Grant: Canada Research Chairs

The COVID-19 crisis has introduced various supply chain challenges related to manufacturing, transportation, and product availability, and some of the economic conditions that have arisen from this crisis include labour shortage and inflation. Consumers’ priorities have also changed. The result has been a shift in the type of products and services they want and how much they value them. This new landscape requires corresponding adaptations in business practices, such as supply chain configuration, inventory replenishment, capacity allocation and pricing. Managers must learn the intricacies of these new operating environments quickly and make decisions accordingly. Fortunately, increasing amounts of data have become available through advances in technology (for example, in the Internet of Things, wireless connectivity, electronic commerce, and data storage). Yet, the availability of ever-increasing data poses new challenges and opportunities regarding how to utilize them to make optimal decisions. As the Canada Research Chair in Operations Excellence and Business Analytics, Dr. Woonghee Tim Huh studies how to match supply and demand in supply chains and service systems. Using business analytics, Dr. Huh and his research team analyze data to understand and describe these systems and processes, build models to predict how systems will perform, and investigate how they can be improved by proposing simple yet effective and robust policies. Problems in production planning, supply chain management, revenue management, and healthcare applications are studied. While the research projects are firmly grounded in theoretical foundations, they will be motivated and guided by problems that arise in practice, and the research outcomes will be disseminated in academia and the industry. Dr. Huh’s research team, which includes students and other trainees who are overseen in an environment that nurtures their best talents, will be equipped to advance and apply leading-edge knowledge and practice in operations and analytics. Ultimately, their research will contribute to the supply chain efficiency and subsequently the competitiveness of Canadian and international companies and organizations.