I. INTRODUCTION
Operations Management is practically a course in management. In this course you will learn various tools, techniques and concepts related to managing various organizational resources to efficiently and effectively produce goods and provide services. The project component of this course is an essential element of the learning process and has a substantial weightage in the overall grade for this course. This project emphasizes on understanding the practical dimension of operations management, and to understand to some extent the interconnectedness of various concepts learned in this course. The objective of this project is for each group to learn principles and methods of product development, to improve teamwork skills and to appreciate the inherent multidisciplinary nature of product development. Project ideas come from the students in the class. In order to develop their intellectual and knowledge skills, the creative term project has valuable benefits for students such as collaboration, integration and research; demonstration of their creativity; and being a part of innovation. The project is expected to be completed in groups of 3-4 students.
II. LEARNING OUTCOMES
The report should cover at least three of the course learning outcomes indicated below and clearly show how the project meets those learning outcomes:
1. Articulate the fundamental principles of operations management 2. Develop an understanding of the operations management functions in a manufacturing or service industry 3. Demonstrate the skills necessary to identify, analyze and resolve typical problems that arise in managing operations 4. Evaluate cause and effects and business requirements for a given problem scenario 5. Generate new designs to improve the existing operations and work with people from different backgrounds as a team to solve complex business operations problems 6. Establish and measure the performance of different operations related decision problems, such as productivity, facility layout, capacity planning, facility location, forecasting, inventory, quality, etc.
3 PMU Academic Projects BUSI 3321 – Operations Management
III. PROJECT FILES
All project deliverables will be uploaded on Blackboard and students as a group (team leader) will upload the final report into Blackboard on/before the due date.
IV. PROJECT SUMMARY (SCENARIO)
In planning the production system, major decisions are made concerning the design of the product or services as well as the design of the production processes. Entrepreneurs usually formulate new businesses based on a unique product or a service idea. In existing firms, new products or services are introduced when the competition for existing products increases or as existing products approach the end of their product life cycle. Even after a few new products are launched, and even if these products are successful, since they have limited life cycles, companies always seek and consider new product possibilities. If a company continuously monitors new product possibilities, and if there is a product failure among the current products, or if there is a significant change in the product market, then the company can still be in position to release a new product to fill the void.
There aren’t many things more important to an organization than its products and/or services and there is a rather obvious connection between the design of those products and/or services and the organization’s success. Consequently, organizations are vitally concerned about achieving outstanding product and service design so they can compete in today’s global marketplace.
The long-term competitiveness of any manufacturing company depends ultimately on the success of its product development capabilities. New product development holds hope for improving market position and financial performance, creating new industry standards and new niche markets, and even renewing the organization.
The group is requested to outline how various ideas come through in product design and development processes for any operations whether existed in local or any international company levels. The quality of the analysis will be dependent on the effort devoted to information search and the planning carried out before the information gathering for product idea. Multiple information sources can be targeted, including web resources (company official website, business news online), corporate documentation, press releases, etc.
4 PMU Academic Projects BUSI 3321 – Operations Management
V. PROJECT DELIVERABLE
A. Requirements Think of a new or revised product that you would like to see in the Middle East market. 1. Provide an overview of how and why the idea of this new or redesigned product was generated. 2. Explain the economic, social, demographic and technological reasons for designing or redesigning the product. 3. Identify the competitors of your product in the Middle East region. Perform a SWOT analysis for your product in relation to those of your competitors. 4. Discuss the strategic, tactical and operational level implications of producing your product with respect to the following factors: A. Legal and ethical considerations B. Sustainability C. Profitability D. Cultural considerations E. Globalization 5. Discuss the phases of product design and development with respect to your product. A. Feasibility analyses (i.e., demand analysis, economic analysis and technical analysis) B. Product specifications. C. Process Specifications D. Prototype Development E. Design Review F. Market Test G. Product Introduction H. Follow-up Evaluation 6. Include a ‘Lessons Learned’ section focusing on how operations related improvements can be made within the product development process based on your understanding of the concepts learned in this course.
B. Project Report Format Using the APA Style Guide, write a final report of no more than 2500 words. To incorporate the above requirements, your report must include the following sections: Title Page Table of Contents Abstract Introduction
5 PMU Academic Projects BUSI 3321 – Operations Management
How and Why the Idea of the Product Was Generated Reasons for Design of the Product A. Economic Reasons B. Social and Demographic Reasons C. Technological Reasons Competitors of the Product SWOT Analysis Strategic, Tactical and Operational Implications A. Legal and Ethical Considerations B. Sustainability C. Profitability D. Cultural considerations E. Globalization Phases of Product Design and Development A. Feasibility analyses B. Product specifications. C. Process Specifications D. Prototype Development E. Design Review F. Market Test G. Product Introduction H. Follow-up Evaluation Lessons Learned Conclusion References