Research & News Updates
The Role of Biomass in Supply Chain Sustainability
Fifteen years ago, in the verdant forests and grassy land of Pennsylvania, Dr. Evelyn Thomchick, Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management, and Dr. Kusumal Ruamsook, Assistant Research Professor for the Center of Supply Chain Research®, explored biomass crops offered in the woodlands and agricultural fields woodland, trekking through the soil and residue.
CSCR® Welcomes the 2021/2022 Board of Advisors
The new year has officially begun and with it the latest iteration of the Center for Supply Chain Research® Advisory Board. With the return of several current members and the welcome of our three newest members, CSCR® is ready to greet the 2021-2022 academic year with fresh expertise and leadership. Overall, it is an impressive array of talent and experience.
Supply Chain Short Courses You Can’t Miss this Season
Supply chain is a vast and copious field that reaches into many areas of your business —sustainability, leadership, operations and processes — that impact all goods and services your customer uses on the day to day.
CSCR® Welcomes NTT DATA Services as Newest Corporate Sponsor
What a better way to begin the first chapter of 2021 than by welcoming NTT DATA Services as CSCR’s newest corporate sponsor?
Procurement is Missing in Supply Chain Sustainability
Supply chain sustainability efforts are leaving out the procurement function. These efforts won’t succeed unless the procurement function becomes central.
This article's content was originally published on Network for Business Sustainability by Dr. Veronica H. Villena, an assistant professor of supply chain and information systems in the Smeal Business School at Pennsylvania State University.
Smeal, GoChain agreement building blockchain, supply chain connections
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State is an early adopter and one of 50 organizations that will help power a project to bring the potential of a reputable blockchain to supply chain management. It’s a move that project backers say could take the University a step toward offering its researchers not just a new field to study, but possibly even offering a new way to fund research itself.
Penn State Smeal’s Bansal recognized with Wagner Prize
JWF Industries and Penn State Center For Supply Chain Research® Enter Sponsorship Agreement
For over three decades, the CSCR® has successfully built a community of researchers and leading organizations in both the private and public sectors to further the supply chain management while providing a platform for academics, industry thought leaders, experts, and peers seeking to stay current with today’s supply chain trends and challenges.
Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) Joins GoChain Network as a Signing Node
SAN FRANCISCO/STATE COLLEGE, PA, OCTOBER 1st, 2020 — The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) and GoChain, a leader in enterprise and government blockchain solutions, today announced the signing of a Node Operating Agreement whereas the Center for Supply Chain Research® (CSCR®) at the Penn State Smeal College of Business is now operating a signing node in support of the GoChain blockchain network.
A glimpse into how CSCR® Corporate Sponsors are tackling virtual internships and co-ops
Remembering the days when huddles of people crowded over one desk for in person-conversation before lunch, or the idea of co-workers piling into conference rooms are realities that seem so distant now, like scenes from a movie you saw long ago.
Associate Professor role provides opportunities for long-term research with world impact
Penn State Smeal Supply Chain Career Fair Goes Virtual, Doesn’t Miss a Beat
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Nobody knows whether any students wore sweatpants and slippers to the Penn State Smeal College of Business Supply Chain and Information Systems Career Fair in early September.
CSCR® Welcomes Sysco Foods, Infosys Consulting, NASPO, and Colas USA as Corporate Sponsors
This year has been as strenuous and as unprecedented as they come, but there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel, always a silver lining. For CSCR, it’s the exciting news of welcoming Sysco Foods, Infosys Consulting, NASPO, and Colas USA as our latest corporate sponsors!
COVID-19 Cancelled Panama Immersion Transformed to Undergraduate Research Opportunity
During the Spring 2020 semester, we (Stephen Day and Elizabeth Weiland) were enrolled in BA497: Special Topics/Global Logistics Seminar: Panama Immersion through the Smeal College of Business at Penn State.
Algorithm aims to alert consumers before they use illicit online pharmacies
Hui Zhao, associate professor of supply chain and information systems and the Charles and Lilian Binder Faculty Fellow in the Smeal College of Business have taken part in a recent research study by Penn State.
Penn State Smeal welcomes 12 new faculty members
Dean Check-In: Penn State Smeal Dean Charles Whiteman on college’s changes over time
Charles Whiteman, the current dean of Penn State’s Smeal College of Business, took over the position in 2012 and has continued the college’s pursuit of academic excellence — a trajectory that, despite the current pandemic, he looks forward to continuing.
