Proposal Title: I/UCRC: CELDi at MU Institution: University of Missouri-Columbia Abstract Date: 03/30/2008
The award establishes University of Missouri-Columbia (MU) as a research site of the Industry/University Collaborative Research Center (I/UCRC) for the Center for Engineering Logistics and Distribution (CELDi). Other sites of this collaborative research center include the University of Arkansas (lead), Oklahoma State University, Lehigh University, Clemson University, University of Oklahoma, University of Louisville, Texas Tech University and Virginia Tech. The mission of this center is to provide integrated solutions to logistics problems through modeling, analysis, and intelligent systems technologies. MU will be a strong partner of CELDi and should be able to immediately contribute to the logistics systems analysis and design, supply chain modeling, and material flow design and improvement. MU has a team of researchers who are capable of providing immediate assistance in research related to the integration of logistics components in large, complex inter/multi-modal systems. CELDi will benefit from the expanded research expertise and involvement of top Fortune 500 companies that MU will bring to the table.
University of Missouri-Columbia will make significant contributions to the mission of CELDi. The quality and quantity of research conducted will expand the impact of CELDi in technical, educational and outreach activities. The research team at MU is multidisciplinary with faculty participating from industrial engineering, systems engineering and transportation engineering perspectives as well as management logistics and agricultural economics. MU has a clear plan to involve students in its research, and the nature of the proposal ensures that the proposed research will have significant impact on industrial practice through close collaboration with industrial partners. Both the undergraduate and graduate education at MU will be positively impacted by MU?s participation in CELDi.
(Center for Excellence in Logistics and Distribution - a NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center) partners with member organizations to address complex applied research problems in logistics and distribution. The mission of CELDi is to enable member organizations to achieve logistics and distribution excellence by developing meaningful, innovative, and implementable solutions that provide a return on investment. Through CELDi partnerships we support member logistics and distribution excellence by: solving real problems that achieve bottom-line impact; graduating students with real-world project experience; producing generalized, cutting-edge research that is published in leading journals; and sharing research results amongst our member organizations to leverage intellectual and monetary capital. The University of Missouri Research Site of CELDi has conducted three types of research projects over the past 5 years. Member Directed Projects MU CELDi has had seven member companies with a wide variety of research projects, each utilizing a team of at least one faculty member with one or more graduates and undergraduate students. Each project had specific deliverables that required the development of novel logistics modeling approaches. Three of the MU projects were selected as "CELDi Success Stories" implying that there was a significant, verifiable impact on the partnering organization. These included: 2009 – International Shipment Consolidation (Leggett & Platt with Wooseung Jang, PI), 2011 – Integrated Material Flow Analysis (Bayer CropScience with Mustafa Sir, PI), and 2012 – Design of a Reverse Logistics Network (Boeing with James Noble, PI). Center Designated Projects (CPD) A portion of the membership fee for each member is pooled to fund CDP’s which take either builds upon a previous member project or address a broader research theme and develops a deliverable of interest to a greater number of member companies. The results are typically both a report and software that can be readily used by all CELDi members with little modification. University of Missouri researchers have participated in two CDP’s: 1) Logistics Network Design for Less-than-Truckload (LTL) Consolidation and 2) Integrated Freight Consolidation and Shipping Models in International Supply Networks Fundamental Research Projects (FRP) NSF provides competitive funding for basic research on ideas that are derived from the research conducted within I/UCRC’s. Researchers at the University of Missouri have participated on two of these projects: Ensuring Continuity of Care (2009-2011), University of Arkansas (Scott Mason, Ed Pohl, Sarah E. Root), University of Missouri (Mustafa Sir), Clemson University (Kevin Taaffe). The Ensuring Continuity of Care FRP was a multi-university collaboration of researchers that studied how to better design supply chains to account for disruption and risk when the supplier failure is correlated. A Decision Support System for Biomass Based Energy Logistics Systems (2011-2013), University of Missouri (Wooseung Jang, Cerry Klein, James Noble, Gene Garret, Michael Cook). This FRPconsiders the biomass logistics systems and investigates the development of a multi-stage biomass supply chain and logistics model that addresses uncertainties, such as those in the biomass availability, process performance, and final product demand / price. The intellectual merit of CELDi projects is a result of conducting applied research that is implemented by members and is generalized for academic publication. University of Missouri CELDi researchers have published over 20 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals or conference proceedings. The broader impacts of CELDi are a function of the impact the research is having on member logistics practice and the preparation of student researchers for careers in logistics. CELDi hosts a biannual research meeting in which all members interact with researchers about the work being undertaken in the Center. These meetings enable CELDi to deliver applied research results to a significant practitioner audience who actively use it in a timely manner. MU CELDi also has had a significant impact on both undergraduate and graduate student researchers to prepare them for logistics related careers. Students learn how to address complex industry problems and apply the theory they learn in the classroom in developing solutions to real problems. Students also engage in mentoring sessions and other interactions with CELDi members. In the past five years, the University of Missouri has been awarded four Research Experience for Undergraduates (RET) supplements. This has allowed MU undergraduate student researchers the opportunity to get involved with a wide range of CELDi activities and several have continued on to obtain graduate degrees within the field. Over the past 5 years of Phase 1 NSF I/UCRC funding, the University of Missouri CELDi Research Site has been very successful in meeting the objectives of NSF and our industry partners.
