Allocation of Responsive Capacity in Managing Supply Chain Disruptions

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In recent years, major natural disasters of 2011 Japan Earthquake, tsunami in south Asia (2004), coupled with recent trends of global supply chains and lean manufacturing systems showed that supply chains are exposed to a greater number of risks resulting in material flow disruptions and potential loss. These recent major events highlighted that global supply chains are less reliable than they appear. Supply chain designs that do not consider the impact of disruptions lack the measures to accommodate these events. After the 2011 Japan Earthquake, Toyota reported that the quake still affected the output after six months; as a result, the company has targeted to design a robust supply chain that would recover within two weeks in the event of another major earthquake.***Although the occurrence of these events could not have been avoided, what could we have done to reduce the impact of these disasters? Which aspect of disruption management phases should we improve: Mitigation, Preparedness, Response and Recovery? Despite the fact that there is increasing trend of research to improve mitigation strategies, there are many aspects to tackle such as an efficient operation of supply chains. The objective of this research program is to develop design methodologies to improve the responsiveness of supply chains in recovering from major disruptions. The main focus is on the "preparedness" and "response" phases of the disruption management.***The research program will focus on strategic and tactical level policies, specifically optimal capacity management policies as a contingency strategy. The outcome of this program can be particularly useful for industries where holding inventory against disruptions is financially prohibitive. The decision models that will be developed in this program will allow the determination of the optimal inventory strategy, capacity planning and efficient distribution network for supplies. The proposed research program will investigate various inventory strategies along with the supply network for quick recovery through a trade-off analysis between responsiveness, service level, and cost. Canadian aerospace industry is a primary contributor to the economy and is relying on global supply chains to conduct its operations. Based on the principal investigator's strong collaboration with Pratt and Whitney Canada, Bombardier , and Bell Helicopter the developed models in this program will have the opportunity to be implemented and contribute to Canadian economy.**