Italy came to Cranfield

Although the dotcom boom may be over, internet based operations are now integral to almost all retailing companies of any size. This session explored an Italian internet/home delivery service based in Milan. It showed the promise of the web-based “front end” of the service, and then contrasted this with the “low-tech” operations of the picking process behind the scenes. This case study presented some of the trade-offs to be addressed by these organisations, particularly looking at the cost of the “last mile logistics” inherent in home delivery.
During this session we were able to:
 Understand the need for a coherent customer service strategy in order to manage the key operational decisions in developing and managing an e-logistics strategy
 Practise our ability to analyse an operations management case and to present our findings and recommendations
 Identify the key elements of an e-logistics approach and to understand how front office (web pages) must be integrated with back office (order fulfilment) processes
I have worked in Operations for over 7 years and it was like creating a movie out of my past experience. In my opinion, a subject like Operations Management (OM) has to be taught through different interactive pedagogy rather than a “follow-the-text-book” method. The simulation exercise was a case in point and today’s lecture was another example. Adding flavour to the lecture was the subtle and not-so-subtle humour used by Alberto. He kept the class gunning for more with a few cheeky jokes as well – which was like an oasis for us students!