This action establishes Clemson University as a Research Site of the existing multi-university Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Engineering Logistics and Distribution (CELDi). Management of logistics has become the key to success of many companies. Research in logistics is necessary to help companies gain a competitive advantage. The Clemson University research site will augment the existing research agenda with; a study comparing a logistic business model with a Maintenance Program Management plan, a study of the optimization of electric generating unit scheduling options and will study how to improve the forecasting and inventory management process in a publication company.
The NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Excellence in Logistics and Distribution (CELDi) works with member organizations to address complex 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 significant return on investment. Research in logistics and distribution is typically sponsored by an "operations" unit of a member organization so our laboratory is most often their facility and "success" of a research project is only achieved if the results are implemented and provide measurable value. The NSF also supports more fundamental research associated with I/UCRC’s on a competitive basis. As such, the Clemson Research Site of CELDi operates using three types of research projects. Directed projects Directed projects utilize a team of at least one faculty member with one or more graduates students to address a logistics problem of high importance to the industry member of CELDi. Each project provides financial support for the student or students as well as engages them in an environment where deliverables are required, deadlines must be met, and informative briefings to upper management are demanded. Center Designated Projects (CPD) Some funding from each membership fee is pooled to fund CDP’s which take either the research findings from a directed project or a research theme running through several directed projects and explores it in a more general and comprehensive way. The results are typically both a report and software that can be readily used by all CELDi members with little modification. Clemson researchers participated in three CDP’s. Fundamental Research Projects (FRP) NSF provides competitive funding for basic research on ideas that are spawned from the research conducted within I/UCRC’s. Researchers at Clemson have participated on two of these projects. The intellectual merit of CELDi projects lies in conducting research that is implemented to satisfy members’ needs with return on investment and that is generalized for dissemination into the academic sphere. All of the Directed Projects at Clemson have been rated very highly by sponsors on short surveys conducted after completion. Clemson has also won three "CELDi Success Story Awards" which the Center awards to projects that "have significant, verifiable impact on the partnering organization(s)." Clemson researchers have published over 30 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals or conference proceedings that are based on or motivated by the three types of CELDi projects. The broader impacts of CELDi are also measured in several ways. The model for conducting applied research that focuses on operational issues in a way that satisfies the sponsor and that is academically relevant scholarship is important. The number of peer-reviewed articles has been reported. Transfer of research results occurs at the biannual CELDi meetings in which all members can view posters and talk to researchers about the work being undertaken in the Center as well as through the final research reports. By facilitating this interaction every six months, CELDi delivers applied research results to a significant audience of practitioners who actively use it in a very timely fashion. CELDi has a significant impact on the student researchers to better prepare them for careers in industry and academia. Obviously, working closely with faculty mentors all of whom have been employed full time in industry at some point in their careers teaches important skills related to time management, meeting deadlines, developing and presenting briefings for upper management, and handling a variety of situations with clients. In addition, the Center supplements these by facilitating interactions with the industrial advisory board (IAB) during the biannual meetings. Specifically, there are one-on-one mentoring sessions with IAB members, group mentoring sessions, a best-poster contest judged by the IAB, and ensuring more informal interactions occur between students and the IAB by pairing for lunch and roundtable discussions. In the past five years, Clemson has been awarded two Research Experience for Teachers (RET) projects. These allow Clemson faculty and student researchers within CELDi to impact the next generation of university students by working with two middle school teachers to develop logistics-based games that they now use as a module in selected math and science classes. Finally, the ratio of total CELDi support to NSF support at Clemson is just under $5:$1. Based on the accomplishments over the past five years, we submit that the Clemson Research Site has been very successful during our Phase I tenure in the NSF I/UCR Center for Excellence in Logistics and Distribution in meeting the objectives of NSF, Clemson, and our constituents.
