Production & Operations Management

Please read this document several times over the semester so that you have a very clear idea of what is required of you in this project.
The Objective: The objective of the project is to enhance your learning of the material in this course by applying theories, concepts, and tools learnt in class to a realistic business case. This purpose can be best achieved if you select a product early on and work on the selected project diligently and consistently throughout the semester as we go through the material of each chapter. You will be required to develop and submit a project report (about 15 pages plus any attachments) by the middle / end of 14th week of the semester.
The perspective: For your project report, you take the perspective of the promoters / owners of the business enterprise engaged in the manufacture of the product or provision of a service. Decision about the form of organization and region of operations etc. is a matter of your choice. Basically, you will write the report assuming the reader to be your prospective investors and or customers, and try to address readers’ interest, questions and concerns in a professional manner with meaningful and clear explanations.
In your project report you will first, outline the business and operations strategy, mission statement, core competencies, product and process design, and quality considerations in the manufacturing process for the product/service you have selected. Then you will proceed to analyze and select a production location or locations, forecast your production requirements, plan the capacity of your production facility, schedule considerations, and establish the necessary supply chain partnerships. Additionally, you will need to discuss what your inventory management policies will be, your plans for implementing ERP and Lean management in your production facility. You will need to include the following sections specifically in your Project Report:
1. Mission Statement that addresses minimally, what business will the company is in, who the customers are, and how will the company’s basic beliefs define the business.
2. Strategy: How do you plan to gain a competitive advantage in the market place, or in other words, “what are your core competencies?” Try to address the question, whether your company will compete on, cost, quality, time (speed), or flexibility or a combination of two or more of these dimensions giving reasonable explanations.
3. Results of environmental scanning (government regulations, trends, opportunities, threats, etc.) and the factors influencing your choice of product, process etc.
4. A detailed description of your product (include complete details of the component parts, and the process of manufacture). You may also want to discuss,
How did you pick your product?
a) Idea development b) Product screening (alternate products considered etc.) c) Preliminary design and testing (pilot, samples, any market tests etc.) d) Final design (components, processes,
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material, machinery and other resources necessary to manufacture your product- including any outsourcing)
5. How will you ensure consistent quality in your products and processes? How do your company’s standards compare with the industry standards? Any bench marking etc.
6. Forecasting: Decide what to forecast. Evaluate and analyze appropriate data (industry, regional, and national including demand data from a similar company). Select the forecasting method (quantitative, not qualitative) and justify your selection. Generate forecasts (please include as attachments). How will you check accuracy of your forecasts? Will you forecast for seasonality and if so, how? Explain.
7. Operations planning: Determine the necessary “production capacity” of your facility based on your demand forecasts. What productivity measurements will you use?
8. Location Consideration: Describe the steps/analysis that you followed to determine the best location for your facility. Discuss, a) Regional-national considerations, proximity to sources of supply, customers, or sources of labor. b) Community considerations (any use of break-even analysis or other technique), and c) Site considerations. Outline your supply chain strategy and discuss how it influenced your facility location decision (from raw material to customer).
9. Manufacturing: Describe how you will manufacture your product (machines, labor, robotics, etc.). What type of manufacturing process layout will you use and why? Keep in mind that you will most likely utilize just in time (JIT) to the extent possible. Also, recall the process of manufacture you chose, namely, continuous process, flow shop, cellular, job shop, project, or a hybrid (combination of two or more of the former)
10. Develop a diagram (attachment) of the facility layout and justify your layout choice. Show how the product flows through the facility from raw materials to finished product.
Note: Diagrams should reflect space requirements for each function (machine, operator, and WIP, etc.). Discuss briefly, what happens at each station, and show output at each station (pieces per hour or similar measure).
11. How will you utilize “just-in-time” concepts in your facility? Discuss your Inventory management policies and ERP implementation, if any.
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Note: Instructor reserves the right to make suitable adjustments to this document to clarify/amplify any of the requirements above. For clarifications and comments contact instructor at bjanamanchi@tamiu.edu
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Project Report- Formatting and Grading
The objective of the project is to enhance your learning of the material in this course by applying theories, concepts, and tools learnt in class to a realistic business case.
Please use MS Word to develop your report. Be sure to read project description (objectives and perspective) include at the end of the syllabus and follow the guidelines and instructions given. A good project report must include the following details/sections. Please note that your report will be graded using the rubrics appearing at the end of this document.
1) Executive Summary: provides a brief summary of the project highlighting key points and strengths included in the report. Such as, your product/service; organization type; scale of operations in terms of volume and financial outlay; regional, national, international reach; supply chain and logistics, key advantages over competition and any significant specialties.
