Data-driven logistics and distribution planning: Emerging trends and pandemic-related challenges

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The timely distribution of critical supplies, from personal protective equipment and vaccines to basic needs such as groceries, has played a determining role in saving lives during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. As supply chains faced disruptions, supply shortages and demand spikes, warehouses and distribution networks failed to respond adequately. For example, the Canadian government struggled to distribute personal protective equipment and test kits to frontline workers across the country and had to rely on Amazon's fulfillment centres and its partners' distribution networks. Similarly, e-commerce giants around the globe rushed to hire workers and to streamline operations to meet delivery promises, as warehouses suffered to handle the sudden surge in online demand due to repeated lockdowns and social distancing measures. The proposed research program focuses on building supply chain capabilities to combat a sudden and severe crisis by investigating capacity, distribution, and warehousing vulnerabilities that emerged during the pandemic. It addresses supply chain capacity to maximize readiness, distribution network design to minimize risk, and e-warehousing efficiency to increase responsiveness. To enhance supply chain capabilities, we propose to leverage spare capacity in existing government and private sector distribution channels, thus achieving the dual benefits of generating revenue for participants during an economic downturn and combatting the spread of the pandemic. To optimally allocate limited supplies such as personal protective equipment, we propose allocation and distribution strategies based on minimizing infection risk measures. This requires complex modelling with proper prediction of the pandemic progression. To enhance responsiveness in e-commerce and online shopping, we develop innovative analytics tools for order fulfillment operations in warehousing. Using cutting-edge optimization and data analytics techniques, the research program will provide models and solutions to improve the responsiveness and readiness of supply chains to handle a major crisis. Two key factors contribute to this. The first is proper planning ahead of time in the form of action plans to pool capabilities and the second is optimized analytics tools to deploy and manage resources. Graduate students trained through this program, will gain expertise in the latest data analytics and artificial intelligence tools, which will position them for leading decision-making jobs in distribution planning and e-commerce operations, a key growth sector of the Canadian economy.