MANAGEMENT OF INDUSTRIAL AND LOGISTIC SYSTEMS
Academic Year 2025/2026 - Teacher: NATALIA TRAPANIExpected Learning Outcomes
The course is designed to provide students with the knowledge, skills, and practical abilities needed to understand and apply the fundamental principles of designing and managing production and logistics systems from a managerial perspective. Students will learn to model and address typical technical and economic challenges encountered in the planning and operation of manufacturing and service facilities, using analytical and simulation methods, including computer-based tools.Students will also develop a foundational understanding of project management across the various process groups—initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and closing—in accordance with internationally recognized standards.
Course Structure
The course uses in-person lectures to provide the theoretical foundations needed for modeling and solving practical problems. These are explored through exercises that apply the analytical and/or numerical methods covered in class. More complex problems are addressed in dedicated sessions, where students use analytical and/or simulation methods, often with spreadsheet software.Lectures on theoretical topics will be delivered using slides and a projector; all slides will be made available to students. A significant portion of class time will be devoted to working through numerical exercises related to the course material.Practice sessions will take place in the classroom using a projector and spreadsheet software. All materials and instructions for these sessions will be fully provided to students.As part of the Project Management module, students will be assigned a supervised project, with some progress meetings possibly held remotely.If necessary, and in accordance with university regulations, teaching activities may also be conducted online. Examinations, however, must be taken in person as required by the Academic Regulations. If the course should be delivered in a hybrid or online format, any needed adjustments will be made to comply with the planned syllabus, in line with the Academic Regulations.
Required Prerequisites
Attendance of Lessons
Attendance requirements are outlined in Article 3.4 of the Academic Regulations for the Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering. A regular attendance to maximize learning outcomes is strongly recommended. To this end, students must attend at least 60% of classes in order to be eligible for the midterm assessments held at the end of the first and second semesters. Attendance will be monitored by professors using the methods they consider most appropriate, such as sign-in sheets, roll calls, or digital tools provided by the university.
Detailed Course Content
Recalls: main probability distributions; combinatorics elements; Set Theory; use of measuring units and dimensional equations; capitalization and economic discounting; random sampling.
Introduction: The industrial enterprise, the industrial plant and the general plant services. Industrial plants classification and performance.
Economic engineering principles and plant decisions: the production function, fixed costs and variable costs, depreciation and amortization; revenue and profit; decision-relevant costs; the company's equilibrium in the short run; contribution profit margin obsolescence and wearing; residual value of plants; capital costs and operating costs; inefficiency costs; economic amortization; industrial investment evaluation criteria.
General methods for sizing plant services: continuity of operation and probability of asset failure; reliability and availability of components and systems in simple reliability configurations; cost of the reserve; centralization and division of services; sizing of services in conditions of random and periodic demand; savings due to the size of the plants; calculation criteria for storage tanks and buffers.
Material Handling and storage systems: classification and plant solutions. Performance indicators of the handling and storage service. Criteria for space distribution and allocation of materials.
General techniques for the design and management of production and service plants: Elements of operational research; linear programming; Monte Carlo simulation; queue theory; layout of the systems; plant feasibility analysis.
Project management: Basic concepts and definitions. The project environment and the project manager's role. The project management process groups: initiating, planning, execution, monitoring and control, closing; overview of inputs, outputs, tools and techniques for managing project management processes.
Exercises
E1. Discount coefficients and present value of annuity. E2. Random sampling of a normal random variable. E3. Analysis of production costs in short-period. E4. Accounting and economic depreciation. E5. Assessment of an industrial investment. E6. Calculation and simulation of system reliability . E7. Continuity of service E8. Sizing of a buffer accumulator. E9. Sizing of a material handling and storage system. E10. Queuing theory and its simulation. E11. Linear programming application. PW. Project work developed as a team.