2) Sections: Include all sections as listed in the project description document, such as. a) Mission Statement
b) Strategy
c) Environmental scanning
d) Detailed description of product e) Quality management
f) Forecasting
g) Operations planning
h) Location Consideration
i) Manufacturing
j) Facility Layout (diagram as attachment) k) Just-in-time
l) Other pertinent details not included above
3) References (sources used / cited in the report)
4) All appendices – charts- tables –images (not included in the main body of the report –
please do not duplicate the material already included in main body of report). PROJECT REPORT FORMATTING GUIDELINES
Report format must adhere to the following guidelines:
a. Report must include a title page and table of contents.
b. Report must not exceed fifteen (15) pages, including the title page, table of contents
excluding any appendices.
c. Pages must be standard 8 1/2″ by 11″ paper. Use Times New Roman font of 12-point size d. Follow APA Guidelines for formatting the report and citing references.
e. You may use single, one and half or double-spaced format to suit your content.
f. Report format must follow the same sequence of sections shown above. If information is
not available or a particular section is not applicable to your product/service, include a
statement to that effect in the report.
g. Creativity through design and use of pertinent value adding, meaningful graphics is
encouraged.
h. Please take help from Writing Center, Cowart Hall 203, for the project report. Find details
at URL: http://www.tamiu.edu/uc/writingcenter/hoursold.shtml 11

GRADING
Based upon the written documentation in the below rubric, the content of each report will be evaluated by the criteria identified in the rubric rating sheet.
PROJECT REPORT—RUBRIC
You may review the details in blackboard
You will find this rubric attached to turnitin dropbox
Criteria
Achievement Level
NOT Demonstrated / Unacceptable level
0%
Unsatisfactory attempt
50%
Meets several but not all expectations of sections
70%
Meets expectations of all but one or two sections
80%
Meets Expectations of all sections
90%
Exceeds Expectations
100%
Executive Summary
(10% Weight)
0 percent
5 percent
7 percent
8 percent
9 percent
10 percent
Missing altogether
Cursory Attempt at Executive Summary
Fails to Cover Key points
Attempts cover key points
Covers all key points
Conscise and Effectively written covering all key points
Content Sections
(40% Weight)
0 percent
20 percent
28 percent
32 percent
36 percent
40 percent
More than 50% of sections missing
Missing sections without explanations
Overlooked applicable sections OR Glaering or obvious errors in content
Includes all but one or two sections OR not enough details in some sections
Includes all sections with minor errors or omissions in one or more sections
Clearly accurately includes all sections with no errors or obvious omissions
Financials
(10% Weight)
0 percent
5 percent
7 percent
8 percent
9 percent
10 percent
None
Cursory attempt at financials with glaring errors
Reasonable inclusion of any one of product cost breakup / sales forecasts/ Break-even analysis
Reasonable inclusion of any two of product cost breakup / sales forecasts/ Break-even analysis of operations
Reasonable inclusion of all three of product cost breakup / sales forecasts/ Break-even analysis of operations
Clear and accurate presentation of all three of product cost breakup / sales forecasts/ Break- even analysis of operations
Use of Charts / Tables/Images
(10% Weight)
0 percent
5 percent
7 percent
8 percent
9 percent
10 percent
None
Limited use- Just one or two but with errors
Some use – Up to 2 of these used accurately and effectively
Some use – Up to 3 of these used accurately and effectively
Good use – More than 3 of these used accurately and effectively
Excellent use of charts/ tables/ Images – used five or more accutaely and effectively
Grammar/Mechanics /Reference citing/ Formatting/Title Sheet /Table of Contents
(20% Weight)
0 percent
10 percent
14 percent
16 percent
18 percent
20 percent
Missing format, No title sheet, No table of contents, too many errors
Missing format or Title sheet or Table of content Or reference citations. coupled with typos/ grammatical errors
Format followed- title sheet and table of content included, cited references; but several typos /grammatical errors noticed
Format followed- title sheet and table of content included, cited references; few typos or grammatical errors noticed
Format followed- title sheet and table of content included, cited references correctly and very few typos or errors noticed
Format followed- title sheet and table of content included, cited references properly and no grammatical errors noticed
Overall general Impression
(10% Weight)
0 percent
5 percent
7 percent
8 percent
9 percent
10 percent
Not Enough Effort
Very Weak Effort
Weak to Acceptable Effort
Acceptable Effort
Strong Effort with minor flaws
Strong Effort Interesting and Engaging
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