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The value of monitoring in supply chains

Thesis: M. Eng. in Supply Chain Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Supply Chain Management Program, 2017. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 45-46). / Logistics providers process millions of packages daily and collect an incredible amount of data from these shipments. As new sensors are added to more and more packages, companies will now have increasingly fast access to even more data. However, how will logistics companies leverage this idea of big data to generate the most business value for their customers? Using a qualitative approach by interviewing current users of real-time monitoring devices, we were able to understand how customers perceive the value added by this technology. Moreover, we scoured a significant amount of literature on sensors, the logistics industry, and upcoming technological breakthroughs. We quickly discovered that customers do not perform extensive quantitative analysis to determine the trade-offs and financial benefit of using real-time sensors in their shipping processes. Additionally, we found that customers are unwilling to analyze this big data themselves, but instead want their logistics provider to interpret the data to provide value-added services. Therefore, logistics providers should leverage all of the data they collect, instead of simply creating value when shipments become exceptions, e.g. out of temperature range. We propose using smart contracts on a permissioned blockchain to automate business processes and reduce frictions within the shipping parties and other intermediaries. / by Tarun Tiwari and Anthony Toteda. / M. Eng. in Supply Chain Management

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:MIT/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/112858
Date January 2017
CreatorsTiwari, Tarun (Tarun K.), Toteda, Anthony
ContributorsBruce Arntzen., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Supply Chain Management Program., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Supply Chain Management Program.
PublisherMassachusetts Institute of Technology
Source SetsM.I.T. Theses and Dissertation
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
Format46 pages, application/pdf
RightsMIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission., http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

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