CTL@50 Presents: 50 Years of Delivering Innovation – A Conversation with FedEx Founder Fred Smith
Channel: MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics
Date: 2023-01-31

To kick off the 50th anniversary celebration of the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics, FedEx Founder and Executive Chairman Frederick W. Smith sits down with MIT CTL Director Yossi Sheffi for a "fireside chat"-style conversation.

An industry visionary, the concepts of package tracking and even overnight shipping were unheard of in 1973, when FedEx began operations. CTL was founded the same year and has since become one of the world's foremost supply chain and logistics research centers.

Smith and Sheffi reflect on the innovations and surprises of the past 50 years, how globalization and free trade have evolved to make supply chains what they are today, and offer some thoughts about how the industry might shift in the future—including the role of automation.