Logistics: From cost and service to location and optimization

This presentation provides a quantitative and decision-oriented introduction to logistics management, linking operational performance, total cost analysis, and optimization. Through a structured sequence of numerical exercises and worked solutions, it examines logistics system costs, transportation mode selection, inventory in transit, warehousing and consolidation, perfect-order performance, landed cost, and service-constrained decisions. It also addresses reverse logistics, facility location using the center-of-gravity method, and resource allocation through the assignment problem. The final integrative case combines service requirements, cost evaluation, inventory considerations, and location decisions to support coherent logistics strategies. Emphasis is placed on total-cost reasoning, the identification of trade-offs, the application of quantitative decision criteria, and the selection of feasible, cost-effective solutions.