Masters Theses

Abstract

"With international trade becoming a big part of the world's economic activity, the demand for good freight transportation systems has grown substantially. The appropriate use of transportation is an integral part of the supply chain's effectiveness. Therefore, the continuous economic globalization, the growing demand for speed-to-market product delivery, and the need to manage global supply chains more effectively, has led to the sustained increase in demand towards multimodal transportation systems (MTS). MTS play an essential role in corporations competing in global markets in the 21st century. In transportation, the effectiveness and efficiency of the whole system depends upon the interconnectivity of its elements. Because disruptions in the supply chain are costly, this research will look at improving the efficiency of MTS by looking at disruptions that have a negative impact on the elements that make up the system. Although past research classifies disruptions in MTS as: congestion, demand fluctuations, time delays, capacity limits, scheduling and, connectivity between the different modes, limited research address the relationship between these failures and the system. This research presents a Systems Dynamics (SD) approach to model MTS, which will let us iterate and mitigate a system to be able to forecast scenarios and meaningful hypothesis of a system's behavior over time. The SD model will aid to identify and understand those major elements and disruptions that altogether impact the efficiency of the MTS. The model will help determine how the disruptive factors of the supply chain are related to the efficiency of the system and will suggest decision-making strategies that will improve MTS performance over time being able to enhance customer satisfaction"--Abstract, page iii.

Advisor(s)

Long, Suzanna, 1961-

Committee Member(s)

Corns, Steven
Smith, Brian Keith

Department(s)

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering

Degree Name

M.S. in Engineering Management

Sponsor(s)

Missouri.Department of Transportation
Geological Survey (U.S.)
Missouri University of Science and Technology. Research and Development Center
Missouri University of Science and Technology. Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Department

Publisher

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Publication Date

Fall 2013

Pagination

x, 58 pages

Note about bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (page 148-151).

Rights

© 2013 Lizzette Pérez-Lespier, All rights reserved.

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

File Type

text

Language

English

Subject Headings

Business logistics
Systems engineering
Shipment of goods

Thesis Number

T 10413

Electronic OCLC #

870672808

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