MIT Global SCALE Network

MIT LAUNCHES GLOBAL NETWORK OF SUPPLY CHAIN CENTERS
MIT Global SCALE Network spans North America, Latin America & Europe

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 27, 2008 – Today the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Transportation and Logistics (MIT-CTL) announced the creation of the MIT Global SCALE Network, an international alliance of leading research and education centers dedicated to the development of supply chain and logistics excellence through innovation.

The Global SCALE (Supply Chain and Logistics Excellence) Network spans North America, Latin America, and Europe, with plans to expand into Asia and Africa.  The Network currently includes: the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics (MIT-CTL) in Cambridge, Mass.; the Zaragoza Logistics Center (ZLC) in Zaragoza, Spain; and the Center for Latin-American Logistics Innovation (CLI) in Bogotá, Colombia.   

The Network will allow faculty, researchers, students and affiliated companies from all three centers to pool their expertise and collaborate on projects that will create supply chain and logistics innovations with global applications and help companies to compete in an increasingly complex business environment.

“Today’s supply chains stretch around the world and back again, requiring successful organizations to have an on-the-ground understanding of the logistics, supply chain and general business challenges and opportunities in every region.  The Global SCALE Network will provide that global context through research projects that will literally be taking place around the world,” said MIT-CTL Director Yossi Sheffi, a professor of engineering systems at MIT and director of the Engineering Systems Division.   

The Network will also enhance supply chain & logistics education at each center.   Graduate students at MIT-CTL, ZLC and CLI will not only benefit from the shared knowledge created through this collaboration, but will also participate in the Network’s global research projects and take part in an educational exchange, traveling to other Network centers and learning alongside other Network students. 

The Global SCALE Network will build on the already successful, five-year partnership between MIT-CTL and the Zaragoza Logistics Center.   The ZLC was established in 2003 by MIT-CTL, the University of Zaragoza, the government of Aragón, industry partners, and the PLAZA logistics park in Zaragoza.  This collaboration has resulted in the creation of a highly-regarded supply chain masters program at the ZLC, and continues to play a key role in the economic growth of the Aragon region in Spain and the success of PLAZA, the largest logistics park in Europe . 

“The ZLC and it’s partnership with MIT-CTL has put Zaragoza on the world map.  We believe the MIT Global SCALE Network will take this successful collaboration to the next level.  By bringing