Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Entry requirements

A second-class honours degree in a relevant subject, or equivalent professional experience and/or qualifications. English language proficiency at a minimum of IELTS band 6.0 with no component score below 5.5.

Months of entry

January, September

Course content

Why take this course?

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.

This course focuses on the integration of analytical techniques for optimisation with the decision issues and technology relating to logistics and supply chain management.

What will I experience?

On this course you can:

• Have access to ultra-modern computing facilities, and use specialist mathematical and statistical computing packages
• Participate in practical sessions to solve real-life case studies using our simulation software
• Develop the problem-solving, decision-making and interpersonal abilities essential to professional roles in this field

What opportunities might it lead to?

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 means that there will be a range of companies and organisations in both the public and private sector, demanding for your skills and expertise.

Here are some routes our graduates have pursued:

• production management
• transportation management
• quality control
• distribution
• facilities planning
• supply chain management
• passenger transportation

This course is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT). Students studying CILT accredited courses receive exemptions from the academic requirements for membership. Graduates of the MSc Logistics and Supply Chain Management course at the University of Portsmouth with an overall average pass mark above 50% are eligible to apply for Chartered Membership (CMILT) once they have gained the necessary experience.

Module Details

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.

Here are the units you will study:

• Supply Chain Management: 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 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.

Programme Assessment

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, seminars, tutorials, practical computer-based sessions, laboratory and project work.

We assess you in a several ways, but a large portion of the assessment is based on a major project at the end of the year. Here’s how we assess your work:

• Examinations
• Coursework
• Laboratory assignments
• A dissertation

Student Destinations

Logistics and transportation are important to any firm where customer service is a strategic objective – whether its core focus is on products or services.

When you graduate from this course you could find employment in a wide range of logistics-related careers. Not only in the traditional areas of manufacturing logistics, distribution and supply chain management, but also postal and express delivery, the fire and rescue emergency operations and even the military and defence industry.

Fees and funding

Qualification and course duration

MSc

MSc

Further details of qualification

1 year full time (September intake), 17 months full time (January intake)