More on the team

"Much of the research exists only in literature… but we bring it into practical use for the client."

It is essential that retailers and manufacturers operate efficiently to stay ahead of their competition, and efficiency just happens to be one of many benefits that IBM’s on demand strategy offers. Part of building an on demand environment is to create a supply chain that can respond as quickly as needed – instantaneously, if necessary. Kaan Katircioglu, a leading researcher of supply chain management, is an expert in optimizing inventory, distribution and manufacturing operations. His goal is to help clients optimally manage complex supply chains.

"The most effective management of a supply chain is different for each of our clients,” Kaan says. “Each company has specific objectives and my job is to position them to meet their objectives."

There are a multitude of factors to consider when managing a supply chain: forecasted demand, supplier situations and events, inventory, product lifecycles and works in progress – to name a few. Ideally, a company should be able to detect events that will affect its supply chain and take prompt action based on those events. What Kaan does is develop complex mathematical models of supply chains to optimize parameters. These models help determine how the supply chain should be managed, what policies need to be implemented, and how to best meet service targets.

Kaan is focused on making supply chain optimization respond on demand, so that operations will be more efficient and dynamic and able to meet the needs of a competitive market. As an example of the work being done, Kaan is part of a team of IBM researchers and consultants that has developed a sophisticated sense-and-respond inventory management system for the semiconductor business.

"Sense and respond," explains Kaan, "is basically the monitoring of key business activities and – based on the information that comes from monitoring – allowing a client to make the best decisions in a timely manner." The typical implementation of the sense-and-respond model is in supply chain management, where it allows clients to observe demand signals and supplier events, and respond to them.

Kaan says his mathematical models to optimize inventory have been well received by clients. In one instance, IBM helped the client to reduce inventory by 30 percent. As for Kaan, he enjoys a great sense of accomplishment from bringing his cutting-edge research directly to clients. "My experience with clients is that they don’t see me as a just another consultant, but as a researcher who is deeply interested in working on their problems," he says. "Much of the research exists in literature or theory, but the real world hasn’t caught up to it yet. We bring it into practical use for the clients and make it a reality."