The Center for Excellence in Logistics and Distribution (CELDi) in the Department of Industrial Engineering is working on a new project with the Red River Army Depot. The depot, located in Texarkana, Texas, was originally established as an ammunition facility; however, due to the demands of World War II, the mission was expanded to include general supply storage and tank repair. Today, a dedicated workforce of more than 4,500 people are engaged in work ranging from producing timber to remanufacturing the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle. The depot occupies 15,840 acres and is host to ten tenant organizations.

The overall goal of this research project is to develop new methods for Red River Army Depot’s fabrication division that can leverage alignment with enterprise resource planning  systems in order to improve work planning, supply, and production capabilities.  An additional outcome will be to create models and designs that examine the use of group technology and cellular manufacturing within a job shop environment in order to reduce lead-time.    

Manuel D. Rossetti, the principal investigator for this CELDi project, is a professor in the industrial engineering department at the University of Arkansas.  He has published over 85 journal and conference articles in the areas of transportation, manufacturing, health care, inventory modeling, forecasting, and simulation and he has obtained over $3.4 million dollars in research funding.  His research sponsors have included the Pine Bluff Arsenal, the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority, the Defense Logistics Agency, the Naval Systems Supply Command, the Air Force Research Laboratory, Walmart Stores Inc., the Transportation Research Board, U.S. Department of Transportation, and the National Science Foundation. 

Harry A. Pierson, the co-principal investigator for this CELDi project, is an assistant professor of industrial engineering at the University of Arkansas.  His primary areas of teaching and research are in agile robotics and automation, additive manufacturing, flexible manufacturing, and vibration suppression in manufacturing equipment. 

CELDi is a National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center. At this center, engineering faculty from the University of Arkansas, Clemson University, Virginia Tech, the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Missouri collaborate with members of industry to identify and carry out research projects in the area of logistics and distribution that are the most relevant to industry needs. CELDi’s 15 member organizations come from commercial, military and government sectors of the economy.

For more information on the Red River Depot Authority project, contact Rossetti at rossetti@uark.edu, 479-575-6756 or Harry A. Pierson, co-principal investigator and assistant professor, hapierso@uark.edu, 479-575-6034.  For more information on CELDi, contact Manuel D. Rossetti, CELDi Director, rossetti@uark.edu, 479-575-6756.