Dr. Lingfeng Li
Operations Research Manager
FedEx
Friday, April 1, 2022
2:00-3:00pm
Abstract:
In this study, we introduce Efficiency Frontier, an economic assessment framework for business operations. The proposed framework emphasizes efficiency and sustainability. It aims to help organizations translate a complex metric system into a value index, conduct performance evaluation, and determine efficient resource planning strategies. Unlike the traditional methods that majorly focus on the achievement of performance targets, the proposed framework also accounts for the amount of resource that is invested in the achievement, which encourages managers to implement sustainable strategies that aim for long-term success. To validate the new framework, we systematically study the case of the City of Chicago’s 311 contact center with a base case analysis and a sensitivity analysis. In the base case, an Efficiency Frontier architected by a set of efficient solutions from 2013 to 2016 is used to identify outperforming scenarios given resource constraints. In the sensitivity analysis, we demonstrate the application of Efficiency Frontier in determining optimal resource planning strategies in conservative, moderate, and aggressive business investment scenarios. The base case Efficiency Frontier reveals that the marginal return on investment in improving the performance may diminish as investment increases. The sensitivity study suggests that optimal resource planning strategies should be adjusted according to value propositions. This work builds a framework for business leaders to economically assess their operational decision-making.
Bio:
Dr. Lingfeng Li is an Operations Research Manager at FedEx. His team is responsible for elevating Machine Learning models and Time Series analysis to produce long range and short-term forecasts for over 400 service centers in the FedEx Freight network. Prior to joining FedEx, he worked for Vanguard, one of the largest investment management firms with 10 million investors, as an Investment Consultant and an Operations Research & Decision Scientist. Lingfeng also spent 6 years with NYU School of Medicine and NYU Langone Health as a Research Scientist. Lingfeng earned his PhD and MS in Operations Research from Mississippi State and a Bachelor of Engineering and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Beijing Institute of Technology.