Study: Enhancing NAFTA Logistics: Synthesizing Opportunities for Companies and their Supply Chains

这项研究的目的是提供一个愿景，以促进未来的研究，以提高北美自由贸易协定(NAFTA)下国际企业的盈利能力。研究目标是(1)对一个国家的相对优势如何随时间演变的连贯描述；(2)对如何利用北美自由贸易协定成员国的邻近地区来支持即时生产的评估；(3)对北美自由贸易协定供应链中运输和库存之间关系的评估；(4)对各种采购战略对供应商绩效的影响的评估；以及(5)对研究需求的展望，以供学术界在北美自由贸易协定下确定丰富的研究机会。这项研究涉及三位合作个人之间的国际合作：Wilbert Wilhelm(美国)、James Bookbinder(加拿大)和Fernando Mata Carrasco(墨西哥)。每个联合-PI都在为一个目标独立地寻求资金(分别是国家科学基金会、社会科学和人文研究理事会和全国社会科学与人文研究理事会)，并在另外两个目标上进行合作。Co-Pi Bookbinder计划举办一个从业者研讨会，征求意见，研究团队将把这些意见与其发现相结合，以合成研究需求的愿景。智力的优点来自于整合不同的材料、综合观点、制定模型和合作，以形成研究需求的愿景。更广泛的影响包括促进发现和理解；促进教学、培训和学习；扩大代表性不足群体的参与；加强研究和教育的基础设施；以及广泛传播以增进对科学和技术的了解。实践者研讨会将通过协作互动扩大影响。这项研究将补充合作项目大学交流博士生和教师的既定项目。社会将受益于研究需求的设想，这将促进关于最重要专题的工作，并最终通过应用这一未来研究来刺激北美自由贸易协定成员国的经济发展。

The purpose of this study is to provide a vision to foster future research that will enhance the profitability of international enterprises under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Study objectives are (1) a coherent description of how the comparative advantages of a country evolve over time, (2) an assessment of how the proximity of NAFTA-member countries can be exploited to support Just-in-Time production, (3) an evaluation of the relationship between transportation and inventories in NAFTA supply chains, (4) an assessment of the impacts of various sourcing strategies on supplier performance, and (5) a vision of research needs that academics can use to identify fertile research opportunities under NAFTA. This study involves international collaboration among three Co-PIs: Wilbert Wilhelm (U.S.), James Bookbinder (Canada), and Fernando Mata Carrasco (Mexico). Each Co-PI is seeking funding independently (National Science Foundation, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and CONACyT, respectively) for one objective and collaboration on two others. Co-PI Bookbinder plans to hold a practitioner workshop to solicit viewpoints that the study team will integrate with its findings to synthesize a vision of research needs.Intellectual merit derives from coalescing disparate materials, synthesizing perspectives, formulating models, and collaborating to form a vision of research needs. Broader impacts include advancing discovery and understanding; promoting teaching, training and learning; broadening participation of under represented groups; enhancing the infrastructure for research and education; and disseminating broadly to enhance scientific and technological understanding. The practitioner workshop will broaden impact through collaborative interactions. The study will complement established programs by which the Co-PIs universities exchange doctoral students and faculty. Society will benefit from the vision of research needs, which will promote work on the most important topics and, ultimately, by the application of that future research to stimulate economic development of NAFTA-member countries.