Production Management Course

Lesson 1 • Core Production Objectives

Introduces the cost-quality-speed-flexibility trade-off framework. Students apply the framework to evaluate competing production priorities.

Lesson 2 • Production System Types and Models

Surveys job shop, batch, mass, and continuous flow systems. Students match system type to business context and output requirements.

Lesson 3 • What Production Management Is

Defines production management and distinguishes it from operations and supply chain roles. Anchors all subsequent chapters by establishing scope and terminology.

Lesson 4 • Key Performance Indicators in Production

Introduces throughput, utilisation, yield, and on-time delivery metrics. Students select appropriate KPIs for a given production context.

Lesson 1 • Aggregate Production Planning

Explains chase, level, and mixed strategies for matching capacity to demand. Students build a 12-period aggregate plan and evaluate trade-offs.

Lesson 2 • Master Production Scheduling

Translates the aggregate plan into item-level time-phased schedules. Students create a master production schedule and check it against available capacity.

Lesson 3 • Demand Forecasting Methods

Covers qualitative and quantitative forecasting techniques including moving averages and exponential smoothing. Students calculate forecast error and select the best method.

Lesson 1 • Inventory Accuracy and Record Keeping

Addresses root causes of inventory inaccuracy and corrective practices. Students design a cycle-count programme and reconciliation procedure.

Lesson 2 • ABC Analysis and Inventory Classification

Applies Pareto-based ABC classification to prioritise inventory control effort. Students redesign control policies for each class.

Lesson 3 • Reorder Point and Safety Stock

Calculates reorder points under deterministic and stochastic demand. Students set safety stock levels using service-level targets.

Lesson 4 • Economic Order Quantity Models

Derives and applies the EOQ formula and its extensions for quantity discounts. Students calculate optimal order quantities under varying cost assumptions.

Lesson 1 • Bill of Materials and Product Structure

Constructs single-level and multi-level bills of materials from product data. Accurate BOMs are the prerequisite for correct MRP output.

Lesson 2 • Capacity Requirements Planning

Converts planned MRP orders into capacity loads by work centre. Students identify overloads and apply levelling techniques.

Lesson 3 • Shop-Floor Scheduling Techniques

Applies priority dispatching rules and sequencing algorithms to job queues. Students compare rules using flow time and tardiness metrics.

Lesson 4 • MRP Logic and Explosion Process

Walks through gross-to-net calculation, lot sizing, and time-phasing. Students complete a full MRP explosion for a multi-level product.

Lesson 1 • Capacity Concepts and Measurement

Distinguishes design, effective, and actual capacity and calculates utilisation and efficiency. Establishes the measurement baseline for all capacity decisions.

Lesson 2 • Line Balancing for Assembly Operations

Balances workstations to minimise idle time given a target cycle time. Students apply the ranked positional weight method to a real assembly problem.

Lesson 3 • Quantitative Layout Analysis

Applies load-distance and systematic layout planning methods to optimise department placement. Students produce a revised layout with lower material handling cost.

Lesson 4 • Process and Facility Layout Types

Compares process, product, fixed-position, and cellular layouts on cost and flow criteria. Students select the appropriate layout for a given production system.

Lesson 1 • Statistical Process Control

Constructs X-bar, R, p, and c control charts and interprets out-of-control signals. Students distinguish common-cause from special-cause variation.

Lesson 2 • Quality Concepts and Cost of Quality

Defines conformance quality, grades, and the four cost-of-quality categories. Students calculate a cost-of-quality profile and identify the highest-leverage improvement area.

Lesson 3 • Root Cause Analysis Tools

Applies fishbone diagrams, 5-Why analysis, and Pareto charts to identify defect causes. Students complete a structured root-cause investigation for a production defect.

Lesson 4 • Acceptance Sampling and Inspection

Designs single and double sampling plans using OC curves and AQL concepts. Students evaluate the risk trade-off between producer and consumer errors.

Lesson 1 • Lean Principles and the Eight Wastes

Introduces the five lean principles and the eight categories of waste (muda). Students identify and quantify waste in a production scenario.

Lesson 2 • Pull Systems and Kanban

Designs kanban systems to replace push scheduling with demand-driven pull. Students calculate kanban quantities and simulate pull-system behaviour.

Lesson 3 • Setup Reduction and SMED

Applies the SMED methodology to convert internal to external setup activities. Students redesign a changeover sequence to cut setup time significantly.

Lesson 4 • Value Stream Mapping

Teaches current-state and future-state VSM using standard icons and metrics. Students draw a complete value stream map and calculate process lead time.

Lesson 1 • Building a Continuous Improvement Culture

Designs kaizen events, suggestion systems, and leadership behaviours that sustain improvement. Students create an improvement roadmap with milestones and ownership.

Lesson 2 • Six Sigma DMAIC in Production

Applies the DMAIC framework to reduce process variation and defect rates. Students complete a condensed DMAIC project using production data.

Lesson 3 • Production Performance Dashboards

Designs balanced scorecards and OEE-based dashboards to monitor production health. Students build a dashboard linking operational metrics to strategic objectives.

Lesson 4 • Theory of Constraints in Production

Applies the five focusing steps of TOC to identify and exploit system bottlenecks. Students use drum-buffer-rope scheduling to maximise throughput.