big ideas in Beijing

IBM may have located its new supply chain innovation center in Beijing, China, but the research facility's influence will extend well beyond Asia.

The center will draw on IBM's expertise in supply chain research, business consulting, and software as well as Big Blue's own Integrated Supply Chain approach to supply chain management to develop new technology solutions. According to Sanjeev Nagrath, global leader, supply chain management for IBM Global Business Services, the facility will serve companies anywhere in the world, not just in Asia's emerging markets.

The facility boasts dedicated supply chain researchers, who already have several projects under way. One is the Virtual Command Center, which uses serviceoriented architecture (SOA) to integrate and synchronize information about supply, demand, and logistics. The project aims to help companies gain visibility into their supply chains' status and performance. Another project is the Carbon Tradeoff Modeler, which will allow companies to include carbon output as a variable in their supply chain optimization efforts.