Global Product Development and Management MSc

• Paul Lighterness

This specialised module will introduce you to the industry prototyping design processes. You will also be introduced to the facilities and workshops available at Cranfield.

• Basic introduction to Innovation and Technology Readiness Levels.
• Understand the benefits of ‘good’ requirements engineering e.g. how to capture and write ‘good’ requirements.
• Roles of consumer research, benchmarking and management in successful new product development, the impact of creativity and innovation methods on new product development, User Centric Design-Driven Design, hands on practice using a market leading software. Concept development manifested in a design proposition.

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

• Identify and write design specification requirements for a new product, service or system.
• Discuss, plan and build low fidelity prototypes using design best practice and agile innovation techniques.
• Critically evaluate industrial best practice tools and techniques for converting an idea into commercially viable solutions.
• Reflect upon the value of technology readiness levels used as an innovation process.
• Think creatively within a multi-disciplinary team using self and group reflective techniques.

To introduce core factors of managing operations.

• An introduction to manufacturing and service activities
• Capacity, demand and load; identifying key capacity determinant; order-size mix problem; coping with changes in demand
• Standard times, and how to calculate them; process analysis and supporting tools; process simplification
• What quality is; standards and frameworks; quality tools; quality in the supply chain
• Scheduling rules; scheduling and nested set-ups
• Roles of inventory; dependent and independent demand; Economic Order Quantity; uncertain demand; inventory management systems and measures
• Information systems – at operational, managerial, and strategic levels; bills of material; MRP, MPRll and ERP systems
• Ohno’s 7 wastes; Just-in-Time systems (including the Toyota Production System, and Kanbans)
• Class discussion of cases, exercises, and videos to support this syllabus

• Dr Ahmed Al-Ashaab

As 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

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 StratupProduct-service systems
• Hoshin KanriTRIZ-Problem-solving

On successful completion of this module a student should be able to:

1. Assess the concept of innovation and create competitive advantage of product-service systems.
1. Design a process of Lean Strat-up for developing businesses, products and services.
2. Apply methods for systematic and exhaustive definition and exploration of the design space.
3. Evaluate different design solutions effectively and solve its problems.
4. Create strategy to define enterprise goals of their product-service system to be communicated throughout the company and then put into action.

To give 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.

• Dr John Ahmet Erkoyuncu

To extend the student’s ability to evaluate integrated knowledge systems within the context of the wider enterprise environment through the application of modelling and simulation tools, techniques and methodologies.

• Introduction to modelling: taxonomy, overview of methods and techniques;
• Enterprise Modelling and lean concepts and architecture
• Structured Systems Analysis methodology, Process description capture tools and techniques, Object state transition network;
• Discrete-event simulation, Systems dynamics and Agent-based simulation techniques and methodologies;
• Case study analysis, use of industry-based software tools

• Dr John Ahmet Erkoyuncu

In competitive business environments, it is important to understand the relationships between different business factors, to forecast trends, to appreciate the risks arising from multiple decision paths actions, and to optimise strategies. As decisions are often taken under considerable uncertainty and time pressure it is important to be able to grasp the range of uncertainty and make rational decisions. This course aims to enhance student ability to apply structured methods to decision making.

• Regression Modelling
• Statistical Sampling
• Risk Analysis
• Optimisation
• Predictive analytics

This module aims to provide a systematic understanding and knowledge of key concepts and principles for digital engineering and its current practices, tools and processes and future development. The course will also provide hands-on experience using digital engineering tools and methods to enhance product development.

• Introduction to Digital Engineering concepts
• Digital Engineering Tools and Methods to support zero prototyping
• Design for Industry 4.0
• Smart Product
• Internet of Things (IoT), Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR&AR)
• Digital Twin for Product Development
• Model Based Definition/Enterprise
• Lean Digital Workflow for Product Development
• Additive Layer Manufacturing for Product Development
• Digital Engineering Industrial Case Studies

On successful completion of this module a student should be able to: 

1. Evaluate the understanding of the principles of digital engineering and its applications in product development.
2. Assess the capabilities of the selection of digital engineering tools and methods.
3. Create the knowledge of the application of digital engineering tools and techniques to support product development.
4. Manage the application of using Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR&AR) tools to support zero prototyping product development.
5. Evaluate the challenges in digital engineering implementation in industry.

To provide students with an understanding of the fundamental principles of contemporary supply chain management, with an emphasis on effective operations practice.

• Principles of supply chain management for competitive advantage
• Management of supplier relationships
• Introduction to agile and segmented supply chains
• Management of global supply chains
• Supply chain resilience and risk management
• Supply chain management tools,modelling approaches and SC analytics