DHL, MIT-Zaragoza Forge Logistics Research Agreement

DHL, the logistics service division of Deutsche Post World Net, has concluded an agreement with the MIT-Zaragoza International Logistics Program, a partnership between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Zaragoza Logistics Center in Spain, to discover and develop international supply chains solutions.

DHL and MIT-Zaragoza will work together to solve current issues and overcome future challenges within the logistics industry. The collaborative venture has already launched research projects in three key areas: in-transit visibility, reverse logistics, and postponement strategies.

Commenting on the alliance, Keith Ulrich, director of Technology and Innovations Management at Deutsche Post World Net, said: “Globalization presents new opportunities and challenges as the flow of goods and information continues to expand. We are excited to work closely with top researchers at MIT and the Zaragoza Logistics Center on solutions and products that our customers have not yet envisioned.”

The DHL part of the operation will be led by a newly formed DHL Innovation Center near Bonn, Germany, where DHL and MIT-Zaragoza experts will pursue research. DHL said it will also reassign members of its innovation team to the Zaragoza Logistics Center, a research institute at the University of Zaragoza, to work alongside MIT-Zaragoza researchers.

DHL claims the three research projects now underway typify the venture’s focus on real-world issues for international supply chains. The in-transit visibility project is attempting to determine where and how to generate value from the capability to track the whereabouts and condition of assets in “real-time” while they are moving through the supply chain.

The reverse logistics project is investigating ways of optimizing the logistics for both warranty and repair programs used by manufacturers in various industries and for regulations such as the WEEE Directive for end-of-life products.

The third project is identifying which products, industries, and locations benefit most from a postponement strategy where value-added services, such as product differentiation or assembly, occur closer to the consumer rather than at off-shore facilities. Initial results for the projects are expected in the summer of 2007.

The partnership has already obtained financial support from the EU and from InnovAragon, an initiative of the government of Aragon in northern Spain.