The purpose of this assignment is to develop your capability in applying your skills and knowledge in a real situation. You are required to apply quantitative techniques discussed in this course in a real company. You can choose any of the discussed areas and techniques in this course, preferably from weeks 1–4. You are expected to submit:

• A Word file to explain the background, operations, and problems of the firm, justification of the chosen technique, data collection, problem formulation process, the mathematical model and its assumptions, discussion of the results, and recommendations.

Learning Outcomes

• Analyse and apply the theories and practices of logistics systems in logistics management
• Develop supply chain and logistics systems to improve the management of logistics and supply chain management
• Use mathematical models to solve problems in logistics in contemporary business environment.
• Communicate effectively to a range of audiences in both written and oral forms and work effectively with others in a team.

After completion of this assessment you should be able to:

• Develop decision making skills to shaping and accomplish the strategic and operational objectives of the organisation
• Explore, with an integrated view, the full impact of technology by effectively linking engineering, science, business and management disciplines
• Develop insights leading to more effective decision-making in the practice of integrating technology strategy with business strategy in a technology-based organisation.

Assessment details

You can work on any topics discussed in the course but you need to address the following areas when writing your report

• You are required to apply your knowledge on optimisation in real and practical environment. For doing so you need to find a real company and then decide what optimisation technique you are going to apply in the company based on their issues. Having an initial discussion with the company will help you choose the appropriate technique. Provide background information regarding the company including size, business type, areas of operations, competitors, and their operational problems.
• You are required to briefly provide discussion about the chosen topic. For example, if you choose an LP model in a manufacturing company, you need to first explain about LP modelling and then justify why you choose LP for the company and why not the other technique, what are the advantage of LP compared to other methods.
• Then you are required to collect real data for the chosen topic and show the current status of the company in the chosen topic. For example, if your topic is transportation, you need to discuss about nodes, cost of transportation per unit, function for total transportation cost, all the constraints, complete mathematical models, input and output data for Excel, optimal answer, etc.
• After analysing the current situation, you need to provide solution to improve the performance and efficiencies of the operations in the company (e.g. how to reduce the total transportation cost). Analyse the data explaining the process and where is the data coming from and what does it represent. A clear step-by-step instruction that can be understood by an individual with no previous Excel experience. Suggested structure of the report

1. Executive Summary
2. Table of Content
3. List of Figures/Tables
4. Introduction
5. Identify the Problem and Choosing the Topic
6. Data Collection
7. Proble Formulation
8. Problem Solving
9. Analysis and Discussion
10. Recommendation
11. References
12. Appendix

Assessment criteria

• Introduction: Company Information, Detailed background information of the company including size, business type, areas of operations, competitors etc.
• Identify the Problem and Choosing the Topic, Explain about the problem you identified in the company. Explain about the assumptions. Detailed information about the chosen topic. Why is this topic chosen? Current status of the topic in the selected company.
• Data Collection: The comprehensiveness of the data collected required for the project analysis. You are required to collect real data for the chosen topic. You must clearly explain how data was collected and provide contact details of those who provided data.
• Problem Formulation: Mathematical formulation of the objective functions and the constraints of the problem. Comprehensiveness of the mathematical model. Clear definition of variable, objective function. Explanation for each of constraints, comprehensiveness and clarity of model formulation.
• Problem solving: Provide excel outputs with explanations and explain about the optimal solution. Clear explanantion about all steps, calculations. Providing realistic scenarios, clarity, comprehensiveness and relevance of the solution.
• Analysis and Discussion: Comparison between current status and the model proposed in this assignment based on the total cost, time, sale, or profit, etc.
• Recommendations: Discussions on the areas that can improved based on the finding of the project.
• Overall Presentation of the assignment: Clarity of presentation and the sequence of the topics, correct referencing, executive summary, table of content, list of figures/tables, references, page numbering, and appendix (if any).

 

1. Talk to your tutor regarding your topic. Your tutor will advise you whether the topic and the company are suitable for this assessment task. Your tutor will also help you develop a strategy in doing your assignment.
2. The chosen company must be based in Australia.
3. Provide the company name and contact details of the staff that you have collected the data.
4. Using multiple sources for data collection is highly recommended, e.g interview key informants and use the company’s historical records.

Referencing guidelines

You must acknowledge all the courses of information you have used in your assessments.  

Refer to the RMIT Easy Cite referencing tool to see examples and tips on how to reference in the appropriated style. You can also refer to the library referencing page for more tools such as EndNote, referencing tutorials and referencing guides for printing.

Submission format

Upload as one single file via the assignments submission page within Canvas.

Academic integrity and plagiarism

Academic integrity is about honest presentation of your academic work. It means acknowledging the work of others while developing your own insights, knowledge and ideas.

You should take extreme care that you have:

• Acknowledged words, data, diagrams, models, frameworks and/or ideas of others you have quoted (i.e. directly copied), summarised, paraphrased, discussed or mentioned in your assessment through the appropriate referencing methods,
• Provided a reference list of the publication details so your reader can locate the source if necessary. This includes material taken from Internet sites.

If you do not acknowledge the sources of your material, you may be accused of plagiarism because you have passed off the work and ideas of another person without appropriate referencing, as if they were your own.

RMIT University treats plagiarism as a very serious offence constituting misconduct.

Plagiarism covers a variety of inappropriate behaviours, including:

• Failure to properly document a source
• Copyright material from the internet or databases
• Collusion between students

For further information on our policies and procedures, please refer to the University website.

Assessment declaration

When you submit work electronically, you agree to the assessment declaration.

Criteria

Ratings

Pts

Assessment Criteria

 

Case Details	Excellent The report describes the background of the company such as size, business type, areas of operations, and competitors well. 10 pts	Good The report describes the background of the company such as size, business type, areas of operations, and competitors well, but there are some unclear areas. 7.5 pts	Fair The report inadequately describes the background of the company such as size, business type, areas of operations, and competitors. 5.0 pts	Poor The report describes the background of the company such as size, business type, areas of operations, and competitors well 2.5 pts	10.0
Problem Identification	The report describes the problem that the company is current facing, discusses what and why techniques have been chosen, and explains the assumptions about the chosen techniques well. 10 pts	The report describes the problem that the company is current facing, discusses what and why techniques have been chosen, and explains the assumptions about the chosen techniques well, but there are some unclear areas. 7.5 pts	The report inadequately describes the problem that the company is current facing, discusses what and why techniques have been chosen, and explains the assumptions about the chosen techniques. 5.0 pts	The report does not, or hardly, describe the problem that the company is current facing, discuss what and why techniques have been chosen, and explain the assumptions about the chosen techniques. 2.5pts	10.0

 

Data Collection         The report describes

what kind of real data was collected from the company and demonstrates the comprehensiveness of the data well. 15 pts

The report describes what kind of real data was collected from the company and demonstrates the comprehensiveness of the data well, but there are some unclear areas. 11.25 pts

The report inadequately describes what kind of real data was

collected from the company and demonstrates the comprehensiveness of the data. 7.5 pts

The report does not, or hardly, show how the problem was formulated, define decision variables, and explain objective functions and their constraints.

3.75 pts                                       15

 

Recommendation

The report discusses the sensible recommendations for the company based on the findings well.

The report discusses the sensible recommendations for the company based on the findings well, but there are some unclear areas.

The report inadequately discusses the sensible recommendations for the company based on the findings.

The report does not, or hardly, discuss the sensible recommendations for the company based on the findings.