MIT Supply Chain Frontiers

Every corner of the globe has suffered from supply chain disruptions during the coronavirus pandemic. Beginning in March with a focus on U.S. food supply chains, the MIT Humanitarian Supply Chain Lab (HSCL) began providing evidence-based analysis to the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to inform strategic planning around the supply chain risks. At around the same time, work was being done in Uganda as part of ongoing systems mapping and assessment of smallholder farmers. This episode explores the similarities and differences between the two projects and offers pathways for how you can engage in similar methodologies. Read about and download all the methodologies and assessments here. Read and download a full transcript of this episode here.

Food security is top of mind given supply chain considerations caused by a global pandemic. MIT CTL congratulates the World Food Program staff for their recent Nobel Peace Prize awarded for their work in alleviating hunger. On the topic of food security, MIT CTL’s Ken Cottrill speaks with Chris Mejía Argueta, the director of the MIT Food and Retail Operations Lab about food deserts and some of the innovative projects that leverage supply chains to combat food insecurity. Access to nutritious, affordable food remains a challenge to a growing segment of the world's people. From Somerville, MA in the USA to India, Mejía discusses research and interventions underway at the lab. Learn more about the MIT Food and Retail Operations Lab  Read more about the Somerville project (SCM Capstone). Nanostores, a force to reckon with to fight malnutrition (Article). Go deeper with, Reaching 50 Million Nanostores: Retail Distribution in Emerging Megacities (Book)  Read and download the full transcript of this episode.

​Innovation in supply chain decision making and design has flourished in recent years. The availability of high-quality data coupled with an urgent need to respond to disruption has fostered rapid change in how organizations coordinate, cooperate, and improve their operations. Join LLamasoft CEO, Razat Gaurav in conversation with MIT CTL's Matthias Winkenbach to get a glimpse of how the world's most successful companies are organizing to meet their decision and design challenges through data democratization, the use of micro-apps and by engaging in a federated solutions approach. Learn more at MIT CTL. Visit the MIT Computational and Visual Education (CAVE) Lab.   Read and download the full transcript of this episode.

In the past decade, the logistics industry has experienced substantial growth and its fair share of technological disruption. Particularly in urban settings, consumer demand for same-day or two-hour delivery has ballooned and companies have struggled to meet demand without incurring substantial “last-mile” delivery costs. Farri Gaba, a research associate with Megacity Logistics Lab at MIT CTL, speaks with us about truck-and-drone cooperative delivery vehicle systems. We have a look at some of the broader social and ethical implications caused by emerging drone technology and how the Lab is addressing them with a working paper and research initiative. Learn more about the work here.  Accessible transcripts of all podcasts available here. https://ctl.mit.edu/podcasts    

Chris Caplice discusses insights on transportation, people management, and creating the workforce of the future with Michelle Livingstone of The Home Depot. Drawing on over 25 years of experience, Ms. Livingstone comments on her role leading a highly talented team that oversees the movement of all domestic and international shipments into Home Depot‘s distribution centers and outbound to stores. This episode hosted by MIT Freight Lab   Download the audio transcript here.  

Recorded on the 50th Earth Day to explore what the path forward may look like to the 2050 Climate Goals and a more sustainable future in the face of radical change. We explored the ecological, political, technological, and industrial perspectives on the intersections of sustainability, climate change, and innovation, what this means now and for the future.  Hosted by MIT Sustainable Supply Chains @ MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics #MITEarthDay50   Read full transcript here.

Join MIT CTL's Ken Cottrill in a candid conversation on the State of Supply Chain Sustainability research area. Learn about a comprehensive new study underway, the first of its kind. Learn more at https://sustainable.mit.edu/  Download the full transcript here.  

Join MIT CTL's Alexis Bateman in conversation with Erez Agmoni about disruptions, supply chain design, and resilience tips for the supply chain and logistics professional. Interview recorded as part of mit.ctl.sc3x - Supply Chain Dynamics. Learn more about these free online courses here.   Download the full transcript here.