D1. Knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course, the students will have the basic elements of knowledge of management of production and logistics systems and will have to show an understanding of the principles, fundamental methods and digital tools that can support layout planning, planning and management of resources, production capacity and material flow in a supply chain.
D2. Applying knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course, the students will be able to identify the key features of a production process and logistics system, which are useful for managing them through information technologies. They will be able to individuate possible resource planning strategies and solutions for capacity planning, using some optimisation tools.
D3. Making judgements
At the end of the course, the students will be able to identify the methods and strategies that are suitable for planning and managing a production or logistics system, and critically evaluate the results produced by the application of methods based on different principles (“push”, “pull”, “lean” etc. management).
D4. Communication
At the end of the course, the students will be able to describe, in an effective and technically adequate way, a production or logistics system from a managerial point of view, and communicate possible issues of a system in its present status and the feasibility of the solutions produced by tools and methods based on different principles.
D5. Learning skills
At the end of the course, the students will be able to critically analyze a production system and material flows in a supply chain, identifying the methodological sources and digital tools that can support planning and management.

None

Introductory topics on production systems and processes, and supply chain. Strategic aspects of operations planning. Fundamentals of operations planning. Basic process models. Productivity, availability and utilisation. Planning the location of production facilities. Layout planning. Capacity planning. Planning and management of material requirements and flow. Introduction to logistics systems and supply chains. Storage systems. Material handling systems. Elements for warehouse planning.

The lecturer provides the course slides and other material (papers, readings etc.) to support autonomous learning.
Recommended textbooks:
- Slack N., Brandon-Jones A., Danese P., Romano P., Vinelli A., Gestione delle operations e dei processi 5/Ed., Pearson, 2019
- Sianesi A., Production Systems Management: planning, scheduling, control, measurement and improvement, Mondadori Università, 2021
Fabrizio Dallari F., Cossu E., Pennacino E., Toriello F., Corso di logistica e trasporti (vol, 1 e 2), Milano, Hoepli, 2022.

Introductory topics: basic aspects of production systems and processes; reasons for planning and management; supply chain; aspects of sustainable production.
Strategic aspects of operations planning: utility and trade-off; strategy as a synthesis factor; strategic role of the operations.
Fundamentals of operations planning: process diagrams; types of production processes.
Basic process models: basic model and demand-capacity alignment; Little's law and role of variability.
Productivity, availability and utilisation: availability, utilisation, takt-time and capacity.
Planning the location of production facilities: methods for identification or selection.
Layout planning: general aspects; layout planning methods for process and product layout.
Capacity planning: capacity optimisation methods; aggregate plan.
Material planning and management: independent and dependent demand; inventory management; push management (MPS and MRP); pull and lean management; hybrid systems.
Introduction to logistics systems and supply chains: key components and activities of logistics systems; distribution networks; logistics services.
Storage systems: unit load and packaging; storage methods and equipment. Material handling systems: classification of material handling systems; continuous and discontinuous transport systems.
Elements for warehouse planning: principles of warehouse sizing; management logic of warehouse inventory; picking activities.

Lectures on methodological aspects and applications, and discussion of simple case studies, also with the application of spreadsheet and optimisation tools.

The students are warmly invited to attend the lectures in order to benefit from the application of methods to the case studies.
The course slides and additional material can be downloaded from the Moodle site (moodle2.units.it); students must log in with their student access code in order to download the material. Only the students who join the course via Moodle or Teams can receive the lecturer's communications about the course.

The exam is a written test with open-ended questions. The open-ended questions may concern methodological aspects or simple applications of the methods discussed during the course. The questions aim at verifying the learning skills and the competence in critically applying knowledge and understanding. The answers provided by students must also demonstrate their communication skills through clear organisation of their responses, focus on the question asked, clarity of discourse and command of the technical terms appropriate to the question.