategy, and the after-action review process. Sharing their personal stories, they portray how effective leaders listen to those around them and enthusiastically welcome positive and negative feedback to make sound decisions, foster team cohesion, and achieve peak performance. Since 2007, MIT CTL has hosted three US military officers each year for a course of academic study that parallels the MIT ten-month Supply Chain Management master’s program. Sponsored by the United States Army War College’s Senior Service College Fellows (SSCF) program, top officers are selected to attend. CTL Military Fellows accompany the more than 80 other global business professionals in the program’s curriculum and develop strong analytical, change management, and leadership skills. Their work includes an in-depth research project.

In today’s episode, research scientist David Correll speaks with the 2021–22 MIT CTL military fellows: US Army Col. Joe Parker, Lt. Col. Brian Young, and Louisiana National Guard Lt. Col. Stephen J. Luebbert. The fellows discussed their experiences in the military and the MIT SCM program. For written and downloadable transcripts visit ctl.mit.edu Their conversation explores the differences and similarities between private-sector and military supply chains in strategy, leadership, and on-the-ground implementation. We learn how in the private sector, cost and efficiency drive supply chain decision making, whereas in the military portability, safety, and redundancy may be seen as primary drivers. The episode ends with some ideas about how the government and private sector could collaborate more. Since 2007, MIT has hosted three US military officers each year for a course of academic study that parallels the MIT ten-month Supply Chain Management master's program. Sponsored by the United States Army War College’s Senior Service College Fellows (SSCF) program, top officers are selected to attend. CTL Military Fellows accompany the more than 80 other global business professionals in the program’s curriculum and develop strong analytical, change management, and leadership skills. Their work includes an in-depth research project.