Students in the W. P. Carey School of Business at ASU soon will be conducting research through an IBM-sponsored laboratory.
They will study how market fluctuation can affect a supply chain and help a company cut costs.
IBM began implementing its supply-chain research goals by teaming with ASU and three other universities to establish research laboratories.
"It brings state-of-the-art equipment and state-of-the-art supply-chain management concepts [to ASU] with a company that's a leader in supply-chain management," said Craig Kirkwood, an ASU supply-chain management professor and liaison to IBM.
A supply chain is an intricate system used by companies to keep track of orders and help run manufacturing operations.
IBM saw the importance of supply-chain management and in January 2002 launched an Integrated Supply Chain that linked customer support and manufacturing operations. That year, the company cut its expenditures by some $5.6 billion.
ASU's department will be located in the current business school buildings and then relocated to Mill Avenue and University Drive following construction of the new business school complex there.
"These facilities will allow us to advance our instruction and the use of information technology in supply-chain management and related areas," Kirkwood said.
In addition to ASU, IBM's Shared University Research Program will provide Pennsylvania State University and University College Dublin with computer equipment that includes servers, storage systems and personal computing products.
The IBM On-Demand Supply Chain Laboratory at Michigan State University's Eli Broad College of Business began its research two weeks ago.
"We're using a supply-chain analyzer to research supply- chain alternatives and determine how supply-chain performance and customer service respond to changes in strategy and tactics," said David Closs, director of the Michigan laboratory.
"This is the way that schools will have to learn to work with companies, by forming intense multidimensional relationships," he said.
Reach the reporter at michael.miklofsky@asu.edu.
