The practice of logistics is undergoing radical transformation driven by changes in technologies and the emergence of new business concepts available to firms and their supply chains. Some of these new concepts and technologies, like 3D printing and omnichannel, are in more advanced stages of implementation. Others, like self-driving road vehicles and the Internet-of-Things are still in early stages of conceptualization and development. The goal of the lecture is to provide an overview of coming changes, especially in an environment of growing customer demand for service. The emphasis will not be in the technologies themselves, but on their viability and stage of implementation.
Walter Zinn is Professor of Logistics. He currently serves Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business as Associate Dean for Graduate Students and Programs. He previously served as Chairman of the Department of Marketing and Logistics (2010-2016) and as Director of the Master in Business Logistics Engineering (MBLE), an innovative joint program between the Schools of Business and Engineering (2005-2010).
Dr. Zinn is Co-Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Business Logistics, He formerly served the journal as the Systems Section Editor (1997-2001) and as Editor for a Special Section on Logistics, Marketing and Supply Chain Strategies in 2000.
Dr. Zinn’s research interests focus primarily on the relationship between customer service policy and inventory investment; particularly consumer response to stockouts, supply chain risk management, and the effects of inventory centralization and sales forecasting on safety stocks. He is also interested in logistics issues in Latin America.
At Ohio State, Professor Zinn teaches logistics courses for undergraduate, MBA and MBLE students, including Field Problems in Logistics, where graduate students conduct consulting projects for corporations. Dr. Zinn also lectured in more than 100 executive development programs and spoke in logistics conferences and meetings in the U.S. and internationally. Dr. Zinn is fluent in Spanish and in Portuguese.
Dr. Zinn is an active member of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. He chaired several committees and served as a member of the Board of Directors (2011-2014).
