Course Outline 2016
OPSMGT 371: BUSINESS LOGISTICS (15 POINTS)
Semester 1 (1163)
_______________________________________________________________
Course Prescription
Covers current issues in business logistics. Focuses on coordinating logistics across supply
chains. Topic coverage features modelling using spreadsheets and includes transportation,
forecasting, and inventory control models suitable for use in a distribution and supply chain
context.
Programme and Course Advice
Prerequisite: OPSMGT 255 or STATS 255 or ENGSCI 255
Goals of the Course
The overarching objective of the course is to improve students’ employability by helping them
prepare to be useful for their future employers “from day one”. More specifically, the course is
aiming to provide students with knowledge and help build skills (business analytics, broadly
defined) necessary to handle real-life problems in the area of logistics. The course is most useful
if taken simultaneously or after the supply chain strategy (OPSMGT 370) and business analytics
(INFOMGT 290) courses but before the supply chain coordination course (OPSMGT 376 “Strategic
procurement”).
Learning Outcomes
By the
1.
2.
3.
end of this course it is expected that students will be able to:
understand interconnectedness of the decision areas in a supply chain;
understand the necessity of using models for business decision-making;
develop and use a variety of spreadsheet models most commonly used for decisionmaking in logistics, namely, forecasting models, transportation models, network design
models and aggregate planning models
4. understand how to prove the value of their work to the companies (and those who will
have worked on real-life logistics problems with companies will be able to obtain a proof
of the amount of extra profit that (will have) resulted from their work).
Content Outline
The following topics will be studied (the sequence and timing as per the “Course schedule” on
CECIL):
1. Introduction to modelling and spreadsheet modelling
2. Business Consulting, The Value of Perfect Information, forecasting
3. Transportation
4. Network design
5. Aggregate planning
6. Inventory management
7. Proof of value
Learning and Teaching
1. The pedagogy of the course revolves around improving students’ abilities to handle reallife problems, to create solutions as opposed to memorizing the instructors’ or the
textebook’s actions: “… trying to learn from watching a professor lecturing [It's] like trying
to lose weight by watching a professor exercise” (Dr. Sebastian Thrun). Most of the class
time is devoted to students’ “hands-on” learning, specifically to developing models in MS
Excel.
2. Students interested in more in-depth learning have an option and are strongly
encouraged to engage into working on the projects with the companies. They will deal
with a variety of activities dictated by a real-life problem chosen for their project. These
typically include team-building, collaboration, data collection, making written reports,
preparing and delivering oral presentations to the companies and, possibly, in class.
3. It is expected that a student studying according to the instructor’s recommendations, in
particular, investing five hours every week into studying for the course outside of the
class, will get the letter grade “B” or above.
Teaching Staff
Dr Valery Pavlov
Tel: 373 7599 ext. 88726 (please, note the voice mail is unattended so email is better)
Room 424 Level 4 OGGB
Email: v.pavlov@auckland.ac.nz
Office hours: TBA
Learning Resources
Course textbook: Supply Chain Management: Strategy, Planning, and Operations by S. Chopra
and P. Meindl. (6th ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Students working on real-life problems with the companies may have to deal with certain aspects
of the problem beyond logistics and may benefit from using complementary models not covered
in the course. In such cases the following text may also prove helpful:
Practical Management Science: Spreadsheet Modeling and Applications by W. Whinston and S.C.
Albright (any edition)
Other materials will be posted on CECIL and/or handed out in class. There is no course notebook;
students are advised to use binders.
Assessment
Assignment
Type
Several lab assignments
Four homework assignments
Four in-class tests (closed book) *
Final Exam (there is no final exam)
Term Project (optional) **
individual
individual
individual
n/a
group
Weight
not marked
not marked
100%
n/a
20%
(bonus)
Total
100%
* – equally weighted. If you miss a test (for valid reasons as evidenced by an aegrotat form) its
weight will be added to the weight of the next test. If you miss the last test (again, for valid
reasons) you mark will be the average of marks that you got on previous tests. Missing more
than two tests entails an automatic failure of the course. No extra-credit tests will be offered.
** – Term Project marks will be added at the top of other marks with an appropriate weight.
The likely relationship between assessments and learning outcomes:
Learning
Outcome
Lab and HW
Assignments
Group
Project
In-class
Tests
1
X
X
X
2
X
X
X
3
X
X
X
4
X
X
X
Other resources and information
Other course-relevant information (such as relevant policies, assignment guidelines, model
papers, etc.) is provided on the University web sites (nDeva, CECIL, etc.). All course-wide
announcements will be made in class and duplicated in the “Announcement” part of the course
web-page on CECIL.
Inclusive Learning
Students are urged to discuss privately any impairment-related requirements face-to-face
and/or in written form with the course convenor/lecturer and/or tutor.
Student Feedback
At the end of the course:
1. Students may be asked to express their satisfaction with the course by filling out evaluation
forms.
2. Students are encouraged to share any information that they believe is relevant for making
them more competitive on the job market.
Formative feedback
Although perceptions of the students about the course are very important, it is understood that
the end customers of business education are companies and, therefore, it is the feedback from
the employers that is given most consideration in the assessment of how well the course helps
graduates meet the customer expectations.
Such feedback from the companies can take different forms. The objective indicators include,
for example, the number of students who worked on the projects and got job offers from the
companies they worked with, the number of companies that worked with the course students in
the past and now are seeking to get a group of students to help handling some logistics problems.