Modeling the Supply Chain

Supply chains don't manage themselves, although managers sometimes wish they did. For everything you'll need to know about analyzing supply chains, you'll need MODELING THE SUPPLY CHAIN. By using models to analyze the supply chain, you can quickly and effectively find ways to optimize its performance. And because this supply chain textbook is loaded with clear illustrations and practical study tools, this is the textbook that will help you be effective during test times as well.

With an emphasis on modeling techniques, Jeremy Shapiro's MODELING THE SUPPLY CHAIN is the perfect tool for courses in supply chain management or for professional managers who seek better analytical tools for managing their supply chains, information technologists who are responsible for developing and/or maintaining such tools, and consultants who conduct supply chain studies using models. Shapiro examines in detail the roles of data, models, and modeling systems in helping companies improve the management of their supply chains. The focus is on optimization models based on linear and mixed integer programming. The complementary role played by descriptive models in developing data inputs for optimization models is thoroughly reviewed. Using numerous applications, Shapiro clearly illustrates that when properly implemented, these methodologies can create accurate and comprehensive models of great practical value. The book also shows how competitive advantage in supply chain management can be most fully realized by developing and applying optimization modeling systems.

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With an emphasis on data, models, and modeling systems, this text teaches professionals and students how to analyze supply chain planning problems. It overviews IT developments related to improving supply chain performance, introduces fundamentals of optimization modeling, explains design principles for supply chain network optimization systems, and presents a methodology for scheduling problems that combines optimization methods with heuristics. It also offers examples of modeling applications to strategic, tactical, and operational supply chain planning problems. The author is affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Jeremy Shapiro is a professor emeritus in the Sloan School of Management at MIT. For nine years he served as the co-director of MIT's Operations Research Center. Previously, he was employed by Procter and Gamble, Hughes Aircraft Company, and the Port of New York Authority. He received his B.M.E. and M.I.E. degrees from Cornell University and a Ph.D. degree in Operations Research from Stanford University.

Dr. Shapiro has published over 60 papers in the areas of operations research, mathematical programming, logistics, supply chain management, finance, and marketing. He is also president of SLIM Technologies, LLC, a Boston-based firm specializing in the implementation and application of modeling systems for supply chain management and other business problems. His outside interests include reading, traveling, biking and playing tennis. He is married to Martha J. Heigham and has three children, Alexander, Lara, and Nicholas.