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Benita Beamon
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Benita Beamon

Associate Professor:
Industrial Engineering

141F Aerospace and Engineering Research Building
Department of Industrial Engineering
University of Washington

Box 352650
Seattle, WA, 98195-2650

benita at u.washington.edu 1.206.543.2308 (voice)

Personal Page
faculty.washington.edu/benita/index.htm
 
Personal Statement PDF Print

Research Interests

The primary focus of my research program is to use quantitative methods (discrete-event simulation, mathematical modeling, and statistics) to develop management policies for humanitarian relief, supply chain, and production systems. My early work focused on developing and applying performability (performance and reliability) measures to production systems, which provided a foundation for research focused on larger-scale production and service (supply chain) systems. Since then, I have applied this foundation to new areas, including environmentally conscious supply chain management and humanitarian relief chains.

Humanitarian Relief Chains

My particular expertise relates directly to the support of humanitarian logistics research and practice through establishing effective performance evaluation and management of humanitarian relief chains. This inter-disciplinary research project fills a critical need in the several-billion-dollar humanitarian relief sector, and involves University of Washington colleagues from Technical Communication and the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs. The majority of existing supply chain research focuses on managing and/or optimizing the commercial supply of material goods. Humanitarian relief chains are an important domain for supply chain management that has received little attention. The unpredictability of global emergencies (e.g., volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, floods) and the stakes associated with adequate and timely delivery dominate the uniqueness and challenge of managing the material flow of the relief chain, with the ultimate objectives of delivering the correct amount or number of people, goods, and monetary resources to locations worldwide in a timely manner. I am especially proud and hopeful that, through innovations in relief chain management, we may minimize human suffering caused by natural and man-made disasters. Recent and current projects include:

  • Performance Measurement. The objectives of this research are to:
    • Establish procedures for developing performance measurement systems for the relief chain.
    • Develop appropriate performance measures for the humanitarian relief chain.
    • Develop a new procurement strategy for humanitarian logistics.
  • Inventory Control in the Relief Chain. In this research, we developed a stochastic inventory control model that determines optimal order quantities and re-order points for a long-term emergency relief response (Beamon, Benita M. and Stephen A. Kotleba (2006), “Inventory Modeling for Complex Emergencies in Humanitarian Relief Operations”, International Journal of Logistics: Research and Applications,Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 1-18). We then developed a simulation model, a relief-specific performance measurement system, and a statistical analysis methodology in order to identify the critical system factors that contribute most significantly to inventory system performance. Our research demonstrates the benefits that an effective (quick-response) and efficient (low-cost) inventory management strategy can have on an emergency relief program.
  • Distribution Strategy for a Humanitarian Relief Supply Network. This ongoing research determines the appropriate number/location of relief warehouses, and the assignment of warehouses to potential demand points. This research implicitly answers the question of whether to use owned warehouses versus direct supplier shipments versus a combination and completely specifies material flows, while considering the proportion of met demand for each item type.