Supply chains

In an effort to help “build the tools and talent to shape a more productive and sustainable future for manufacturing,” MIT has launched the Initiative for New Manufacturing (INM), reports Nathan Owens for Manufacturing Dive. Owens explains that to help accelerate technology adoption and manufacturing productivity, the INM has "mapped out a series of education and industry partnership programs, including plans to establish new labs and a 'factory observation' effort that allows students to visit production sites.”

Forbes reporter Michael Nietzel spotlights MIT’s Initiative for New Manufacturing (INM), “an institution-wide effort intended to promote and advance the future of U.S. manufacturing.” Nietzel notes that the INM is part of an effort to “rethink how MIT could help shape the future of manufacturing through workforce training, advanced technologies, and industry collaborations. It will focus on enhancing the future manufacturing capacity and sophistication of several major industries.”

Maria Lucchi SM '24 speaks with Andy Gray of Supply Chain 24/7 about her “journey from working the deli counter at her local supermarket to her current role as a Supply Demand Planner at Apple.” Says Lucchi of MIT’s Supply Chain Management Graduate Program: “MIT gave me the opportunity to think about the type of person and co-worker I wanted to become.” She added that: “Our executive director, Dr. Saénz, always talks about a footprint. So I really thought about what kind of footprint I wanted to leave behind.”

Prof. Yossi Sheffi, director of the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics, has been named to the top spot in the Supply Chain Digital list of the top 10 supply chain influencers. Sheffi’s “expertise in systems optimization, risk analysis and supply chain management is covered in his extensive body of work,” writes Libby Hargreaves for Supply Chain Digital. “His consultancy with top enterprises cements him as the leading voice in shaping modern supply chain strategies and addressing emerging industry challenges.” 

Prof. Yossi Sheffi speaks with Boston Globe reporter Hiawatha Bray about the challenges and risks posed by implementing automation, amid the dockworkers strike. Sheffi emphasized the importance of gradually introducing new technologies and offering workers training to work with AI. “There will be new jobs,” says Sheffi. “And we want the current workers to be able to get these new jobs.” 

Prof. Yossi Sheffi speaks with Associated Press reporter Cathy Bussewitz about how automation could impact the workforce, specifically dockworkers. “You cannot bet against the march of technology,” says Sheffi. “You cannot ban automation, because it will creep up in other places... The trick is to make it over time, not do it haphazardly.” 

Research Scientist Christopher Mejia-Argueta is interviewed by Marina Mayer of Food Logistics about the food industry’s efforts to achieve a circular supply chain, which could help companies improve their sustainability. “Despite a growing trend to improve the food supply chains from farm to fork and back to farm, scalability is the biggest challenge,” he says.

Research Scientist Eva Ponce, director of online education for the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics, speaks with Wall Street Journal reporter Paul Page about how global supply chain disruptions during the Covid-19 pandemic inspired a new generation of students to pursue careers in supply chain management. “Having been exposed to these big disruptions, the new generation has an appetite for risk management,” Ponce says. “This has become a key topic and that is one of the consequences of the pandemic—this focus on ways to reduce risk and vulnerability.” 

Prof. of the Practice Elisabeth Reynolds speaks with Washington Post reporter David Lynch about the Biden administration’s efforts to reduce dependance on Chinese equipment such as ship-to-shore cranes.  "In the face of China as an economic and political and national security threat, we have to rethink some strategies,” says Reynolds. “And regardless of the product and regardless of the country, we don't want to be beholden to a monopoly supplier. That's a bad strategy.”

Research Scientist Eva Ponce, director of Online Education for the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics, speaks with Supply Chain Management Review reporter Bridget McCrea about the growing demand for professional certifications in the field of supply chain management. “There’s going to be a bigger emphasis on ‘crafting your own educational pathway,’” says Ponce of the future of executive supply chain education, “and with more emphasis on lifelong learning.”

On the 30th anniversary of Amazon’s founding, Selene Silvestri, a research scientist with MIT’s Center for Transportation and Logistics, joins The Pulse’s Liz Tung to discuss how the company developed its supply chain. “They needed to ensure that items were available, that they could deliver promptly,” Silvestri explains. “They also needed to start having their own warehouses. And they had to do so with two things in mind. They needed these to be cost efficient and they needed also to have these warehouses in locations that would allow them to ship fast.”

Prof. David Autor speaks with New York Times reporter Jim Tankersley about the economic implications of President Biden’s decision to codify and escalate tariffs on Chinese goods. Autor’s “latest research warns of the economic perils of poorly designed trade policy, but it also explains why presidents might keep pursuing it,” explains Tankersley. 

An analysis by The Atlantic’s Ronald Brownstein notes despite Republican resistance to electric vehicles, many new production facilities are located in GOP-represented states. MIT Innovation Fellow Brian Deese explains EV companies are simply seeking space and nearby manufacturing and construction capacity, but said “it’s pretty hard to think of a technology where there was a cheaper, better technology to solve a consumer need and consumers prioritized a cultural or political patina over lower costs and higher quality.”

Axios reporter Alex Fitzpatrick spotlights MightyFly, an aviation startup founded by Manal Habib ’11 that is developing a large, autonomous electric vehicle takeoff and landing cargo drone that has been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration for a flight corridor. "The use case is B2B expedited logistics," says Habib. "Think of deliveries from a manufacturer to suppliers. Think of deliveries from a lab to a hospital, or from a warehouse or pharmacy, as well as to improve deliveries to an oil rig or to a farm or a mining site, as well as for DOD use cases."

Writing for The Washington Post, Brian Deese, an MIT innovation fellow, lays out a framework for responding to China’s focus on increasing manufacturing. “The United States should send a clear message that the world will not absorb the costs of these distortionary policies,” Desse writes, “and should work with our allies toward a more durable framework for global growth.”