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

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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.