Design for Transport and Logistics

This course in Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences focuses on developing control structures for complex freight transport and logistics systems. Students learn to evaluate and select designs based on performance, costs, and design requirements.

• Teachers: R. N. van Lieshout, A. H. Schrotenboer. 
• Academic level: Master.
• Stakeholders: Lecturer and company data/company representatives. 
• Disciplines: Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences – Operations Planning Accounting and Control.
• Resources: Books and scientific literature.

SETUP

In this course, students acquire skills in designing control structures for intricate freight transport and logistics systems while considering technological, economic, and organizational limitations. They gain the ability to assess various designs and choose the most suitable one based on performance and cost criteria, ensuring that design requirements are met effectively. 

This course consists of instructions, lectures with a case-study assignment, and presentation in the exam week. 

INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES (ILOS)

This course trains the students to develop control structures for the control of complex freight transport and logistics systems, taking into account the technological, economical and organizational constraints that a design has to satisfy. The students learn to evaluate the designs and select one that best satisfies the design requirements in terms of performance and costs.  This is made specific by addressing the following Learning Outcomes (LOs): 

• Investigate and analyze a complex logistics environment and critically assess it by summarizing relevant bottlenecks and characteristics. 
• Identify and consciously decide upon a challenging business problem within the logistics environment and relate it to state-of-the-art knowledge in the application domain. 
• Identify the key optimization problem in the business problem by identifying a mathematical conceptual model. 
• Design and develop the mathematical models underlying the optimization problem using mixed-integer programming or any other relevant established approach within mathematical programming. 
• Design and develop a solution approach fitting to the optimization problem that is computationally feasible and valid for the business context. 
• Evaluate the quality of the solution approach by testing it on the optimization problem and the associated business problem. 
• Collaborate in groups and present recommendations of the challenge towards business owners. 

LEARNING ACTIVITIES

The case-study of this course can be based on the following topics: 

• Design of freight-based Logistics Networks. 
• Network Optimization models and methods. 
• Planning and Scheduling for Long-Haul Freight Transportation. 
• Planning and Scheduling for Short-Haul Freight Transportation. 
• Design of people-based logistics networks. 
• Timetabling. 
• Crew and vehicle scheduling. 

ASSESSMENT

The case study will be divided into three specific tasks, each of the three tasks will be evaluated by a grade between 1 and 10. The final grade will be determined by the average of the three grades of each of the tasks. A student will pass the course if the average grade of the three cases is at least 5.5. In case of insufficient grade, the students can re-submit improved solutions of these tasks within 4 additional weeks. 

EVALUATION

There is a group discussion about the quality of the course in the final meeting and students are asked to fill in the written survey at the end of the course.