FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Center for Excellence in Logistics and Distribution (CELDi) in the department of industrial engineering in the College of Engineering hosted its fall 2014 Industrial Advisory Board  Meeting and Research Symposium in Irving, Texas Oct. 1-2, .  The CELDi meeting drew together faculty and students from five partner CELDi sites and industry leaders from nine of the 16 membership companies.

The meeting kicked off with an Industry Presentation by Mei Khoo, Corporate Global Logistics Manager with Aviall Services, Inc. The following day, attendees were invited to tour Aviall Services headquarters which included viewing their data center, kitting, chemical management, wheel and brake repair, inbound and outbound service areas as well as other areas in their warehouse.

The meeting also included Peer Mentoring, a well-received activity for several years, which allows students to spend one-on-one time with industry leaders. There was also a reception and poster session that allowed 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. Students and industry leaders agree this dedicated time spent together allows them to connect and learn from each other.

The Faculty Research presentations are the focus of the CELDi meeting. Completed projects are presented by the faculty researcher/primary investigator of that project. This year’s projects included:

• Impact of Lead Time Variability by Dr. Manuel Rossetti for the Defense Logistics Agency
• Deman Forecasting Using Bayes’ Rule by Dr. James Noble for The Boeing Company
• Truck Tanker BattleJacket® Coating: Improving the Process by Mark Center for Red River Depot Authority 
• A Decision Support Tool for Continuous Replenishment Program Analysis by Dr. Shengfan Zhang for Covidien 
• Variation Identification System for Operational Risks (VISOR) in Inventory Systems by Dr. Manuel Rossetti (a Center Designated Project) 
• Scheduling Labor in a Warehouse Based on Productivity by Dr. Ashlea Milburn for Medline Industries.

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 gaining better insight to other portion of IE outside of my previous experience in Quality/Operations.” 

“This was an eye opening experience. It allowed me to see firsthand what other industries are looking at and finding important.  Also, it is really exciting to be part of a highly data driven group. I’m looking forward to learning more about how to manage data to find the answer to questions before they are questions.” 

“A great opportunity for students to interact with industry.” 

“Overall, I loved attending my first CELDi conference.”

The Spring 2015 meeting will be held on April 8-9, 2015 in Atlanta. 

For more information on CELDi, contact Dr. 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.

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The Center for Logistics and Distribution is an applied research and education consortium consisting of five major research universities and more than 15 member organizations from commercial, military and government sectors of the economy, and The National Science Foundation