Operations Management

Catalog description

A student project team will develop a recommendation for improving a complex manufacturing operation. This recommendation may incorporate make-or-buy decisions, forward or backward integration decisions, continuous or revolutionary change processes, and redefinition of input or output requirements in terms of cost, quality, and service. The team will justify its recommendations in terms of the improved capacity, efficiency, effectiveness, or flexibility of the operation. It will also consider the impact of recommendations on constituencies such as customers, employees, shareholders, regulators, and host communities. Some of the learning outcomes from completing this project include: How to assess the performance of a manufacturing and/or service operations How to analyze and manage supply chains and physical distribution systems How to measure and estimate costs and variances How to evaluate make-or-buy decisions How to institute continuous or revolutionary improvement processes in an operation How to select among and manage alternative technologies for an operation How to describe and analyze the policies that guide an operation How to determine compatibility between an operation and its industrial relations and organizational processes