Tec inaugurates Sustainable Smart Logistics Center

Tec de Monterrey’s School of Engineering and Sciences will offer logistics solutions for public and private organizations through its new Sustainable Smart Logistics Center.

This center aims to develop technology through optimization methods, data science and analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to achieve efficient processes with low environmental impact.

Juan Pablo Murra, Rector of Undergraduate and Graduate Studies at the Tec, inaugurated the center and highlighted the importance of supporting this sector.

“We aim to focus on improving business, but also on creating opportunities for our students with relevant experiences and research spaces for our professors,” he said.

It will also have strategic partners with experience in the area, such as Professor Jan Fransoo from the University of Tilburg and Josué Velázquez from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The inauguration was held on May 24 at the Tec’s Monterrey campus. Those attending included Velázquez; Mario Adrián Flores, Vice President of the Tec’s North Region; and Manuel Zertuche, Dean of the School of Engineering and Sciences. Fransoo also participated by video call.

Logistics with a sustainable approach

The Sustainable Smart Logistics Center will aim to achieve speed, reliability, and resilience throughout the supply chain, the process that goes from manufacturing products until they reach the hands of the end customer, said Ericka Rodríguez, National Coordinator of the Center.

“Our mission is to be world leaders in logistics and supply chains, offering solutions to improve the competitiveness and sustainability of companies through research conducted by our professors and students,” said Rodríguez.

Currently, the center aims to develop projects focused on four areas:

• Urban logistics
• Freight transport logistics
• Humanitarian logistics
• Logistics for food and agricultural products

It will also use a multidisciplinary approach that already has collaboration from more than 25 specialist professors from the Tec’s Schools of Engineering and Science and Business.

They work on consulting projects as well as supply chain research and development; the number of specialists is expected to increase as the initiative adds more projects.

Currently, the center has national scope, with five coordination offices and teams on the Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla, and Querétaro campuses.

“Our mission is to be world leaders in logistics and supply chains, offering solutions to improve the competitiveness and sustainability of companies.”

International collaboration

It was reported that this Tec center will explore partnerships and approaches with other leading centers and institutions to join efforts in logistics and supply chain research.

One of the partners that the center already has is Dr. Josué Velázquez, a researcher at the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics, with whom the center will collaborate on a project that aims to find solutions for approximately 300,000 micro-enterprises.

“The idea of forging a partnership, establishing a formal relationship with the center, allows us to further focus the efforts that were being done individually throughout the Tec and take advantage of the faculty and student’s skills,” said Velázquez.

“We’re excited about this partnership with the Tec. We want to see how to connect the projects of Tec’s professors and students and also grow our laboratory according to Mexico’s needs,” he said.

Velázquez said that this first collaborative project involves the participation of nearly a thousand students and more than ten research professors from the Tec, together with MIT students and faculty.

Impact on the Tec community

The center will have a direct impact on the learning of students on the Industrial and Systems Engineering and Bachelor of International Business programs (seven percent of undergraduate students at the Tec), as these students are primarily involved in these topics.

Manuel Zertuche, the Dean of the School of Engineering and Sciences, said that the center can also consolidate initiatives including the human capacities of those from other Tec schools.

“There may be participation from the School of Architecture, Art, and Design in the concept of urban logistics, or the School of Government and Public Transformation in terms of public policy, for transportation systems and the movement of people,” he said.

Zertuche also pointed out that this center strengthens the courses offered under the Tec21 Educational Model, with the participation of new training partners and new challenges for Tec students.

“This center is going to connect and share many of the issues and development opportunities for new projects and challenges that will be part of the educational model,” he said.

“The graduate studies area will also have the opportunity to conduct scientific thesis work and doctoral dissertations, which will of course benefit our community of professors and students alike,” said the dean.

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