Pooja Jain and Ruchi Shivhare, both Department of Technology graduate students, participated in a special research project internship with the logistics arm of RR Donnelley, a major marketing and business communications company.

The research project involved process analysis to help improve the business operations by applying quality management and analytics techniques the students learned in the technology-quality management and analytics graduate program.

The scope of this research project was to determine costs by extracting big data from the warehouse, analyzing space management data, and developing a discrete event simulation model to predict operational outcomes. In November the project was presented to representatives from Illinois State University and RR Donnelley’s senior leadership at the company’s headquarters in Warrenville.

This internship opportunity is a part of a long-term engagement plan developed by RR Donnelley and Illinois State Technology Professor Borinara Park over the past few years to promote active exchanges between the Department of Technology’s quality management and analytics graduate program and the company’s business units. This project helped to enhance Illinois State University’s outreach efforts and laid the foundation for collaboration with industry partners.