The international conference \Operations Research 2008", the annual meeting of the German Operations Research Society (GOR), was held at the University of Augsburg on September 3-5, 2008. Moreover, one of the founders of Operations Research, Saul Gass (U- versity of Maryland), gave the opening speech on the early history of Operations Research.
The complexity of distribution systems is augmented by various globalization of the manufacturing industry, rising customer demands, and the reverse flows within closed-loop systems. In this light, the need for ‘advanced’ planning methods that are based on quantitative optimization is constantly increasing. This book takes up the challenges posed by these developments. In doing so, it presents recent results and case studies from a group of researchers that regularly meet at the IWDL (International Workshop on Distribution Logistics). The text covers the design of distribution networks, vehicle routing, warehousing and reverse logistics. It also contains a comprehensive review of more than 60 case studies in reverse logistics.
This proceedings volume contains a selection of 85 papers presented at the Symposium on Operations Research (OR 2000), the Annual Conference of the German Operations Research Society (GOR), that was held at the Dresden University of Technology, September 9-12, 2000.
Distribution logistics have been strongly affected by recent economic trends: globalization of markets, deregulation of the European freight traffic, a growing part of just-in-time deliveries and both increased competition and strategic cooperation between all parties involved. The book covers in a systematic way the strategic, tactical and operational planning of distribution systems and processes. It gives an overview of the relevant quantitative models and techniques as well as of applications in industry presented through numerous case studies. Researchers and practitioners will thus equally benefit from this volume.