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There is growing global demand within the manufacturing and service industries for talented professionals able to tackle the challenges that come with operating in a complex and rapidly evolving environment. With a continuous drive towards sustainability and net zero emissions targets, designers and engineers play a critical role in developing products and processes that present lower environmental impact whilst delivering innovation.

During the MSc in Global Product Development and Management, you will learn advanced techniques for integrating product development at different levels, and how to design and manufacture intelligent, sustainable and internationally competitive products. You will also develop the analytical and interpersonal skills necessary for the creative and effective application of knowledge used to address different product development issues.

Overview

  • Start dateFull-time: October, part-time: throughout the year
  • DurationOne year full-time, two-five years part-time
  • DeliveryTaught modules 40%, Group project 20% (dissertation for part-time students), Individual project 40%
  • QualificationMSc, PgDip, PgCert
  • Study typeFull-time / Part-time
  • CampusCranfield campus

Who is it for?

The MSc is designed for early- and mid-career professionals, career changers, and ambitious, internationally focused graduates looking to enhance their careers in a global context. Our students come from a wide range of backgrounds, including design disciplines, engineering, medical and healthcare and more, all of them with a keen interest in the design, development and manufacture of innovative products.

Although the management of products comprises a proportion of this programme, the angle from which this course is taught is that related to manufacturing, operations, supply chains, production processes, design and process engineering. The course is not suitable for those purely interested in the marketing of products. For marketing and management courses, please refer to the School of Management.

Why this course?

The Global Product Development and Management MSc provides students a unique opportunity to develop capabilities across product design, engineering, innovation and sustainability, as well as acquire skills in applying cutting-edge digital technologies and gaining appreciation for manufacturing processes, operations and supply chains.

Key aims of the course include:

  • To equip you with skills necessary for innovative product design and development processes and their supply chain.
  • To develop your awareness and understanding of lean thinking applications in product design and engineering to address product development industrial problems.
  • To provide you with an appreciation of PD technologies, Industry 4.0 enables, tools and methods relevant to the different manufacturing sectors.
  • To develop transferable skills such as analytical and interpersonal skills needed for the creative and effective application of knowledge to address different PD issues.

Within an increasingly connected world, the fields of product design, development, manufacturing and management are increasingly challenging, requiring professionals with a unique combination of skills to address them in the most efficient, innovative and optimised ways. To address this, the MSc will equip you with an international understanding of global manufacturing and service, covering cutting-edge technologies for worldwide product development, from concept creation and innovation through to delivery and production.

Key to developing these skills is the opportunity to work on real-life design and engineering projects during the course via industry-sponsored group and individual projects. These give you first-hand experience of solving live challenges and working with your peers and industry professionals to develop innovative and viable solutions.

As a result, you will be prepared to pursue a career as a global leader capable of implementing high-performance products and manufacturing process, and effectively manage cross-border teams to deliver internationally competitive products and services into the global marketplace.

Informed by Industry

Our courses are designed to meet the training needs of industry and have a strong input from experts in their sector. Students who excel have their performance recognised through course awards which are provided by high profile organisations and individuals, and are often sponsored by our industrial partners. Awards are presented on Graduation Day.

Organisations that we have worked with include:

  • Atlas Copco
  • Vendigital
  • CEMEX
  • Rolls Royce
  • Airbus
  • Visteon
  • Jaguar Land Rover
  • Moog
  • Caltec
  • Paxton
  • Getrag

Course details

The course comprises eight assessed modules, a group project and an individual research project.

Course delivery

Taught modules 40%, Group project 20% (dissertation for part-time students), Individual project 40%

Group project

The group project experience is highly valued by both students and prospective employers. Teams of students work to solve an industrial problem. The project applies technical knowledge and provides training in teamwork and the opportunity to develop non-technical aspects of the taught programme. Part-time students can prepare a dissertation on an agreed topic in place of the group project.

