Even in the era of high-tech commerce and increased air freight, shipping goods via oceans is still a key cog in the global supply chain.

As such, The Port of Savannah is one of the nation's fastest growing and includes two deep-water terminals: Garden City and the Ocean Terminal. To handle the surge of additional freight, governments of the United States and state of Georgia are funding a 10-year, $2.5 billion plan to expand the port to serve larger vessels and a greater volume of cargo. It is scheduled for completion in 2022.

The port expansion has included massive infrastructure needs and these changes have created several logistic challenges. In July 2018, the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) turned to two in-state resources to help: the state's Center of Innovation for Logistics and the Supply Chain and Logistics (SCL) Institute at Georgia Tech. The three bodies signed a Memorandum of Understanding to provide research and data analysis to help the GPA navigate its growth strategies.

"Over the past three years we were getting to know the ports management team, we opened a supply chain and logistic branch on the Georgia Tech-Savannah campus and started interacting with the port more," said Tim Brown director of the SCL Institute at Georgia Tech. "We had the international emphasis and an international faculty with those interests, and we wanted to start working more here in the state and domestically."

Each of the project's partners has a distinct role. For Georgia Tech's SCL, its data research. In January 2019, the SCL's research teams were ramping up efforts to analyze data to find solutions to various issues, such as helping cargo owners and third-party logistics providers streamline their supply chains. While the port is benefiting from the expertise of Georgia Tech's team of data analysts, the faculty and students are able to gain real-world experience in solving such problems.

Read the full article on the ISE Magazine website to learn more about the project and how Georgia Tech is using their supply chain expertise to analyze data and anticipate problems.