June 03, 2025

The group partnered with CTI to optimize their supply ordering based on historical logistical data for their capstone project.

A student’s Mizzou Engineering experience isn’t complete without a hands-on capstone project. These group projects encourage industrial engineering students to connect with local companies to develop solutions to real-world engineering problems.

This semester, one group of students partnered with CTI, a company specializing in gas detection based in Columbia, Missouri. Their goal was to optimize operations within the company.

Read more from students Martin Cueto Rasetti, Sam Kenyon, Kavin Trivedi and Austin Yarbrough to learn about the project and what they learned from the experience.

The problem

Our problem consisted of identifying the most cost-effective supplier(s) and order quantities given factors such as minimum order quantity, tariffs, lead time for the bottles to arrive and other similar factors.

We tested several industrial engineering techniques to approach the problem. We ultimately settled on developing a supplier purchasing model in Excel that encapsulated all of our variables to provide various solutions for differing input scenarios.

This concept came from one of our previous classes, and the idea to use it in our capstone came from a meeting with a Mizzou Engineering alum and our professors.

The preparation

Industrial and systems engineering professors provided us with the background of how to approach our capstone project from a variety of different techniques. With the fundamentals laid out, it was helpful to use these courses in thinking about how to solve our problem.

It was also beneficial for us to be able to go back to those professors who had more expertise in the areas we needed to assist us in finding our solution.

The process

The first part of our project consisted of touring CTI and learning about their business operations and general production process. Once we had a fundamental understanding, we dove deeper into an area of concern they had, that being the testing gas process and supplier selection.

From there, we collected various types of data including process time studies, historical sales and demand, pricing and capital structure, and supplier parameters. We then met with company contacts to determine what they cared the most about in terms of how to choose a supplier and then built a model to help determine that.

The projection

We formulated a comprehensive report including various scenarios and delivered it to the company based on the information gathered.

Using our baseline solution with tariff levels current to our presentation date, we calculated that our model would save CTI approximately $50,498-$168,950 annually depending on the gas bottle type.

Additionally, we provided data for the cost of a robust supply chain if CTI has more than one supplier per bottle type. Moreover, we also recommended suspending the “refillable bottle program” to save a projected $192,592 in annual spending on refillable bottles.

The payoff

We learned several things throughout the course of the project. A clear takeaway is that not everything you try will work the first time; two prior approaches to this project failed before we found a technique that would work. We also learned how to use in-class concepts in real-world applications and the process of doing so.

A final lesson was the importance of asking questions and consulting outside resources when necessary. We would not have been able to have a successful project without the input and advice from CTI team members, Mizzou professors or alumni advisors.

The partnership

CTI was a great company to work with and were incredibly supportive of our team. We are grateful for the experience they gave us and how they helped provide real-world experience for our team members.

CTI had a fantastic balance of guidance, providing information and acting as a client that expected real results from our capstone group. Overall, it was a very rewarding and beneficial experience for our capstone members to be a part of. 

Learn more about industrial engineering at Mizzou!