Logistics system includes those functions, associated primarily with the forward flow of activities illustrated in the figure below, involved with the initial acquisition (procurement) of items from various sources of supply, the flow of materials throughout the production/ construction process, the transportation and distribution of products from the manufacturer to the customer (user), the sustaining on-site customer service as required, and all the related business-oriented processes (e.g., accounting, financial management, information flow, money flow) necessary to ensure that the entire flow is effective and efficient. A simplified illustration of this flow is presented in the figure below. The figure shows different paths that may be utilized depending on the requirements; that is, materials shipped from vendor or supplier to manufacturer, manufacturer to warehouses, warehouses to end-users or customers and so on. Given a top-level definition of the logistics system through the functional analysis, the system has been broken down into components or subsystems and lower-level elements such as raw material suppliers (vendors), manufacturers, warehouses, end-users or customers, transportation system, and so on. The challenge is to identify individual functional requirements and associated resources on an independent basis.

Consider the following data are available for designing the logistics system: Product: Motor Generator for industrial use, Total annual demand = 5,500 units of motor generator, Production capacity of a single manufacturing plant = 2,000 units per year (maximum capacity), Potential Location of Manufacturing plants = in Asia (e.g. China, India, Thailand, Vietnam, etc.), Potential Demand Centres are based in Western Europe and North America (USA, Canada and Mexico), Potential Location of Vendors or Raw Material Suppliers are in Asia and North America, Transportation Systems used to transport raw materials, finished product (generators) = trucks, rail line, ships (waterways), Loading and unloading machines used at Warehouses = Fork-Lift machines, conveyors (heavy duty), Total number of end-users or customers (or demand centres) = 5, Maximum Warehouse capacity to hold items (generators) = 1,500 per warehouse per year, Maximum capacity of trucks to transport generators = 25 generators per truck per trip, Maximum capacity of rail line = 150 generators per trip, Maximum capacity of cargo ships = 1,000 generators per trip, Volume of raw materials consumption per unit of generator manufacturing = 3* volume of a generator, Raw materials are carried using the similar modes of transportation, but no warehousing is required, Transportation Cost from raw material supplier to Manufacturer = $3.5 per generator volume by truck, $2.0 per generator volume by rail line, and $1.25 per generator volume by cargo ships, Transportation Cost from Manufacturer to Warehouses = $4.0 per generator by truck, $3.0 per generator by rail line, and $1.50 per generator by cargo ships, Transportation Cost from Warehouses to end-user or customers = $3.0 per generator by truck, $2.0 per generator by rail line, and there are no waterways for cargo ship transport, Assume that the assembly line equipment requirement at the manufacturing plants, raw-material suppliers' sites, and warehouses have already been designed and installed and you do not need to calculate it. Complete the requirement analysis for the above logistics system and determine the resources (both equipment and manpower) required. Analyze it using the Concepts and ideas covered in the class lectures and relevant chapters in the textbook and reference book. Use as many notes, references and case studies as you can get hold of and need to. You can make reasonable assumption for any missing data, but you need to use the given data in the calculations (if data is given above).