Gartner ranks Penn State Smeal No. 1 in graduate supply chain education
Gartner, Inc., has once again ranked the Penn State Smeal College of Business as No. 1 in North American graduate supply chain programs in a recent report.
Tracie Shannon Weighs in on First-Ever Virtual Career Fair: What Sponsors Need to Know
CSCR® has always looked forward to the spring and fall career fairs, seeing the faces of bright talent shake hands with our esteemed corporate sponsors. COVID-19, as with many things, has altered the event— but surprisingly the decision to make the fair virtual was made even before schools even knew if they’d return to the fall.
Open Enrollment Courses Now Offered Virtually By Penn State Executive Programs
We’ve all read countless articles by now about COVID-19. We’ve seen, empathized and learned deeper about the impact the virus had on various supply chain procedures, collaborative initiatives between top-tier companies, as well as Smeal’s involvement in coalitions that support hospitals and medical centers to fight the invisible war the best way possible. But perhaps there’s something you haven’t heard about yet: open enrollment short courses.
Dr. Kevin Linderman to Join Smeal as New SCIS Department Chair
Dr. Kevin Linderman was developing software to coordinate shipments of inventory for General Motors when he realized supply chain management is the heart of all supplier and consumer relationships.
Penn State Executive Programs Now Offering Distance-based, Faculty-led Learning
Distance-based learning is exactly what the doctor ordered during COVID-19, and Smeal listened to the advice. Executive Programs at Smeal now offer supply chain management courses for businesses that want to increase their understanding of the industry, especially during a time when it's needed the most.
Preparing Supply Chain Operations for the Next Phase of the COVID-19 Response
Members of the C19HCC Supply Chain Working Group have just published a white paper on what they have learned about supply chain logistics during a pandemic, and how they will work to prepare supply chain operations for the next phase of COVID-19.
Exploring the Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on Supply Chain Mobility
Our very own Steve Tracey, Sue Purdum and Kusumal Ruamsook worked together to produce an article for Penn State's Social Science Research Institute about how to maintain safety during the transportation of goods during COVID-19.
Walmart, J&J, and Unilever Featured in The Gartner Supply Chain Top 25 for 2020
Our corporate sponsors make us proud with every leap and bound they cross in a field where resiliency, versatility, and adaptability are key. It is therefore with great pride and purpose that we want to share that three of our sponsors made The Gartner Supply Chain Top 25 for 2020.
Technology For Resilient Supply Chains
GoForGood podcasts are all about promoting companies that are doing well by doing good— companies that care about a more sustainable future. Our very own Steve Tracey was featured in the "Technology for Resilient Supply Chains" podcast (#2 podcast on the page) where he discusses the public and private sectors of the supply chain industry and the role that technology plays in both.
What Impact is the Pandemic Having on the U.S. Supply Chain?
WLVT - TV - The attempt to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the United States has had ripple effects throughout the American economy."The country has been put into kind of a self-induced economic coma for the last six, eight weeks," said Steve Tracey, the executive director for Penn State University's Center for Supply Chain Research.
Behind the Front Line: Penn State Smeal’s Supply Chain Experts Support COVID-19 Response Initiatives
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The COVID-19 pandemic has shined the national spotlight on something most people don’t understand very well, if at all – supply chain management.
Penn State Executive Programs Now Offering Online ‘Supply Chain Accelerator’ Series
In response to our clients’ travel restrictions and need for social distancing, Penn State Executive Programs has created the Supply Chain Accelerator: six new online learning paths in our number-one ranked supply chain executive education program. Each three-week learning path is structured to fit your schedule no matter where or when you’re logging on.
Behind the Scenes of the COVID-19 Healthcare Coalition
It is no secret that the pandemic has changed not only the lives of every person in the world, but also how supply chains are operating and working together. The hands-on support of supply chain professionals has been astounding, and CSCR® is proud to join the efforts, along with other ambitious companies, to work and help the country respond and recover to the COVID-19 pandemic on the business side.
CSCR®’s Supply Chain Expertise Joins Penn State’s COVID-19 Response
Not many could have predicted a pandemic to hit the United States back in February. Students and faculty at a college campus like Penn State were still shuffling between classes, graduation gowns were hanging in dorm room closets, and academic events filled a busy Spring calendar.
