The success of a firm is definitively determined by the effectiveness of its management. The Operations Management typically include plant scheduling, inventory control, quality assurance, materials management, capacity planning, etc. The operations view focuses on the flow of material through a plant, and thereby places clear emphasis on most of the key measures by which manufacturing managers are evaluated (throughput, customer service, efficiency, etc.). Then, the course proposes a review of traditional operations management techniques, including inventory control models, material requirement planning (MRP) and Just in time (JIT). Then the course examines key behavioural tendencies of manufacturing systems. Finally it treats specific manufacturing management issues.

Factory physics is a systematic description of the underlying behavior of manufacturing systems. Understanding it enables managers and engineers to work with the natural tendencies of manufacturing system to:

1 Identify opportunities for improving existing systems;
2 Design effective new systems;
3 make the tradeoffs needed to coordinate policies from disparate areas.

The course provides the key concepts and tools that are required to analyze the dynamics of production systems, to define successful and viable production planning and control strategies and - finally - to implement them by managing the production process.

TOPICS COVERED:
Inventory Management models
Lot sizing rules
Ttraditional operations management techniques, including inventory control models, material requirement planning (MRP) and Just in time (JIT) and other models (MRPII: MPS, RCCP, CRP)
Push-pull systems: MRP vs JIT; JIT: principles, kanban
Factory dynamics and benchmarking
Variability causes and flow variability
Scheduling

Suggested textbooks are:
W.J. Hopp, M.L. Spearman, 2000. Factory physics: foundations of manufacturing management, McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

A course pack including schemes and Powerpoint presentations used during lectures will be provided during the course. Lecturing material, exercises and the text of exam papers are all written in English.

Assessment will be based on a written exam.
The exam is structured in two sections, to be held in the same day, and a minimum threshold of 9 points in both sections is to be achieved:
− practice (no books or notes allowed), 18 points,
− theory (no books or notes allowed), 15 points.
Students achieving full marks in the two elements (18+15 = 33) qualify for a 30 cum laude mark. Students may also ask for a supplemental oral examination. This may lead to a ± 3 points change in their overall mark.
More details on this will be provided in class.