Teaching

This course helps students to appreciate the strategic importance of good distribution operations planning in the context of supply chain management and economic development in Asia. A strategic framework of physical distribution system design is presented to help build critical analytical skills for decision making in the management of physical distribution and transportation of goods, from the perspectives of both the user and provider of third-party logistics (3PL) services. The operating characteristics of various transport modes in international and domestic freight will be discussed. Specific considerations and requirements for distribution in different industry sectors (e.g. ecommerce, service/reverse logistics and third-party logistics) will also be introduced. The course covers the application of operations research and heuristic techniques to physical distribution system design (e.g. facility location and mode selection) and transportation management problems (e.g. vehicle routing/scheduling and fleet planning) in Asia. Where available, Asian cases will be used to highlight and educate students on unique business operations in this region.

Transportation is an integral part of the global supply chain system. Goods cannot move on their own from supply points to demand locations, conferring transportation a central role in the global distribution of freight. Transportation creates value-add in a supply chain by performing the "moving" function in the physical distribution of products and it facilitates international trade and hence globalisation. In broader terms, transport connectivity is often referred to as the lifeline of a nation and is often a precondition for economic progress and development. This course explores the business issues in the design and operation of international transportation systems and underlines their strategic importance to firms and the economy. It draws upon the disciplines of operations management, decision analysis and transport economics to present a holistic view of the theories and practices of transportation management. The course also discusses the core concepts and terminologies of road, air, rail, sea and intermodal transportation, as well as the implications on contemporary supply chain management.

Logistics professionals and service providers have to continuously develop new capabilities and value-added services to compete in global and domestic markets. This course aims to equip students with the knowledge and skills to design customised solutions that are based on design thinking to meet the needs of internal or external customers in specific industry sectors. These skills include process flow analysis, facility layout design and financial analysis of logistics solutions. Topics covered provide the basis for students to construct solutions that are fit-for-purpose, information-driven, resilient and sustainable.

This is a newly-developed course and a video introduction to this module can be viewed at my Resources page.

All organisations have an operations function that is primarily responsible for the production and delivery of their products and services. Operations Management not only affects final product quality but also impacts customer service and the overall competitiveness of the organisation. The primary objectives of this module are to provide students with an introduction to, and an understanding of, the substantive knowledge which has developed over the years in the field of Operations Management (OM), and to highlight the relevance and strategic significance of the operations function in enterprises. This module includes topics such as product (or service) and process design, quality management, capacity planning and inventory management as well as supply chain management in both manufacturing and service organisations.