What is different about COVID-19 and other supply chain disruptions?
Sometimes the classroom really does mimic life. Brent Moritz, Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management, taught his first online class on Monday, March 16th, since Penn State moved to remote/online instructions. Dr. Moritz discovered his prescheduled class syllabus notes were covering supply chain management risk reflecting reality’s supply chain urgency for firms, industries, and society with the spread of COVID-19. Learn more about Moritz’s relevant research he shares in the classroom.
Professor Daniel Guide Named POMS Fellow for Sustainability Research
Professor Daniel Guide’s last name already gives it all away— the Smeal Chaired Professor of Operations & Supply Management is an inspiring and endowing leader who guides the center’s students, faculty and research initiatives to full success.
Top Five Smeal Lifelong Learning Webinars You Cannot Miss
CSCR® is no stranger to lifelong learning. The very essence of the center’s excellence is its ability to provide the tools and resources necessary for the Smeal community to grow in their supply chain expertise.
Off the Cuff With Steve Tracey
Whether you’re graduating, rebranding or watching trends unfold, the only thing that is constant for us is change. To this end, the world is full of opportunity and the field of supply chain, in a nutshell, is one of opportunity’s many hubs— serving as a stage for community, leadership and research in both private and public sectors.
2020 Third-Party Logistics Study
It’s that time of year again, where the Penn State Smeal College of Business partnered with Penske and Infosys Consulting to conduct a 3PL (third-party logistics) study to help stay current on shipper interrelationship and behavior trends.
The Cognitive Supply Chain
For generations, it’s been up to humans to keep supply chains running smoothly. But the past decade’s advances in artificial intelligence (AI), automation and the Internet of Things (IoT) have forever changed the way companies track and manage products, providing more information than ever about what’s happening at the ground level.
Smeal Lifelong Learning Encourages Growth in All Stages of Life
Too often, education is considered a finite tool, its culmination of degrees an end to the journey of arduous study and number two pencils. The Smeal College of Business, however, grasps the process of learning quite differently, where education is a limitless spiral of knowledge that caters to self-improvement as it ebbs and flows to the advancements of the world around us.
The Longest Yard
For years, logistics professionals have referred to the final leg of the order delivery process as the last mile. It has always been important, but as the volume of e-commerce orders rises exponentially, last-mile logistics has taken on increased significance for delivery service providers, and is now front and center in the minds of shippers.
Penn State Smeal to open Center for the Business of Sustainability in 2020
The Penn State Smeal College of Business will launch the Center for the Business of Sustainability (CBoS) in 2020 to support how business meets the growing demand for resources in a socially just and environmentally sustainable manner.
CSCR®️ welcomes Lockheed Martin and Retail Business Services as Newest Corporate Sponsors
At first glance, Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest defense contractor, and Retail Business Services, the services company of Ahold Delhaize USA, might not have a lot in common. A closer look, however, allows The Center for Supply Chain Research® to reveal the exciting news that both are now the newest corporate sponsors.
CIO REVIEW features CSCR Research on AI and Supply Chain Management
Center for Supply Chain Research research featured in CIO Review's Supply Chain Management Special Edition looks at how companies are looking to artificial intelligence to conquer their Big Data analysis challenges in supply chain planning, sourcing, production, distribution and logistics.
Four SC&IS Seniors Awarded 2019 MIT Supply Chain Excellence Award
Four Smeal College of Business Supply Chain students were awarded the MIT Supply Chain Excellence Award, recognizing top seniors studying supply chain.
CSCR Welcomes FreightWaves and Capital One as Corporate Sponsors
Freight industry expert FreightWaves and Fortune 500 firm Capital One join the Center of Supply Chain Research as corporate sponsors.
Researchers study mobile money system to help developing world’s entrepreneurs
Chris Parker and Jason Acimovic, fellow Smeal College of Business Supply Chain and Information Systems assistant professors along with Harvard Business School’s David Drake and Karthik Balasubramanian co-author research in mobile money systems in developing countries.
Penn State Executive Programs’ offerings can strengthen your business and advance your career
Learn how the newly revamped Penn State Executive Programs can transform your business's supply chain, management and leadership objectives.