(TSE03-H) Assessment Tool and Visualization for Regional Supply Chain Impacts

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh PA

Investigators

Abstract

This grant provides funding to construct and demonstrate a decision-support and visualization tool to examine the spatial distribution of supply chain environmental impacts and sustainability implications of producing many different goods and services in the United States. This work builds upon an existing 500-sector economic input-output model of the United States economy that has been used in conjunction with energy, environmental, and other data to show where in the supply chain impacts occur. Currently, most models in this domain provide only total national level estimates. This project will take the first steps to highly detailed estimates in this project by providing regional and state-level indicators. This method should also allow specific firms to compare their known supply chains with our estimates from each sector. Local analyses of economic changes typically omit the many indirect supply chain effects that occur. For example, the emissions related to automobile manufacturing extend far beyond the assembly plant. The result of this project will trace purchases among 485 economic sectors and identify possible supplier locations among existing plants. The spatial distribution of impacts, the location of supply chain and transportation routes will be visualized in a Geographic Information System (GIS). Typical analyses include location of a new automobile assembly plant, infrastructure investment, shifts to ecommerce, growth in service sectors, etc. Use of the analysis system is intended help reduce environmental effects of the regional economy, e.g., by reducing transportation demands, moving suppliers closer to the production facilities, showing a firm's indirect impacts, etc. With free availability on the World Wide Web, we anticipate widespread use of the system.