David Simchi-Levi, Ph.D.

Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering
& Engineering Systems Division (ESD),
& Co-Director, Leaders For Manufacturing (LFM)
& System Design & Management (SDM) Programs,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

"Innovations and Strategies in Supply Chain Management"

Abstract

The presentation will describe a new approach to positioning inventory in the supply chain in a way that increases service levels and reduces supply chain costs. The focus is on replacing the traditional approach for inventory management, which is based on locally optimizing inventory levels within one facility, with a globally optimized supply chain strategy. The approach is based on identifying the optimal location of the Push-Pull boundary in the supply chain taking into account the entire network, forecast error, variability in transportation and processing times as well supplier characteristics. We review a variety of field studies that illustrate that the new approach reduces inventory costs by 20-30% and sometimes even more, while maintaining or increasing service level.

Biography

Dr. Simchi-Levi holds a Ph.D. from Tel Aviv University . His research currently focuses on developing and implementing robust and efficient techniques for logistics and manufacturing systems. He has published widely in professional journals on both practical and theoretical aspects of logistics and supply chain management.

Dr. Simchi-Levi has been the principal investigator for about $2 million in funded academic research. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Naval Research Logistics , an Area Editor for IIE Transactions, an Associate Editor for several scientific journals including Management Science, Networks, Transportation Science and Telecommunication Systems , and a former Area Editor of Transportation for Operations Research . His Ph.D. students have accepted positions in leading academic institutes including University of California, Berkeley; Columbia University, University of Michigan, Purdue University, Georgia Tech, and Virginia Tech.

Dr. Simchi-Levi is co-author (with Julien Bramel) of The Logic of Logisitics , published by Springer in 1997 (1st Edition) and in 2004 (2nd Edition) (with Xin Chen and Julien Bramel). His second book, Designing and Managing the Supply Chain (with P. Kaminsky and E. Simchi-Levi) was published by McGraw-Hill in August 1999 (1st edition) and 2002 (2nd edition). It received the Book-of-the-Year award and the Outstanding IIE Publication award given in 2000 by the Institute of Industrial Engineers . The book also received the Outstanding First Edition of the Year award given in 2000 by McGraw-Hill. It was selected by Business 2.0. December 2001 issue, as the best source for slashing time and cost and increasing productivity in the supply chain. It has been translated to Chinese, Japanese and Korean. His new book (with P. Kaminsky and E. Simchi-Levi), Managing the Supply Chain: The Definitive Guide for the Supply Chain Professional , was published by McGraw-Hill in December 2003. The book serves as a reference for consultants and managers involved in any one of the processes that make up the supply chain.