Logistics Clusters: Delivering Value and Driving Growth

Why is Memphis home to hundreds of motor carrier terminals and distribution centers? Why does the tiny island-nation of Singapore handle a fifth of the world's maritime containers and half the world's annual supply of crude oil? Which jobs can replace lost manufacturing jobs in advanced economies?

Some of the answers to these questions are rooted in the phenomenon of logistics clusters--geographically concentrated sets of logistics-related business activities. In this book, supply chain management expert Yossi Sheffi explains why Memphis, Singapore, Chicago, Rotterdam, Los Angeles, and scores of other locations have been successful in developing such clusters while others have not.

Sheffi outlines the characteristic "positive feedback loop" of logistics clusters development and what differentiates them from other industrial clusters; how logistics clusters "add value" by generating other industrial activities; why firms should locate their distribution and value-added activities in logistics clusters; and the proper role of government support, in the form of investment, regulation, and trade policy.

Sheffi also argues for the most important advantage offered by logistics clusters in today's recession-plagued economy: jobs, many of them open to low-skilled workers, that are concentrated locally and not "offshorable." These logistics clusters offer what is rare in today's economy: authentic success stories. For this reason, numerous regional and central governments as well as scores of real estate developers are investing in the development of such clusters.

View a trailer for the book at: http://techtv.mit.edu/videos/22284-logistics-clusters-yossi-sheffi

Yossi Sheffi is Elisha Gray II Professor of Engineering Systems at MIT and Director of the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics. He has held many leadership positions at MIT, including head of the Engineering Systems Division from 2008 to 2011. He founded the Supply Chain and Logistics Excellence (SCALE) network of academic centers in Europe, Latin America and Asia, who together with MIT, educate students and conduct research on global supply chain management issues.

Professor Sheffi worked with leading manufacturers and logistics service providers around the world. In addition, he is a serial entrepreneur, having founded or co-founded five companies since 1987. He was recognized for his professional contributions with many awards by academia, industry and governments around the world.

He is the author of The Resilient Enterprise: Overcoming Vulnerability for Competitive Advantage (MIT Press, 2007) and Urban Transportation Networks (Prentice Hall, 1985).