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The case focuses on the evolution of Einride, a Swedish startup that provides supply chain logistics capacity as a service (CaaS) and software as a service (SaaS) through its Saga platform. Initially, it may seem that Einride is a manufacturer of unique cabless autonomous electric trucks. In fact, the company doesn't manufacture anything. It is a tech company that designs the different elements of a trucking freight and logistics ecosystem that includes autonomous electric trucks, trailers, charging stations, remote operator pods and a software platform that consists of multiple apps needed to manage and optimize a fleet of electric trucks.

Jarsh Safety received an order of 500 units of its Model S helmet. However, the order must be delivered within 15 days. Jarsh Safety was founded by three engineering college peers, who conceptualized air-conditioned, industrial safety helmets. This innovative revolutionary product offered industrial workers not only safety but aesthetics and comfort. The founders hoped that the product could change the perception of safety helmets from mandatory wear to desired wear. The case details the production process, staffing, raw material required and procurement lead time.

The Akooda case describes the challenges confronting founder and CEO Yuval Gonczarowski (MBA '17) in 2022 as he attempts to boost sales. Launched in November 2020, Akooda was an AI company that mined 20 different sources of digital data, from tools like Slack, Google Drive, Jira, and Salesforce. Akooda's interfaces helped companies with knowledge management, process tracking, and onboarding employees by allowing managers to display real-time topics that teams and individuals engaged in during their actual work. Gonczarowski's company had begun to develop a reputation for helping companies generate insights previously obscured by the disparate software technologies used in day-to-day work. Despite strong growth, a large prospective client wanted Gonczarowski to use Akooda's artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities to surveil, monitor, and measure the performance of individual employees. But Akooda's category was nascent, and Gonczarowski feared that providing companies with invasive monitoring tools would cause employees to distrust Akooda, hindering its ability to generate insights from employees' public-facing data. The case describes how Akooda impacts managers' roles in information-abundant but physically disconnected environments and Gonczarowski's needed to walk a tightrope between providing insights about company operations and monitoring previously private communications and activities.

Supplement to 616010.

The task before Siddhidhar Parulekar seemed challenging. Only eight months before, in March 2021, he had joined Dovrex Company (Dovrex) as senior director of global strategic supply chain. In an industrial-equipment company that utilized roughly a thousand suppliers and tens of thousands of part numbers, he knew there were bound to be opportunities for savings and supply chain improvements-but where were they? And how should he start to find them? Parulekar formed an internal team to partner with a consulting firm to conduct a procurement diagnostic, which he hoped would justify investment in a transformational strategic sourcing initiative. The consultants produced a "spending cube" (included in the accompanying student spreadsheet) that covered every line item of every purchase order over the prior 11 quarters. As Parulekar perused the spending cube, he realized the team needed to prioritize a subset for the initial analysis. This case is taught at Darden in the second-year "Operations Strategy" course in a module covering strategic sourcing. It could also be used in a course with the focus or one on the broader topic of supply chain management.

Spreadsheet supplement for case UV8883.

In a business environment characterized by accelerating change and growing uncertainty, teams whose orientation spans both the internal organization and the external business ecosystem are nimbler and drive more innovation and also serve to distribute leadership throughout the organization. The authors review the challenges of successfully implementing the x-team model of collaboration and describe the success factors common among high-performing x-teams.

In March 2020, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global supply chains. The spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus affected the entire world, including the scenic Prince Edward County in Eastern Ontario. Three co-owners of the boutique distillery Kinsip House of Fine Spirits (Kinsip) were inspired to contribute to their community’s efforts to limit further spread of the virus. As a distillery, Kinsip was aptly able to produce the principal ingredient of hand sanitizer—ethanol. The other two main ingredients—glycerol and hydrogen peroxide—were generally procured on the open market from North American suppliers. Obtaining the right packaging for the sanitizer as quickly as possible, including both the bottle and the cap, was one of the key challenges the three partners were facing. Another challenge was navigating Health Canada’s approval process. In addition, the partners needed to determine Kinsip’s capacity to supply hand sanitizer to the local region and the production schedule on which it could deliver the product.

CPlex input file to accompany W27140.

CPlex solution file to accompany product W27141.

On June 25, 2021, Professor Pratik Modi, chairperson of the postgraduate program at the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), attended a meeting with the director and chairpersons of different academic areas and programs, where it was decided that the upper limit on the number of elective courses offered by each area should be done away with, considering the requirements of students and faculty members. Although the decision to remove the upper limit seemed to be beneficial to all parties, it would pose a challenge in terms of scheduling classes, given the number of constraints involved. Modi was determined that a solution could be found using the tools and techniques of operations research, which was taught as one of the core subjects at IRMA.

Spreadsheet to accompany product W27140.

Instructor Spreadsheet to accompany product W27141.

On June 25, 2021, Professor Pratik Modi, chairperson of the postgraduate program at the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), attended a meeting with the director and chairpersons of different academic areas and programs, where it was decided that the upper limit on the number of elective courses offered by each area should be done away with, considering the requirements of students and faculty members. Although the decision to remove the upper limit seemed to be beneficial to all parties, it would pose a challenge in terms of scheduling classes, given the number of constraints involved. Modi was determined that a solution could be found using the tools and techniques of operations research, which was taught as one of the core subjects at IRMA.

Spreadsheet Supplement for Case W27140

Many companies were unprepared for the supply chain disruptions triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, even though the threat of a global pandemic had been well known for nearly 20 years. Companies need a new mindset to prepare for the inevitable black swan triggers of the next supply disruption. The ADDAPT Framework features six capabilities anticipate, detect, diagnose, activate, protect, and track to better manage for such disruptions and maintain product flow from suppliers to customers.

It is fall 2022, and open-source AI model company Hugging Face is considering its three areas of priorities: platform development, supporting the open-source community, and pursuing cutting-edge scientific research. As it expands services for enterprise clients, which services should it prioritize? Will these projects be in line with Hugging Face's volunteer community? Further, Hugging Face decided to remove a model uploaded by a contributor, due to the potential harm the leadership felt it could propagate. Was it the right decision?

This case describes The Boeing Company's production process for assembling and supplying kit carts to 787 Dreamliner final assembly lines and explores appropriate strategies for solving challenging issues within the process. The case employs a systems analysis approach to break the process into sub-systems and analyze inputs and outputs at every level. The 787 program pioneered numerous innovative manufacturing processes Boeing planned to implement on other commercial airliners. Chief among them was the use of kit carts to deliver parts and tools to mechanics. However, after kitting was implemented in 2016, the 787 program experienced challenges delivering kits to the right place, at the right time, and with the right parts. Kitting was a critical part of the streamlined 787 assembly process. Just one incorrect or incomplete kit on the production floor led to delays, and challenges with assembly schedules, on-time delivery, and financial consequences. Students will use a holistic approach to analyze complex information systems, as well as identify internal process improvements to ensure on-time parts delivery.

This technical note offers an overview of artificial intelligence (AI) and some ways in which machine learning is leveraged to build this type of intelligence. The note also explores two schools of thought around AI's potential, discusses the possible roles for AI in business, highlights opportunities for collaboration between employees and AI, and considers one approach around responsible AI implementation. This note is taught at Darden in the second-year Digital Operations course. It would also be suitable in a module covering AI.