Course Objective This course will introduce concepts and techniques for design, planning and control of manufacturing and service operations. The course provides basic definitions of operations management terms, tools and techniques for analyzing operations, and strategic context for making operational decisions. We present the material in five modules:
Operations Analysis - This initial module covers basic tools used to analyze manufacturing and service operations. We will introduce different types of processes, and the strategies behind their selection.
Coordination and Planning - Operations management consists largely of coordination and planning tasks -- inventory, production and service provision must be managed to meet the needs of the customer. In this module, we will introduce tools and techniques employed by organizations to perform these tasks.
Quality Management - "Quality" has received considerable attention during the last two decades and is an integral component of many of the tools introduced in the preceding module. This two section mini module provides a brief overview of the most important quality concepts.
Project Management - Effective project management is crucial for the success of many companies. In this 3-class module, we introduce tools to successfully manage large projects and discuss examples from aerospace and entertainment industries.
Logistics and Supply Chain Management - The final module introduces problems of the entire supply chain from vendor to customer and the methods used to manage these supply chains. Strategic issues, global implications and product and process development receive particular attention in this module.
We will use multiple approaches to accomplish these objectives. During the course of the summer, you will be asked to:
Prepare written analyses of two cases.
As the first operations course in SDM we will also use the opportunity of introducing other faculty. To that end, we will have one class each conducted by Professors Charles Fine and Don Rosenfield.
Group Preparation
Group work is not only acceptable, but encouraged for purposes of general class preparation and for the written assignments. For the latter, that is for cases and problem sets, your group size should be two or three students, and discussion of the assignment should be limited to members of your group.
Class Discussion
In a typical class session, one or more students will be asked to begin the discussion by addressing specific questions. If you have thoroughly prepared the case or reading, you should have no difficulty handling such a lead-off request. After a few minutes of initial analysis and recommendations, discussion will be opened to the rest of the class. We will build a complete analysis of the situation and address the problems and issues it presents. We will also talk about the implementation of those recommendations. Frequently, the final portion of the class will be a lecture/discussion of concepts and techniques brought out in the case or reading, but useful in a much broader range of situations.
To help reduce stress, but maintain a classroom of well-prepared students, we will select lead-off speakers by alternating between two distinct groups in each class. Appropriate groups will be determined in the first class.
Most managers spend very little time reading and even less time writing reports. Most of their interactions are verbal. This is especially true for managers in operations-intensive settings. For this reason, the development of verbal skills is given a high priority in this course. The classroom should be considered a laboratory in which you can test your ability to present your analyses and recommendations clearly, to convince your peers of the correctness of your approach to complex problems, and to illustrate your ability to achieve the desired results through the implementation of that approach.
Some of the criteria that we will use to judge effective class participation for grading purposes include:
Is the participant a good listener?
Are the points made relevant to the current discussion? Are they linked to the comments of others?
Do the comments show clear evidence of appropriate and insightful analysis of the case data?
Is there willingness to participate?
Is there willingness to test new ideas or are all comments "safe"?
Do comments clarify and highlight the important aspects of earlier ideas and lead to a clearer statement of the relevant concepts and issues?
Written Assignments
In preparing the written case analyses, please adhere to the following guidelines:
Work in groups of up to three students. We discourage individual work on written assignments as we have found that groups develop significantly better solutions, and that you learn from one another in group interactions.
Hand in one copy of the case write-up for each group.
Written assignments are to be turned in at the beginning of class on the day they are discussed. Please keep a copy for your own use during class discussion if you wish.
Written assignments should be at most 1500 words and five pages of exhibits. This is a firm constraint. Exhibits should contain specific types of analyses, such as financial analysis, break-even charts, cost analysis, process-flow analysis, etc. They should contain any relevant information that is too detailed for the body of the paper. Exhibits must not simply be an extension of the text.
The questions in the course reader are only general guidelines to consider when preparing a write-up. Under no circumstances should a write-up simply consist of answers to these questions!
We will not distribute written solutions to the write-ups, but rather will rely on the class session associated with the case to bring out the most important issues. The case write-ups will be graded using the following criteria:
Analysis
Does the paper contain analysis of the major issues?
Does the analysis incorporate the relevant tools properly?
Are assumptions made in the analysis stated explicitly?
Does the analysis isolate the fundamental causes of problems in the case?
Recommended Actions
Are the criteria for choosing among alternative recommendations stated?
Are the criteria appropriate?
Is the plan of action integrated in a logical way and linked to the analysis?
Is the action plan specific, complete, and practical?
Is it likely that the recommendations will achieve their intended results?
Exhibits
Are the analyses in the exhibits done correctly?
Do the exhibits support and add to the text on key points?
Presentation
Is the paper too long?
Is the presentation of professional quality?
Is the paper logically consistent and effectively structured to sell its recommendations?
Grading
The grading of 15.761 will be weighted as follows:
40% on class participation, based on criteria above
40% on group case write-ups, based on criteria above
20% on other group homework assignments (three problem sets)
Course Materials
Required course materials include:
15.761 course packet
The Memory Jogger (to be distributed in class)
Goldratt, E. M., and J. Cox. The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement. 2nd Revised ed. North River Press, 1992. To be read by Class 9.
Optional background readings from two alternative Textbooks:
Nahmias, Steven. Production and Operations Analysis. 4th ed. McGraw-Hill, 2001.
Readings from the Nahmias text will be designated with an N preceding the chapters (e.g.: N: 6) or sections of chapters (e.g.: N: 3.2-3.4) to be read.
Hopp, W. J., and M. L. Spearman. Factory Physics. 2nd ed. McGraw-Hill, 2000.
Readings from this text will be analogously designated by H&S.