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As part of the World Economic Forums' The Global Enabling Trade Report 2012 - Reducing Supply Chain Barriers, Professors Don Ratliff and Amar Ramudhin co-authored the chapter "Logistics Investment and Trade Growth: The Need for Better Analytics". Click here to download a PDF version of the chapter.

The chapter discusses how successful trade is dependant on logistics decision makers making compatible decisions that enable high-performance supply chains. However, only the private investment groups have comprehensive methodologies and software that have been developed to optimize supply chain design with regard to the elements under their control. The goals and mechanisms for decision making vary greatly among the providers of logistics infrastructure to the public, but the decision-making abilities of all these providers could be dramatically improved by using models and analytics analogous to those that have been developed for supply chain design. Ratliff and Ramudhin then outline the requirements that such a model should fulfill and some of the obstacles faced in its construction.

About the Report
The Global Enabling Trade Report 2012 is published by the World Economic Forum within the framework of the Global Competitiveness Network and the Supply Chain and Transportation Industry Partnership. The series focuses on measuring whether economies have in place the necessary attributes for enabling trade and where improvements are most needed. A widely used reference, the report helps countries in their efforts to integrate global value chains and companies with their investment decisions. It is intended to be used as a motivator for change and a foundation for dialogue.