Industrially orientated, our team projects have support from external organisations.  As a result of external engagement Cranfield students enjoy a higher degree of success when it comes to securing employment. Prospective employers value the student experience where team working to find solutions to industrially based problems are concerned.

Individual project

Either industrially or academically driven, students select the individual project in consultation with the Course Director. The project provides students with the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to carry out independent research, think and work in an original way, contribute to knowledge, and overcome genuine manufacturing problems. Many of the projects are supported by external organisations.

Modules

Keeping our courses up-to-date and current requires constant innovation and change. The modules we offer reflect the needs of business and industry and the research interests of our staff and, as a result, may change or be withdrawn due to research developments, legislation changes or for a variety of other reasons. Changes may also be designed to improve the student learning experience or to respond to feedback from students, external examiners, accreditation bodies and industrial advisory panels.

To give you a taster, we have listed the compulsory and elective (where applicable) modules which are currently affiliated with this course. All modules are indicative only, and may be subject to change for your year of entry.


Course modules

Compulsory modules
All the modules in the following list need to be taken as part of this course.

Design, Technology and Prototyping

Aim
    This specialised module will introduce industry prototyping design processes. This module will also introduce the facilities/workshops available at Cranfield.
Syllabus

    · 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.

Intended learning outcomes

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

1. Prepare and write design specification requirements for a new product, service or system.

2. Formulate, plan and build low fidelity prototypes using design best practice and agile innovation techniques.

3. Critically evaluate industrial best practice tools and techniques for converting an idea into commercially viable solutions.

4. Assess the value of technology readiness levels used as an innovation process.

5. Examine creatively within a multi-disciplinary team using self and group reflective techniques.


Operations Management

Aim

    To introduce you to core factors of managing operations.


Syllabus
    • 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.
Intended learning outcomes On successful completion of this module you will be able to:

1. Assess the key capacity determinant in an operation, and carry out an analysis to develop the most appropriate approach in response to changes in demand.
2. Select and apply appropriate approaches and tools to determine standards and improve processes.
3. Determine the information needed to support businesses, in particular manufacturing operations.
4. Assess and select appropriate Just-in-Time (JIT) tools to improve operations.
5. Develop appropriate quality systems for the whole of their supply chain – from supplier, through operations to customers – and ensure these systems are sustained and a culture of continuous improvement prevails.

Lean Product Development

Aim

    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.

Syllabus

    · 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


Intended learning outcomes

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.


Design Driven Innovation Processes

Aim

    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.


Syllabus
    · Innovation Overview
    · Design thinking and design process modelling.
    · Lean Stratup Product-service systems
    · Hoshin Kanri
    · TRIZProblem-solving
Intended learning outcomes

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.

General Management

Aim

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

Syllabus

    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.

Intended learning outcomes

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.

 


Enterprise Modelling

Aim

    To extend your 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.


Syllabus
    • 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
Intended learning outcomes On successful completion of this module you should be able to:
1. Distinguish the concepts of modelling approaches and architecture.
2. Analyse challenges in the capture and representation of business knowledge for the purpose of modelling.
3. Critically evaluate the opportunities in a business where modelling and simulation can add value.
4. Construct and apply different modelling & simulation tools used in producing enterprise models.

Digital Engineering

Aim
    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 facilitate product and service development.
Syllabus

    · Introduction to Digital Engineering concepts

    · Digital Engineering Tools and Methods to support zero physical prototyping

    · Internet of Things (IoT), Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR&AR)

    · Digital Twin for Product Development

    · Artificial intelligence and machine learning

    · Digital Engineering Industrial Case Studies

Intended learning outcomes

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

1. Evaluate the principles of digital engineering, its applications and benefits in product and service development.

2. Critically evaluate the selection of digital engineering tools and methods.

3. Create the knowledge of the application of digital engineering tools and techniques to support product and service development.

4. Manage the application of using Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR&AR) tools to support zero physical prototyping.

