INTRODUCTION TO INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS IN TRANSPORTATION

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OVERVIEW

Transportation and distribution play a critical role in the successful planning and implementation of today’s supply chains. Although many view the transportation of goods as a non-value-added activity, effective transportation planning and execution will not only enhance a company’s productivity but will also increase customer satisfaction and quality.

In this chapter, we will explore the factors that impact the transportation of goods and the different tools and techniques that the industrial engineer can apply in the development of effective transpor- tation networks and systems to reduce or minimize costs, improve cycle time, and reduce service failures. A similar but inherently different aspect of transportation is that of transporting people. Although this chapter is concerned with the transportation of goods, the industrial engineer also plays an important role in designing these types of systems.

Today’s logistics activities are concerned with the movement of goods, funds, and information. Information technology has now become an integral component of any transportation system. Tech- nology is being used for scheduling and creating complex delivery and pickup routes and also for providing customers with up-to-the-minute information on the status of their shipments. The industrial engineer will not only aid in the development of efficient delivery routes and schedules, but will also help in the design of state-of-the-art transportation information systems.

INTRODUCTION

Transport is the process of transferring or conveying something from one place to another. Trans- portation is the process of transporting. The transportation of people, goods, funds, and information plays a key role in any economy, and the industrial engineer can play a key role in properly balancing the parameters and constraints that affect the effectiveness and efficiency of transportation systems.

This chapter will cover certain applications of industrial engineering in transportation. The em- phasis is placed on the movement of goods. However, the methodologies described in the chapter can be applied to a variety of transportation problems.

Transportation plays a critical role in today’s increasingly small world. Economies, businesses, and personal travel are, in one word, global. Information on the status of the items or persons being moved is as crucial as the movement itself. Confirmation of delivery in a timely, electronic form is often as important as on-time, damage-free, value-priced arrival.

The industrial engineer can apply a variety of mathematical and engineering tools and techniques in the planning and management of effective transportation networks and systems in order to reduce or minimize costs, improve cycle time, reduce service failures, and so on. The industrial engineer plays a critical role in the development of efficient delivery routes, schedules, and plans and also helps in the design and implementation of transportation information systems.

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