Course Outline: Logistics Modelling

Course code: Click or tap here to enter text.

Credit:3 , Elective Course
Area: Operations & Quantitative Methods

Program: PGDM
Term VI Academic Year 2020-21

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Instructor(s) Name Prof. Harish Rao
Room no. 508
Email harish.rao@imi.edu
Phone (Extn no.) 341
Meeting Hours Will be declared in class
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1. COURSE DESCRIPTION
Post the latest information technology revolution, firms have been vying with each other to
gain every inch of competitive advantage they can over their competitors. Customer demands
have changed drastically in the last decade which has forced businesses to be more agile so as to
respond to the various uncertainties faced by the firm. In the era of doorstep delivery and instant
gratification, it is therefore not surprising that logistics has been one of the key focus areas for
nearly all businesses.

Severe constraints on business operations like land availability, mobility restrictions have
compelled businesses to evolve unique logistics solutions for themselves. Advances in
computational abilities have made this job relatively easier but the modeling challenges have
increased manifold.

Operations Research (OR) has taken giant strides in developing comprehensive mathematical
models to allow managers to take informed decisions even under adverse conditions. Customized
mathematical models go well beyond using generic OR tools into the realms of generating
specialized algorithms and heuristics to arrive at optimal or close-to-optimal solutions.

2. COURSE OUTCOMES (COs)

After going through the course, the students would be able to:

Course Outcome 1 (CO1): Formulate business problems for logistics firms using different
optimization techniques.
Course Outcome 2 (CO2): Implement decision tree frameworks to examine the impact of
uncertainty on decisions in logistics sector.

Course Outcome 3 (CO3): Apply revenue management and dynamic pricing techniques to
optimize revenue in passenger logistics firms (eg. Airlines).

Course Outcome 4 (CO4): Employ simulation models to tackle managerial decision making
issues in service logistics firms.

3. MAPPING OF THE PROGRAM OUTCOMES (POs) AND COURSE OUTCOME (COs)

Course Outcomes (COs)

Program Outcomes (POs) CO CO CO CO

1 2 3 4

PO1: Student should be able to write well organized and grammatically

correct business reports and letters.

PO2: Student should be able to make effective oral presentations.

PO3: Student should be able to demonstrate critical thinking skills by 2 3 3 3

understanding the issues, evaluating alternatives on the basis of multiple
perspectives and presenting a solution including conclusions and
implications.

PO4: Student should be to demonstrate problem solving skills by 2 3 3 3

understanding and defining the problem, analyzing it and solving it by
applying appropriate theories, tools and techniques from various
functional areas of management.

PO5: Student should be able to illustrate the role of responsible

leadership in management.

PO6: Student should be able to identify social concerns and ethical

issues in management.

PO7: Student should be able to identify challenges faced by the

organization at the global level.

PO8: Student should be able to take decisions in the global business

environment.

4. PEDAGOGY
Pedagogy would be a combination of lectures, case studies and problem solving. Lecture classes shall be
discussion based and students are expected to read the relevant chapters from the book and any other
reading material provided before they come to the class. Case studies will be discussed which will help in
understanding Operations Management in actual work situations. The course will be taught as per the
session plan given in this document. Students are expected to participate in the class discussions.

5. COURSE EVALUATION COMPONENTS (CECs)

Assignments 15%
Quizzes 15%
End-term Examination 40%
Group Project 30%
Total 100%

6. MAPPING BETWEEN COs, POs and CECs

COs POs
Assignments/Project Quizzes End-term
CO1 PO3, PO4 √ √ √
CO2 PO3, PO4 √ √ √
CO3 PO3, PO4 √ √ √
CO4 PO3, PO4 √ √ √

7. RESOURCES
As the material for such a course is not readily available in one book, readings and case
studies on each topic will be circulated via email to the students.

7.1 Online References (if any)

Click or tap here to enter text.

8. SESSION PLAN

Session No. Topics to be covered

1 Introduction to the course –an overview

2-3 Fundamentals of Optimization Models: Linear Programming,

 solutions, Mixed integer programming, Use of Binary Variables:
Quick revision
Modeling If-then conditions.
Using disjunctive constraints.

4-5 Post Optimality Analysis of Linear programming models

Understanding sensitivity analysis – Managerial Implications

6 Case study on network models

Illustrated Case: Bloomex Optimization

7 Network Models employing choice variables

Illustrated Case: DHL Supply Chain

8 Linear Programming under Uncertainty – A primer on Stochastic

Optimization with an example in distribution systems

9-11 Simulation basics – Generating random numbers following

different distributions – Excel

Simulating loading dock operations to understand the impact of

uneven arrival rates and finite docking capacity

Simulating multi-counter customer service systems

12 Logistics under conditions of perishability and uncertain limited

supply
Class Exercise: Model Blood Bank

13 Managerial application of Decision Trees

Case: Freemark Abbey Winery

14 Revenue Management and Dynamic Pricing: Fundamentals

15 Revenue Management and Dynamic Pricing: Implications of

yield management in logistics industries
Illustrated Case: American Airlines – Revenue Management

16 Multi-ecehelon, Multi-period Inventory Management Models

 Research Paper: Inventory Optimization at Procter & Gamble

17 Vehicle Routing Optimization

Research Paper: Coca-Cola Enterprises Optimizes Vehicle

Routes for Efficient Product Delivery

18 Capacity Management (Identifying and utilizing free capacity in

logistics)
Research Paper: Capacity Management on Long-Distance
Passenger Trains of Indian Railways.

19-20 Group Project Presentations

9. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY & CLASS RULES

a) Plagiarism is the use of or presentation of ideas, works that are not one’s own and which are not
common knowledge, without granting credit to the originator. Plagiarism is unacceptable in IMI
and will invite penalty. Type and extent of penalty will be at the discretion of the concerned
faculty.

b) Cheating means using written, verbal or electronic sources of aid during an examination/ quiz/
assignment or providing such assistance to other students (except in cases where it is expressly
permitted by the faculty). It also includes providing false data or references/list of sources which
either do not exist or have not been used, having another individual write your paper or
assignment or purchasing a paper for one’s own submission. Cheating is strictly prohibited at IMI
and will invite penalty as per policies of the Institute .