FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Center for Excellence in Logistics and Distribution in the College of Engineering and department of industrial engineering hosted its spring 2014 Industrial Advisory Board Meeting and Research Symposium at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Ga., on March 19-20. Held in conjunction with the MODEX Show, this meeting allowed attendees to walk the show floor viewing 800 of the leading manufacturing and supply chain providers, attend floor seminars and collocated education partner sessions. Students were given the opportunity to attend MODEX University and Material Handling Classroom Day which allowed them a special tour of the showroom floor and to compete in a contest related to material handling and logistics.

The CELDi meeting drew together faculty and students from five partner CELDi sites, industry leaders from nine of the 15 membership companies, and a representative from the American Transportation Research Institute which is the research arm of the American Trucking Association.  Directors from the National Laboratory on Advanced Computer Science in Mexico were on hand to discuss international collaborations.

The meeting kicked off with the CELDi-sponsored Industry Titan Talk, which was open to all MODEX attendees. Gary Maxwell, president of Maxwell Value Chain Inc., presented “A Formula for Supply Chain Innovation.” Maxwell is a former senior vice president of Walmart Inc. with more than 25 years of industrial experience.

The peer mentoring, which allows students to spend one on one time with industry leaders, and reception and poster session followed. The Reception and Poster Session allow the students to present their project poster to industry members and network in a relaxed atmosphere. Each poster is evaluated and submitted with remarks. The student with the best poster is then presented with an award. Both students and industry leaders agree this dedicated time spent together allows them both time to connect and learn from each other.

The faculty research and industry presentations are the focus of the CELDi meeting. Completed projects are presented by the faculty researcher/primary investigator of that project. One aspect of Increasing DC Productivity at Trivantage was to track efficient employees, learn their strengths and teach those efficiencies to new employees. Invistics – A Success Story Using Web Services reported on a web-based computer program that evaluates inventory performance and implements inventory optimization methods. This tool is now available through Invistics for a monthly subscription. 

An industry/academic presentation by Air Liquide showed how a student who worked on this CELDi project graduated and continued working on the project as an Air Liquide employee.  Inventory Segmentation Strategies for Service Level Success presented by Boeing highlighted that simulations reveal tomorrow’s supply chain today and resolves disconnects between modes and measures.

Also included was a presentation on the Material Handling & Logistics U.S. Roadmap as well as a break out session to discuss ideas and report feedback.

The meeting, open to all Industry members, invited guests, and faculty and students from partnering universities was a success. Some comments from attendees…

• “I am learning about cutting edge advancements in Industrial Engineering.  Also, I am meeting professionals in industry and building networks with them.”
• “I really enjoyed the opportunity for a one-on-one discussion with student researchers.  It was a beneficial two way exchange.”
• “I continue to appreciate CELDi and glean value from our relationship.”
• “Looking forward to the 2014 Fall CELDi Meeting.” 

The fall 2014 meeting will be held on October 1-2 in Dallas. 

For more information on CELDi, contact Manuel Rossetti, CELDi director, rossetti@uark.edu, 479-575-6756. For more information the upcoming fall conference, contact Karin Alvarado, karina@uark.edu, 479-575-2124.

The Center for Logistics and Distribution is an applied research and education consortium consisting of:

• Five major research universities
• More than 15 member organizations from commercial, military and government sectors of the economy
• The National Science Foundation (NSF I/UCRC).