Logistics systems

Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session

This subject is a survey of the fundamental analytic tools, approaches, and techniques which are useful in the design and operation of logistics systems and integrated supply chains. The material is taught from a managerial perspective, with an emphasis on where and how specific tools can be used to improve the overall performance and reduce the total cost of a supply chain. We place a strong emphasis on the development and use of fundamental models to illustrate the underlying concepts involved in both intra and inter-company logistics operations.

The three main topic areas we will focus on are:

Additionally, we will discuss:

While our main objective is to develop and use models to help us analyze these situations, we will make heavy use of examples from industry to provide illustrations of the concepts in practice. This is neither a purely theoretical nor a case study course, but rather an analytical course that addresses real problems found in practice.

The four primary objectives of this course are:

Permission of instructors. The course also presumes a basic understanding of calculus, probability, statistics, and linear programming. Standard spreadsheet programs (such as Microsoft® Excel) will be sufficient for the required analysis.

[SPP] Silver, Edward, David Pyke, and Rein Peterson. Inventory Management and Production Planning and Scheduling. 3rd ed. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, 1998. ISBN: 9780471119470.

Miscellaneous papers and manuscripts will be posted on the MIT Server and are referred to by the authors and publication date.

[N] Nahmias, Steven. Production and Operations Analysis. 5th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2004. ISBN: 9780071238373.

[CM] Chopra, Sunil, and Peter Meindl. Supply Chain Management. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2006. ISBN: 9780131730427.

[B] Ballou, Ronald. Business Logistics Management. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003. ISBN: 9780130661845.

[CT] Cachon, Gerard, and Christian Terwiesch. Matching Supply with Demand: An Introduction to Operations Management. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2005. ISBN: 9780072918991.

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