Can urban distribution be considered as a system? And how could you apply that to a real case to solve a distribution problem?

In this week, Prof. Russell Thompson from the University of Melbourne will guide us through to systematically think about urban freight. Firstly, we will define some key terms and examine several fundamental concepts associated with urban freight. Then we are going to look into how the systems approach to urban distribution can be applied to holistically describe its various activities. This key step helps us understand how we can then improve the  performance of the system.

A case study illustrates the use of the systems approach as a framework. You will see how delivery problems to a large retail complex in Melbourne, Australia were addressed using an online loading dock booking system. It resulted in a reduction of distribution costs and created benefits for a number of stakeholders.

After this module you will be able to:

• use the systems approach to describe the important tasks for improving urban distribution systems.