ESD Distinguished Seminar: Supply Chain Governance in Changing Uncertain Times - Prof N. Viswanadham

11 Mar 2015 11am to 12noon SUTD, 8 Somapah Road, Think Tank 19 (Building 2, Level 3, Room 2.304)

You are cordially invited to join us for a seminar on "Supply Chain Governance in Changing Uncertain Times".

Speaker
Professor N. Viswanadham
Emeritus Professor & INSA Senior Scientist
Computer Science and Automation
Indian Institute of Science

Abstract
During the last two decades, the subject Supply Chain Networks (SCN) has grown enormously both in terms of theory and applications. Several text books are written, research papers have been published, new applications and innovations have resulted in blockbuster product or service industries. Outsourcing to low cost countries has resulted in creating a growing emerging market and burgeoning middle class. Several software companies such as SAP, Oracle, and IBM have built software packages and consultants and IT companies have implemented them.

However, recent events have demonstrated that the efficiency contributors of SCNs can turn into risk creators. This is evident from the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and decline in trade threatening de-globalization, and the March 11, 2011 earthquake, tsunami, nuclear crisis and plant shutdowns in Japan that threatened supplies of semiconductors to car parts around the globe. There are also lots of government interventions in the production matters in the form of protectionist regulations and preferences to local firms in government procurements. Further, technology innovations, in particular those based on mobile, are creating several disruptions in terms of new business models.

We see that the supply chains are going through a turbulent period. In this lecture, we concentrate on the design of global supply chain networks (GSCN). Our GSCN map consists of forward-backward supply chains, natural, human and industrial resources, governments and social groups and delivery mechanisms. Our framework enables one to design the GSCN taking into account the possible innovations, mitigating possible risks and finally improving the performance of the forward as well as reverse chain. Finally, we also focus on architectures for governance, coordination and control GSCNs. We present two examples: E-retail delivery options and supplier selection minimizing the risk and lead time.

Speaker Bio
Professor Viswanadham is an INSA Senior Scientist in the Computer Science and Automation at the Indian Institute of Science. He was Professor and Executive Director at the Indian School of Business, Deputy Executive Director of TLIAP and also Professor at National University of Singapore during 1998-2005. He was a faculty member at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore from 1967-1998. He was Chairman of the Department of Computer Science and Automation from 1990-96 and Chairman of Electrical Sciences Division from 1997-98.

He is the recipient of the 1996 IISc Alumni Award for excellence in research, the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2009 and the 2012 INAE Prof S K Mitra Memorial Award. N. Viswanadham is a Fellow of the IEEE, a Fellow of Indian National Science Academy, Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Academy of Engineering, and Third World Academy of Sciences.

He is currently the Chief Editor of Sadhana. His current research interests include Global Supply and Service Chain Networks. He has developed an ecosystem framework for the analysis and design of supply/service supply chain networks. His current research efforts are on green supply chain design, supply chain coordination for food security in India and smart city and smart village development.