Panel on transportation and logistics modeling

Abstract

Transportation and logistics are fertile areas for modeling. Simulation has traditionally been used in warehousing and inside the distribution center or processing hub in the trucking and package delivery sectors, for baggage systems and passenger queueing in the airline industry, and for detailed models of terminals and yards in the railroad industry. In addition, simulators are used for certain specialized applications, such as airspace applications and line-of-road railroad applications. Other non-simulation models based on optimization, networks and heuristics have dominated many other areas of transportation and logistics, especially large-scale supply chain issues such as logistics network design, vehicle routing, facility location, and scheduling. The panel discusses a number of these and other issues: when to use simulation models versus optimization and heuristic models, the features (or lack thereof) in current generation simulation software relevant to transportation and logistics modeling, the possibility of combining simulation and optimization or mathematical models, and how to convince management of the benefits of simulation.