Engineering Competence MSc

To develop your understanding and practice of project and programme management as a core competence in operations and change management, in the role of internal or external consultants.

• Project and Programme Management.
• PM Tools and Techniques.
• IT Project Management.
• Introduction to PRINCE 2.
• Introduction to Managing Successful Programmes.
• Project Readiness.
• Organisation and People issues.
• Project Complexity and Risk.
• Project Management simulation.

To introduce Cost Engineering principles, procedures and practices that will contribute to the development of affordable products and services with the focus on optimised whole life cost and performance.

• Economic Through Life System development, understand why Cost Engineering (CE).
• CE principles, cost estimation and modelling techniques, CE process, whole life costing, Integrated Logistic Support (ILS) costing, cost of hardware development and manufacture, cost of through life support.
• Dynamic cost modelling, Knowledge management for Cost Engineering, affordability engineering, risk analysis and uncertainty management, systems thinking for cost.
• Holistic life cycle related CE case studies for improved business intelligence: Building awareness of software tools (e.g. TruePlanning, SEER-H).

To introduce you to the core factors of managing operations and the concept of flow in operations.

• An introduction to manufacturing organisations and functions.

• The theory of operations, flow in manufacturing and what enables/inhibits it.

• Order winners, Order qualifiers, and competitive priorities.

• Key Performance Indicators in manufacturing.

• Product/Process matrix, facility layouts, production strategies, product families.

• Customer Demand and capacity planning, and standardization.

• Process flow diagrams, and value stream maps.

• S&OP, Master Production Scheduling, BOM, and scheduling rules.

• Push vs Pull production.

• Information systems; MRP, MPRll, ERP, and Kanban systems.

• Maintenance management strategies.

• Dimensions of Quality, Quality management frameworks, and the cost of quality.

• Roles of inventory; inventory management systems and measures.

• Lean Manufacturing.

• Class discussion of cases, exercises, and videos to support this syllabus.

On successful completion of this module you will be able to:

1. Discuss the importance of the operations functions of an organisation and how operations performance can impact the success of the whole organisation.

2. Assess production and capacity management strategies that can be deployed to meet customer demand for products and services.

3. Assess the importance of inventory, maintenance, and quality management systems in achieving high levels of operational performance.

4. Determine the role of information in planning, control, and scheduling, including the role of IT systems.

5. Critique the different attributes of the Lean Production System and how they apply to contemporary operational contexts.

To develop your understanding of complex manufacturing systems engineering through the application of different modelling and simulation tools, techniques and methodologies with a view to analyse and (re)design manufacturing systems that maximise efficiency, productivity and competitiveness.​​

• Introduction to modelling: taxonomy, overview of methods and techniques.

• Design of manufacturing layouts.

• Manufacturing layout Manufacturing Systems modelling using discrete-event simulation, Systems dynamics and Agent-based simulation techniques and methodologies.

• Case study Analysis of manufacturing systems using simulation.

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

1. ​​​Differentiate the applicability of different modelling approaches applicable in manufacturing businesses.

2. Assess how production layout and system design influence manufacturing system performance.

3. ​Design a graphical simulation model using an industry-leading discrete-event simulation tool to feed to the experimental testing procedure.

4. ​Appraise the effectiveness of manufacturing layout configurations.

5. ​Evaluate the potential benefits and limitations of using AI in the early design of manufacturing systems and integrating AI methods into various design scenarios.

As a Master level course this module has to develop knowledge, critical scientific thinking and hands-on experiences for developing a product. A scholarly approach of product development, project management and evolution, as well as the use of the most suitable material and technology, are expected. Research appropriately into customer and market requirements and their analysis to translate the requirements into product specification.

• Introduction to Product Development (PD).

• Concurrent Engineering

• PD Tools and Methods.

• Lean Product Development

• Set-Based Concurrent Engineering (SBCE).

• SBCE Industrial Case Studies.

• PD in Knowledge-based Environment.

• Trade-Off Curves to enable SBCE.

• Tutorial PD Project.

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

1. Assess the application of product development process in lean environment and addressing global collaboration.

2. Design a process of product development based on the principles of set-based concurrent engineering.

3. Formulate the process of selection of materials and manufacturing processes.

4. Appraise the application of tools and techniques to support product development such as QFD, DFM, DFA, and FMEA.

5. Create and manage product development knowledge to solving product design and development problems and to enable trade-off between design solutions.

To give you an introduction to some of the key general management, personal management and project management skills needed to influence and implement change.

Management Accounting Principles and Systems.

Personal style and team contribution, interpersonal dynamics, leadership, human and cultural diversity.

Project Management: structure and tools for project management.

Introduction to standards: awareness of standards, relevant standards (quality, environment and H&S), value of using standards, management of the standard and audit.

On successful completion of this module you will be able to:

1. Interpret and organize the objectives, principles, terminology, and systems of management accounting.
2. Assess the inter-relationships between functional responsibilities in a company.
3. Assess and select among the different management styles, team roles, different cultures, and how the management of human diversity can impact organisational performance.
4. Interpret and analyse the structure, aspects, and tools for project management.
5. Critically assess the ethical and social responsibilities within an engineering context.

This module introduces the core concepts, systematic methods, and tools for design-driven innovation of product-service systems through group assignments.

It emphasises formal treatment of product-service systems as well as systematic methods for exploring the design space creatively and exhaustively. Through exercises given during the module, the student will develop the ability to compare and compose appropriate building blocks for the delivery of value creation, and to build shared understandings for managing and implementing the innovation process effectively. The assignment topic will be given in collaboration with an industrial partner.

• Innovation Overview.

• Design thinking and design process modelling.

• Lean Stratup Product-service systems.

• Hoshin Kanri and Dare to Lean.

• TRIZProblem-solving.

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

1. Assess the concept of innovation and create competitive advantage of product-service systems.

2. Design a process of Lean Strat-up for developing businesses, products and services.

3. Apply methods for systematic and exhaustive definition and exploration of the design space.

4. Evaluate different design solutions effectively and solve its problems.

5. Create strategy to define enterprise goals of their product-service system to be communicated throughout the company and then put into action.

To develop your understanding and practice of business process analysis and engineering as a core competence in operations and change management, in the role of internal or external consultants.

• Business Process Management.
• Manufacturing and Services Processes.
• Modelling and Charting Tools.
• Lean and Six-sigma Processes.
• Business Analysis and Improvement Workshop Techniques.
• Re-engineering and Improvement Cases.