Logistics and Transportation

Logistics is a $700 billion industry in the USA and is the second largest employer of college graduates. Logistics costs account for nearly 30% of the sales dollar, and logistics activities are essential to satisfying the ever-changing customer demand in terms of variety and availability. Today, the need for cutting edge, sophisticated logistics practices has never been greater. This text is focused on the key activities within the functional areas of logistics and transportation with emphasis on the quantitative treatment of the design and planning issues in logistics. In scope, the book comprehensively covers almost all the elements of the supply chain. It includes functional areas such as: vendor selection, inventory models with inventory costs, advanced transportation models, logistics metrics, and trends in logistics. The text is primarily designed for use in the classroom by senior undergraduate and graduate level students. It is also a useful resource for practising transportation and logistics professionals. Readers should appreciate the recommended references for further reading, related training aids and problem sets given at the end of each chapter, as well as the two comprehensive logistics cases presented at the end of the text. This book should be of interest to senior undergraduate and graduate students in industrial engineering, and other engineering courses; professional engineers; and senior undergraduate and graduate students studying management and business studies courses and short courses in logistics.