Textbook Information
| Author | Title | Publisher | Year | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turco | Principi generali di progettazione degli Impianti Industriali | CLUP | 1990 | |
| Calabrese | Gestione degli impianti industriali, vol. I e II | CUSL | 2004 | |
| Caccamese-Martinati | Professione project manager. Guida all'esame di certificazione PMP® e CAPM®. Nuova edizione aggiornata agli standard del PMBOK® Guide Sixth Edition | Franco Angeli | 2018 |
Course Planning
| Subjects | Text References | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | FIRST PERIOD: | |
| 2 | Recall: use of units of measurement and dimensional equations (1-hour theory) | |
| 3 | Project management: Basic concepts and definitions. The project environment and the role of the project manager. Process groups: initiating, planning, execution, monitoring and control, closing; overview of inputs, outputs, tools and techniques for managing project management processes. PW. Project work (12 hours of theory + 12 hours of practice) | |
| 4 | Introduction: The industrial firm, the industrial plant, and general plant services. Classification of industrial plants. Flexibility, elasticity, and productivity (2-hour theory) | |
| 5 | Capitalization and Economic Discounting. Exe E1 (1 hour theory + 2 hours practice) | |
| 6 | Principles of economic engineering and decisions: the production function, fixed and variable costs, depreciation and amortization; revenues and profits; costs relevant to decisions; short-term economic equilibrium; contribution margin; obsolescence; residual value of plants; CAPEX and OPEX; the cost of inefficiency; economic depreciation; industrial investment asessment criteria. Exe E3, E4, E5 (9 hours of theory + 10 hours of practice) | |
| 7 | General techniques for the design and management of production and service facilities: Elements of operations research; linear programming; facility layout; feasibility analysis. Exe E11. (6 hours of theory + 3 hours of practice) | |
| 8 | SECOND PERIOD: | |
| 9 | Review: main probability distributions; elements of combinatorics; set theory. (1-hour theory) | |
| 10 | General methods for sizing system services: continuity of operation and probability of failure of elements and reliability configurations; reliability and availability; reserve costs; centralization and fractionation of services; sizing services under conditions of random and periodic demand; economies of scale; calculation criteria for buffer sizing. Exe E6, E7, E8. (Theory 9 hours + Practice 21 hours) | |
| 11 | General techniques for designing and managing production and service facilities: Monte Carlo simulation; random sampling; queuing theory. Exe E2, E10. | |
| 12 | MAterial Handling and storage systems: classification and system solutions. Handling and storage service performance indicators. Space allocation and material allocation criteria. Exe E9. (10 hours of theory + 6 hours of practice) |
Learning Assessment
Learning Assessment Procedures
During the course, students may take optional partial written tests. Admission to the oral examination (see point b) is granted upon passing the written test with a minimum score of 18/30. Students who obtain a score of at least 15/30 in the written test are also permitted to proceed to the oral examination, although this is not recommended. If both partial tests (administered in the first and second semesters) are passed, the grade for the Written Test will be the average of the two scores.a.2) Final Written Test:
If the partial tests are not taken, or if the minimum required score is not achieved, students may take a final written test. Admission to the oral examination (see point b) is granted upon passing the written test with a minimum score of 18/30. Students who achieve a score of at least 15/30 are also admitted, although this is not recommended.b) Oral Examination:
The oral examination consists of an assessment of the theoretical topics included in the course syllabus, as well as the exercises completed by students based on the guidelines provided in the course materials. Students who have passed the partial written tests may take the oral examination on the corresponding portion of the syllabus during the same period in which they completed the partial written test. If both partial tests (first and second semester) are passed, the grade for the Oral Test will be the average of the two scores.
If the partial tests are not taken, both the final written test and the single oral examination will cover the entire course content.c) Oral Discussion of Project Work:
During the first period (first semester), students are required to participate in a collaborative prorject work to develop a Project plan using tools & technique of Project Management. The discussion may be a group project presentation or individual team member presentation as well.Assessment Weighting:
The final grade will be determined according to the following weighting of the assessment components:
- Project Work: 25%
- Written Test (exercises): 40%
- Oral Test (theory and spreadsheet exercises): 35%