Course overview

Logistics and supply chain management bring together the business skills to manage the activities and flows of information between suppliers, manufacturers, logistics service providers, retailers and consumers.

Logistics analysis is critical to success in both manufacturing and service industries. Competitive advantage will increasingly come from the supplier's ability to rapidly respond to changing customer needs, for which effective logistics are of prime importance.

This course focuses on the integration of analytical techniques for optimisation with the decision issues and technology relating to logistics and supply chain management. It covers a range of modules that combine lectures, tutorials and practical sessions to solve case studies using software. It aims to:

• provide an understanding of logistics and supply chain management
• provide an understanding of the available methods to model and solve optimisation and scheduling problems in logistics and supply chain management
• provide implementation skills to solve logistics and supply chain management problems using optimisation and simulation software
• develop intellectual, analytical and problem-solving skills that will help develop professional and interpersonal abilities

Course content

You will study the following units:

Supply Chain Management: Supply chain management is a philosophy, the implementation process and the control of this process through which different entities within a supply chain aim to streamline their activities to improve the overall effectiveness and efficiency of meeting final customer requirements. A variety of different techniques will be investigated, ranging from conceptual frameworks, analytical approaches, to computer-based models.

This unit enable you to develop advanced skills so that you can deal with problems of supply chain management across different products, locations, and companies. The types of problems studied in this course are encountered in industry (e.g. retail, discrete or continuous production and logistics service providers) as well as in service organisations (e.g. banks, hospitals and law firms). Managers dealing with such problems are known under various titles, including production, operations, supply (chain), inventory, purchasing, distribution or logistics managers. 

Logistics Modelling: Most problems arising in the fields of logistics and supply chain management have sufficient complexity and detail that they require the use of sophisticated modelling techniques. This unit looks at two of the most commonly used methodologies for modelling and solving logistics problems: simulation and heuristic techniques. In both cases a computer package is used to assist solution. The techniques will be demonstrated with a range of case studies drawn from the field of logistics including transportation, supply chain configuration and management, warehouse design and layout, container port layout, production planning and vehicle routing. 

Operations Management: This unit teaches operations management techniques that are relevant to logistics. The commonly used techniques of linear and integer programming will be taught using Microsoft Excel based methods for solution. You will look at case studies covering production planning, transportation, logistics planning and supply chain configuration. You will also be taught about locating facilities such as factories, distribution centres, cross docking centres and retail outlets. The effective scheduling of labour force and machines will be demonstrated, and current state-of-the art production planning models will be covered.

Strategic Logistics: This unit looks at the field of logistics from a strategic point of view. A number of quantitative techniques for strategic decision making such as decision analysis, multi-criteria decision analysis, data envelopment analysis and queuing theory are introduced in the context of logistics applications. The topic of strategic decisions in transportation modelling is then covered. The unit is completed by the analysis of a number of case studies relating to different applications of logistics with respect to financial, environmental, societal and economic objectives.

Project (Masters Logistics): This unit allows you to conduct research into a larger scale or challenging logistics problem. The project may be practical or theoretical and may arise either from the supervisor's research interests or from the your own desire to study a particular topic or situation. Typical areas of logistics in which the project will be conducted include (but are not limited to) transportation, supply chain configuration and management, warehouse design and layout, container port layout, production planning, green logistics, facility location and vehicle routing.

Teaching and assessment

The course attracts a large and growing number of international students who have found the qualification to be of considerable value in the development of their careers. We have a good research record and extensive links with industry through knowledge exchange schemes and consultancy. We have also recently benefited from large research grants from the UK government.

Our enthusiastic team of lecturers have a wide range of industrial and research experience, ensuring that you graduate with cutting-edge knowledge.

You will be taught through a mixture of lectures, tutorials (personal and academic), laboratory, computer and project-based work. Assessment is geared towards the subject matter in a way that encourages a deeper understanding and allows you to develop your skills. It takes many forms and will include examinations, dissertations, assessed coursework and laboratory work.

Career prospects

When you graduate from this course you could find employment in a wide range of logistics-related careers, such as production management, transport management or facilities planning.

Facilities and features

Lectures and tutorials are complemented with a range of activities using our state-of-the-art computer facilities and laboratories, including fully commercial level software for simulation.

You will also have access to our library. Open from 8am until midnight every day during term-time, it provides a variety of information to help with study and research. It has also invested heavily in the purchase of electronic resources. There are thousands of electronic journals and ebooks, which can be accessed across campus, from home or wherever there is an internet connection.

Entry requirements

The entry requirements for MSc Logistics and Supply Chain Management are shown above, for more detailed information please contact:

Department: Mathematics
Tel: +44 (0)23 9284 2555
Email: technology.admissions@port.ac.uk