ISE 754: Logistics Engineering Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering North Carolina State University [ Schedule | Slides | Syllabus | Matlog ]

This course will present the fundamental quantitative approaches that are used in the design and control of logistics systems, including modeling issues, design concepts, computational considerations, and the use of commercial software packages. This quantitative, or engineering, approach to logistics is meant to complement that of business logistics, which is concerned with the management of logistics processes and relationships.

Note: All assignments should be submitted using Moodle.

Web References

Matlab and Gurobi

• Downloading a copy of Matlab, for NCSU students.
• Downloading a copy of Gurobi, free for students. You will need to create an account using your @ncsu.edu email and then access your free named-user academic license while connected to the NCSU network (distance students should use the NCSU VPN to access the network remotely). After registering the software with the license, you will be able to use Gurobi anywhere. In order to run Gurobi from Matlab, execute the following command:
• path(path,'c:\gurobi751\win64\matlab\');
  
• Basic Concepts in Matlab, document providing a short overview of Matlab
• Introduction to Computing - Matlab, short video lectures by Lina Battestilli, NCSU Computer Science Dept., covering the basics of Matlab (requires NCSU ID to access)
• Documentation, Manuals, and Tutorials on the MathWorks website (the developers of Matlab) provide the most comprehensive and up-to-date reference source for Matlab.
• Octave and Scilab are free languages that are so similar to Matlab that it is very easy to port programs.
• R is a free language for statistical computing and graphics that is similar to Matlab
• Python is a free general-purpose programming language that, together with the NumPy, SciPy, and Matplotlib packages, provides capabilities similar to Matlab (see NumPy for Matlab Users).
• Julia, a new free programming language that combines the ease of use of Matlab, Python, or R with the speed of C++, Fortran, or Java (see differences between Julia and Matlab).
• Best Practices for Scientific Computing, describes how to best use a high-level language like Matlab in a research environment.

Math Programming Solvers

• Cplex
  
• Gurobi
  
• Xpress
  
• SAS/OR
• COIN-OR SYMPHONY (open source)

Transportation

• Freight calculator, provides market estimates ocean, air, rail, and truck shipments
• TL and LTL PPI, select Series ID=PCU484121484121 (TL) and Series ID=PCU484122484122 (LTL) for current monthly and annual PPI values
• FedEx LTL rates, provides one-time (spot) LTL rate quote
• CzarLite, provides demo LTL tariff
• Glossary of Shipping Terms from U.S. Department of Transportation
• Oak Ridge National Highway Network Description, has details concerning supplemental Node and Link info
• ORNL CTA Transportation Network, Oak Ridge National Laboratory's database of roads, rail, and intermodal networks
• National Highway Planning Network (NHPN), the Federal Highway Administration's road network database

Geocoding and Mapping

• FIPS Codes: 
• State FIPS Codes: two-digit FIPS State Numeric Codes and the two-letter FIPS State Alpha Code for each state
• County FIPS Codes: three-digit FIPS County Nuneric Codes for each county in each state.
• Coastline Extractor, extract coastline segments bounded by a specified latitude/longitude range
• How far is it?, calculates great circle distances (same as DISTS using 'mi')
• Aviation Formulary V1.23, has information on great circle distances
• GIS FAQ Question --Q5.1--: What is the best way to calculate the great circle distance (which deliberately ignores elevation differences) between 2 points? (originally at http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/geo/gisfaq?Q5.1)

TSP and VRP

• TSPLIB, standard test instances for TSP and Capacitated VRP

Warehousing

• Warehouse and Distribution Science, Release 0.96, John J. Bartholdi, III and Steven T. Hackman, www.warehouse-science.com,online book covering warehouse design
• Kees Roodbergen’s Interactive Warehouse, can interactively route order pickers in a warehouse using a variety of different heuristics
• aisle411, retail store order picking app
• KIVA Systems, mobile-robotic order picking (see also)
• Baxter, factory robot built by Rodney Brooks, who also developed the Rumba robotic vacuum
• Rules of Thumb, provides rough estimates of warehouse equipment costs

Misc.

• UNSPSC, UN Standard Products and Services coding system to classify both products and services for ecommerce