Marketing & Strategic Planning

Economic Impact of the Foreign Farm Laborer on U.S. Local Communities

An issue that has been greatly debated over the past decade is the impact of immigrant farm workers on the U.S. and local economies. Concerns that increases in immigrant farm workers may lower domestic wages are of interest to U.S. policy makers, however farm owners argue that insufficient labor supply has negatively affected farmland and lowered profits. The H-2A temporary agricultural program is a way for agricultural employers who anticipate a shortage of domestic workers to bring nonimmigrant foreign workers to the U.S. to perform agricultural labor or services of a temporary or seasonal nature. The objective of this study was to compare the benefits received by U.S. citizens under welfare programs to the income earned by a typical H-2A worker. The study also analyzed the impact of the H-2A program on local employment and economy.

 Implementation of a Logistics Platform for the Distribution of Fresh Produce from Sinaloa in the United States

In this project, our purpose is to improve the commercialization and distribution practices of fresh produce from Sinaloa into the United States. Particularly, we are proposing the development of a long term, progressive strategy to vertically integrate the Sinaloan fresh produce, supply chain through a logistics platform, so that producers gain more control of the distribution of their products.

Forecast and Capacity Planning for Nogales’ Ports of Entry

The two international points of entry connecting the cities of Nogales, Arizona with Nogales, Sonora in Mexico are vital for the economy of these two cities, the region and extremely important for trade between the United States and Mexico. Those ports are the Mariposa POE and the DeConcini POE. In order to meet the expected increase in traffic at the international ports of entry in Nogales, the federal government and the State of Arizona are considering the expansion of the capacity of both ports in the near future. Sizing this new capacity requires forecasting the demand for each of the ports of entry as a foundation for developing appropriate expansion plans.

Intelligent Food Defense Systems for International Supply Chains: The Case of Mexican Fresh Produce to the U.S.

In this project, we aim to expand the state-of-the-art of inspection strategy research to accommodate the unique characteristics of a particular sensitive type of imports: fresh produce. Our vision of this research is to have science-based intelligent inspection systems that can be used in a variety of fields, but not only the detection of “tainted” foodstuff problem. This research will develop highly adaptive inspection methodologies that over time can learn to detect new threats and will also easily incorporate new sensors and sources of information.

Development of a Pilot Simulation Model of the Bridge of the Americas

The international bridges connecting El Paso, TX with Juarez, Chihuahua, are a vital component of the economy of both countries. Because of the growth in cross border manufacturing and commerce activities, the traffic has increased considerably.

Development of Planning Tools for the Supply Chain of Fresh Produce

The US market for fresh agricultural products has become an important source of revenue and growth for the food supply chain. This market accounts for nearly a quarter of all food expenditures in the US, and has an annual estimated consumption of over a $100 Billion in fruits and vegetables related products (Epperson and Estes, 1999).

Efficient Aircraft Boarding Strategies

One of the main factors affecting turn time for a commercial airline is passenger boarding time. Reducing boarding time, however, is difficult since it directly involves the passengers. By assigning passengers to groups (or zones) the airline obtains some level of control on the boarding process.

Work Allocation Strategies for Serial Assembly Lines under High Labor Turnover

Labor turnover can be very detrimental to the performance of traditional serial assembly lines. It has been shown that high turnover rates can reduce annual production throughput in serial assembly lines by more than 16% when these lines operate under a balanced work allocation strategy.