Learning objectives
Knowledge and understanding:
At the end of the course, the student will acquire a comprehensive overview of logistic and supply chain processes and will be able to outline their design.
Applied knowledge and understanding:
At the end of the course, the student will acquire the skills required to understand, control and plan all logistic and supply chain activities, with particular attention to warehouse processes and inventory management.
Making judgements:
The student is expected to acquire adequate knowledge for a critical analysis of logistics and supply chain activities.
Communication skills:
The student is expected to acquire a specific vocabulary on logistics and supply chain management and to be able to expose the main concepts and issues related to those areas
Learning ability:
The student should be able to set up the project of logistic picking and inventory management processes, using the MS Excel tool, as well as outlining the results.
Prerequisites
Industrial logistics.
A student who has not attended the Degree Course in Management Engineering at the University of Parma or who does not have a background in Management Engineering and therefore has no knowledge of logistics is invited to contact the lecturer in charge of the course to assess how to proceed.
Course unit content
The course deepens and completes some of the topics already covered in the coiurse of "Industrial Logistics" and proposes new topics complementary to this course, mainly based on a rigorous scientific approach and related to real data and practical exercises carried out through the tool MS Excel ®. The students are also offered the analysis of some case studies related to the topics covered.
Full programme
- The picking process;
- Warehouse management systems;
- Automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS)
- Inventory management policies in deterministic and stochastic environments;
Bibliography
Suggested texts:
- Ferrozzi, Shapiro. Logistics and Strategy Vol I and II. McGraw-Hill
- Dallari, Course in Logistics and Transport, vol.1. HOEPLI, Milan
Other teaching materials:
- slides of the lessons uploaded on the Elly portal
- scientific papers provided by the teacher
Teaching methods
The course consists of 6 CFUs, which are addressed mainly through face-to-face lessons and exercises. The exercises are solved using Microsoft Excel and may be carried out in the laboratory. The frontal lessons are held in the classroom. During the course students are offered the opportunity to deal with some company case studies on specific subjects to be taught, through the intervention of external experts (seminars).
The teacher provides students with the teaching material using the Elly platform, to which the students are invited to subscribe as soon as possible, and in any case, before the beginning of the lessons. The teaching material made available consists of pdf slides divided into the different chapters dealt with during the course. The teacher updates the material yearly, therefore that material may not be available in its entirety at the beginning of the course. However, the teacher will try to make available the material relating to a chapter of the course before the beginning of the chapter itself. The teacher also provides as teaching material the resolution of the exercises carried out in class, on Microsoft Excel files.
Additional teaching material, such as slides used by outsiders during seminars, will be provided to students if made available by the company involved.
Assessment methods and criteria
Verification of learning is through an exam in the form of a quiz, printed and taken in the lab. Conducting the quiz in the lab is necessary because students need the Microsoft Excel tool for solving the exercises proposed in the exam.
The questions contained are multiple-choice type; each question has 5-6 answer options, only one of which is considered correct. The correct answer is worth 1.25 points if it is a theoretical question (-0.30 if the answer is wrong), 3 points if it is an exercise (-0.30 if the answer is wrong).
There is always the option "I prefer not to say," which IS NOT (obviously) the correct answer option, but if selected, it does not result in penalty. Of course, the teacher also interprets any question left blank as "I prefer not to answer."
The test consists of 13 theoretical questions-for a total of 16.25 points-and 5 exercises-for a total of 15 points, so for 31.25 total points (corresponding, if correct, to a score of 30/30 cum laude) and 17 total questions, to be completed in 50 minutes. The teacher may of course give intermediate marks depending on how the student solved each exercise, for which the unfolding is REQUIRED to be reported. For example, if the unfolding is partial or does not allow for justification of the choice made by the student, it is likely that the teacher will not award the maximum score. Similar for an unfolding that contains errors, although leading (eventually) to the right answer choice.
The result of the quiz is calculated by the professor and rounded in the case of a fractional score, in relation to the mathematical score achieved. Specifically, if the decimal part of the grade is between 0.05 and 0.45, the score is rounded down, and if it is between 0.5 and 0.95, the score is rounded up. NO bonus points are added. Therefore, an exam is considered sufficient if the grade earned is at least 17.5. Lower scores are NOT considered sufficient. There is NO oral examination.
The final grade is published by the lecturer through the ESSE3 platform and is valid for n.7 days. When publishing the results, the lecturer signals a useful time for students to view the tests. The professor CANNOT act to accept or decline the grade of the student; that action MUST be made by the students themselves.
Since the examination score is rather mathematical, the teacher advises students against handing in a test in which a number of questions have been completed that mathematically do not allow the pass mark to be reached. In this case, the student is invited to withdraw from the examination.
Registration for the examination in ESSE3 is mandatory in order to take the exam. Students must register within ONE WEEK before the date of the exam; after that date, registrations will be closed. The professor will not accept students who have not booked to take the exam and advises students against making late requests to register for the exam (or presumed to be so) and in any case, such requests are ignored.
Other information
The exam can be taken ONLY and ONLY IF the student is correctly registered on ESSE3 system. A student which is not registered for the exam is not accepted and cannot do it in that session. The teacher also does not accept justifications for this.
Upon successful completion of the examination, the student has a maximum of 15 days to proceed with the verbalization or prosecute the case of rejection of the grade (deadline imposed by the online verbalization system). After that period, if the student has not performed the Reject action (or has not performed any action), the grade is deemed to be accepted and will be verbalized.
Please note that the teacher has no action that can be exercised on the ESSE3 system with regard to the acceptance or rejection of the examination grade. The decision to accept or reject the grade is in fact the student's decision. Any requests made to the teacher regarding the student's willingness to accept or reject the grade CANNOT be followed up in any way.
2030 agenda goals for sustainable development
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