Past Awards
Supply chains are networks by which raw materials are processed into delivered goods and services. They critically affect almost every aspect of our daily lives, including the provision of food and clothing, financial services, household and business products and services, healthcare and supplies, computer and communication equipment and services, transportation and utilities. Many modern supply chains are complex webs of interconnected entities, involving suppliers of raw components, producers of goods and services, warehouses, distributors, sellers and end users, often located in diverse regions around the world.
Management of supply chains has seen enormous advances in efficiency in recent decades with innovations such as just-in-time processing. However, high profile events such as the 2011 tsunami in Japan and floods in Thailand, and most recently, the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, highlight the increased susceptibility to risk of these supply chains due to disruption from unexpected events in this age of increased efficiency and global interconnectedness. Supply chain risk management aims to balance efficiency with resiliency by taking strategic steps to identify, assess, and mitigate risk throughout the supply chain.
Over the past decade, David Simchi-Levi has spearheaded the development and continual refinement of a new approach to supply chain risk management that is especially suited to handling disruptions associated with unforeseen, low-probability, high-impact events. The methodology, referred to as the Risk Exposure Index (REI), quantitatively analyzes supply chain resiliency, identifies hidden risks, and suggests mitigation strategies to address these risks. Through his publications, lectures, webinars, and interviews, David Simchi-Levi has ensured that the ideas, concepts, and innovations of REI, which are grounded in operations research, are accessible to a wide audience in academia, industry, and government. This transformative methodology has been adopted by a wide range of organizations, including the automotive and telecommunications industries, government agencies such as the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, and logistics and consulting companies. Key REI concepts, such as Time-to-Recover (TTR) and Time-to-Survive (TTS), have permeated the vocabulary of supply chain managers. Stress testing of critical supply chains is being emphasized by global logistics and consulting companies.
For his leading role in developing and disseminating a new highly impactful paradigm for the identification and mitigation of risks in supply chains, INFORMS is pleased to award the 2020 Impact Prize to David Simchi-Levi.
THESE WORKS ARE IN THE BEST TRADITION OF THE PRACTICE OF OPERATIONS RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCE. THE PAPERS PRESENT A FUNDAMENTAL CONTRIBUTION AND ADVANCEMENT OF OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE INTEGRATION OF INVENTORY CONTROL AND DYNAMIC PRICING DECISIONS. BY INTRODUCING THE CONCEPT OF "SYMMETRIC K-CONCAVE FUNCTIONS", THE AUTHORS GENERALIZED THE WELL-KNOWN (S,s) POLICY AND CHARACTERIZED OPTIMAL INVENTORY AND PRICING STRATEGIES. THESE PAPERS HAVE ALSO HELPED INTRODUCE REVENUE MANAGEMENT AND PRICING PROBLEMS TO A BROADER AUDIENCE IN THE OPERATIONS RESEARCH COMMUNITY. FOR THESE REASONS, THEY WILL STAND AS SEMINAL PAPERS OF THE FIELD.