5. Evaluate the challenges in digital engineering implementation in industry.


Supply Chain Management

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

    · 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


Intended learning outcomes

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

1. Appraise the basic principles underlying supply chain management and the potential impact on an organisations competitive position and its performance

2. Assess the different characteristics of agile supply chains, identify pre-conditions to agility and propose capabilities and practices to improve supply chain agility

3. Assess key aspects of a customer responsive supply chain strategy within defined service and demand profiles

4. Explore the role of big data in managing the supply chain

5. Evaluate evolving supply relationships and explain the potential roles of co-ordination and collaboration

Tom Leigh promo

When you're at Cranfield, it doesn't feel like you're learning by the book, you're learning on the job. Everything you do is a real problem, a real piece of work. The knowledge and experience that I gained from my time at Cranfield has been invaluable to securing and succeeding in my role.

Tom Leigh, Shaft Cell Manager

Accreditation

The Global Product Development and Management MSc is accredited by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS)Institution of Engineering & Technology (IET) on behalf of the Engineering Council as meeting the requirements for further learning for registration as a Chartered Engineer (CEng).

 

Candidates must hold a CEng accredited BEng/BSc (Hons) undergraduate first degree to show that they have satisfied the educational base for CEng registration.

 

Please note accreditation applies to the MSc award, PgDip and PgCert (if offered) do not meet in full the further learning requirements for registration as a Chartered Engineer.

Your career

This course will enable graduates to progress to senior roles in a range of global businesses. Previous graduate destinations include aerospace and automotive manufacturing multi-nationals, as well as leading consultancy firms.

Job roles that our students have gone into:

  • Business and Product Development Manager
  • Consultant Strategy & Operations
  • Design And Development Engineer
  • Engineering Project Manager
  • Group Leader - Mechanical Design
  • Head of Engineering and Tooling
  • Head of Manufacturing Engineering
  • Innovation Manager
  • Lead Technologist
  • Manufacturing Manager
  • Product Engineer
  • Senior Program Manager
  • System Engineer
  • Technical Director
  • Technology Consultant - CIO Advisory

Companies that have employed our graduates include:

  • Amazon 
  • Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
  • Samsung Electronics UK Ltd
  • BAE Systems
  • Baumann
  • Burberry
  • Deloitte
  • Jaguar Land Rover
  • KPMG
  • HP
  • Ocado Technology
  • Samsung Electronics
  • Rolls-Royce
  • Safran
  • Hilti Great Britain

Cranfield’s Career Service is dedicated to helping you meet your career aspirations. You will have access to career coaching and advice, CV development, interview practice, access to hundreds of available jobs via our Symplicity platform and opportunities to meet recruiting employers at our careers fairs. Our strong reputation and links with potential employers provide you with outstanding opportunities to secure interesting jobs and develop successful careers. Support continues after graduation and as a Cranfield alumnus, you have free life-long access to a range of career resources to help you continue your education and enhance your career.

 

Part-time route

We welcome students looking to enhance their career prospects whilst continuing in full-time employment. The part-time study option that we offer is designed to provide a manageable balance that allows you to continue employment with minimal disruption whilst also benefiting from the full breadth of learning opportunities and facilities available to all students. The University is very well located for visiting part-time students from all over the world and offers a range of library and support facilities to support your studies.

As a part-time student you will typically be required to attend four modules a year at Cranfield University which are taught over a one week period with assessment via a mixture of assignments, examinations, individual and group projects. Teaching blocks are typically run during the period from October to March, followed by independent study and project work where contact with your supervisors and cohort can take place in person or online. Students looking to study towards the MSc will commence their studies in the October.

We believe that this setup allows you to personally and professionally manage your time between work, study and family commitments, whilst also working towards achieving a Master's degree.

How to apply

Click on the ‘Apply now’ button below to start your online application.

See our Application guide for information on our application process and entry requirements.