Building the Nervous System of Supply Chains

My research focuses on the development, analysis and implementation of mathematical optimization models allowing to design or improve supply-chain control rules for:

• Physical Flows - What type of product should be sent from what origin to what destination at each point in time, using what transportation mode?
• Trading Interfaces - What prices (and other contract terms) should be used at each point in time with each supply-chain partner (including the end consumer)?

This work comes at a point in history when the combined advances in Operations Research (linear, integer and dynamic programming, queueing theory) and information technologies (computational power, software engineering) have recently made it possible to deploy real-time and data-driven optimization-based control systems to address these challenges in large supply chains. Indeed, my research has been implemented in software run by several leading global corporations, yielding substantial benefits.

Control of Physical Flows

2009 - Zara Uses Operations Research to Reengineer its Global Distribution Process (with Felipe Caro, Miguel Díaz, Javier García, Marcos Montes, José Manuel Corredoira, José Antonio Ramos and Juan Correa), Finalist in the 2009 Franz Edelman Competition, accepted for publication in Interfaces [full paper].

2009 - Dynamic Order Assignment for Dell's Manufacturing Network (with Gareth Williams and Juan Correa), in preparation.

2009 - Implementing Supply Routing Optimization in a Make-To-Order Manufacturing Network (with John Foreman, Julie Alspaugh, Fernando Lopez, Charles Dubois, Rohit Bhatnagar and Chee-Chong Teo), accepted for publication in Manufacturing & Service Operations Management [full paper] [abstract]. Press Coverage: Information Week, August 2008

2009 - To Wave Or Not To Wave? Order Release Policies for Warehouses with an Automated Sorter (with Théophane Weber), 3rd (minor) revision under preparation for Manufacturing & Service Operations Management [full paper] [technical appendix] [abstract].

2008 - Inventory Management of a Fast-Fashion Retail Network (with Felipe Caro), accepted for publication in Operations Research [full paper] [abstract] [related statement by the Inditex Group]. Press Coverage: CFO Magazine, April 2008; Global Logistics & Supply Chain Strategies, February 2008; Le Figaro, November 2007 (in french); Boston Herald, October 2007; Information Week, October 2007; Chain Store Age, December 2007; Senken Shimbun, December 2007 (in japanese); MIT Sloan News, December 2006

2007 - Dynamic Assortment with Demand Learning for Seasonal Consumer Goods (with Felipe Caro), Management Science, 53 (2) [full paper] [abstract].

2001 - A Simple and Effective Component Procurement Policy for Stochastic Assembly Systems (with Lawrence M. Wein), Queueing Systems Theory and Applications, 38 (2) [abstract].

Control of Trading Interfaces

2009 - Clearance Pricing Optimization at Zara (with Felipe Caro), in preparation.

2007 - Temporary and Permanent Buyout Prices in Online Auctions (with Shobhit Gupta), Management Science, 53 (5) [full paper] [technical appendix] [abstract].

2006 - Dynamic Mechanism Design for Online Commerce, Operations Research, 54 (2) [full paper] [abstract].

2005 - A Model for Make-To-Order Revenue Management (with Yann Le Tallec and Tor Schoenmeyr), under revision.

2005 - A Smart Market for Industrial Procurement with Capacity Constraints (with Lawrence M. Wein), Management Science, 51 (1) [full paper] [technical appendix] [abstract].