Scuola Universitaria Interdipartimentale in Scienze Strategiche (SUISS)

The course contributes to meeting the objective of the “Scienze Strategiche” and “Scienze Strategiche e Militari” Master Programs to deepen the knowledge of those technical and engineering aspects that will allow students to work in the defense area or to operate within the Italian Army. In particular, this course deals with the typical design and management problems characterizing a logistics-distribution system as a complex system constituted by a variety of variables and actors (e.g.: suppliers, customers, logistics service providers, etc.) as well as relationships among them.

Knowledge and understanding skills

At the end of the course students will be able to:

• Describe the origins and evolution of logistics, in both civil and military environments.
• Describe the structure of a logistics-distribution system as a network consisting of stocks of goods together with material and information flows.
• Recognize the main design and management issues characterizing a logistics-distribution system.
• Identify and apply the most appropriate operational tools to address demand forecasting, inventory management, transportation management, and in general to increase logistics system efficiency.
• Analyze how recent management and technological innovations contribute to the governance of logistics-distribution systems and to improving their performance.

Autonomy of judgment

At the end of the course students will know how to:

• Critically analyze real logistics systems.
• Solve simple problems related to the configuration and operational management of logistics-distribution networks.
• Interpret the outcomes of performance assessments of logistics-distribution systems.

Communication skills

At the end of the course students will be able to use the technical language adopted in logistics systems analysis.

• The notion of logistics and its evolution with basics of military logistics.
• Review of statistics.
• Demand forecasting: general approach and main methods.
• Inventory management in a single warehouse: ABC analysis, Economic Order Quantity model (EOQ), Fixed-Time Period Model.
• Push and pull systems.
• Lean Logistics, Just in Time (JIT), and Kanban systems.
• Simulating the management of logistics networks: the Beer Game.
• Distribution networks: structure, types, role of intermediate warehouses.
• Inventory management in the entire supply chain.
• Coordination in logistics networks and the Bullwhip Effect.
• Transportation management: the Traveling Salesman Problem and the Vehicle Routing Problem.

The course will consist of 56 hours, including lectures and practice sessions where students will solve, under the guidance of an instructor, numerical problems by applying the topics discussed during lectures. Teaching is based on a strong interaction between students and instructors.
During the course some in class tests will be held with the aim of ascertaining the knowledge of the topics covered in both lectures and practice sessions.
Finally, students, organized in small groups, will develop a report where they analyze a real logistics system of their choice and apply the concepts discussed during the course. This report will be submitted at the end of the course and graded by the instructors. The report mark will be part of the final course grade.
The course structure illustrated here requires a constant and active participation of students in both lectures and practice sessions.

Intermediate assessment and final test.

Exam texts indicated by the teacher at the beginning of the course.