TEMPLE UNIVERSITY
MSOM 5806: Operations and Supply Chain Management
Fall 2010
Executive MBA Program
Course Syllabus
Instructor: Dr. Edward C. Rosenthal
Office: Alter Hall, room 526. Phone: (215) 204-8177. Fax: (215) 204-6237
e-mail:
Textbook: Operations Management, Jay Heizer and Barry Render. Tenth Edition,
Prentice Hall, 2011.
Software: POM-QM for Windows, Howard J. Weiss. Download at:
http://astro.temple.edu/~hweiss/pomsoftware .
Overview: The production and operations functions are integral to any organization. Essentially, one can think of these functions as the subsystem of the organization that converts inputs into goods and services. This course will discuss the efficient design and control of this subsystem. Naturally, much of the analysis involved is quantitative; therefore much of the work will be aimed at mathematical formulation and (computer) solution of the problems typically encountered. The course will be an introduction to and survey of the field. In the survey spirit, students will be exposed to many different ideas and techniques in both the manufacturing and service sectors. However, to keep the course from being too scattershot, some of the material - supply chain management, in particular - will be studied more in-depth.
Objectives: Students are expected to leave the course with a basic familiarity with the different models used to analyze the various operations functions. Also important to grasp is how these sometimes disparate functions are integrated, not only among themselves but with other functional areas in the organization. Finally, everyone will have ample opportunity to use various methods from the course in a real work environment (the project).
Grading: There will be one project, as well as a midterm and a final exam; each counts 1/3.
Homework: Homework will be assigned almost every week, to be reviewed in the following class and online (Blackboard (Bb)).
Projects: The project will be a group project. It will involve an application of operations management techniques or methodology to a significant problem that one person in the group is involved with directly or indirectly at work.
Important Note: This course is a ten week (2 credit) module. Two of the weeks will be work-at-home (aka “virtual,” using Bb), leaving a total of eight meetings. Please take this into account in managing your time.
Outline/Schedule (class meeting days in bold)
Week Date Topics Chapters
1 S Sept 11 Intro; TQM; statistical process control. 1, 6, Suppl. 6
2 F Sept 24 Capacity planning; facility location. 7, Suppl. 7, module E, 8
3 S Sept 25 Facility layout; queueing and simulation. 9, module D
4 Sept 25 – Oct 8 At home study: Project management (PERT/CPM). 3
® Project proposals due Saturday, September 25.
5 S Oct 9 Midterm exam (90 minutes); scheduling. 15
6 F Oct 22 Inventory and JIT. 12, 16
7 S Oct 23 MRP and supply chain management. 14, 11
® Project progress reports due Saturday, October 22
8 S Nov 6 Supply chain management.
9 Nov 6 - 13 Final Exam (“take-home”)
Note: the final is not comprehensive.
10 F Nov 19 Group project presentations
Note: We will be using our notebook PC’s for all of the sessions, including the exams.
Other notes:
· Built into this schedule are considerations such as time needed to review homework from the previous week, etc. We will be using Blackboard as well as classroom time to go over HW. We will also use Bb during the “off” weeks to review material.
· The group project proposals and progress reports that are due on Sept 25 and Oct 22 will not be graded, but will count toward the evaluation of the project.
· The exams will be open book - full use of text, notes, software, etc.
The Project
The team project is usually a source of concern, especially in the early going. However, for many, possibly most, students, it has been the most rewarding part of the course. Indeed, many of the projects in recent years have been outstanding.
Part of the worry about the project has to do with generating a suitable topic. Below I list a number of projects from past years. Each is tagged with a topic name (in italics) so as to identify its relation to the course coverage.
· Project scheduling: computer system installation. PERT/CPM.
· Staffing/physician assignment in hospital medical department. LP (STAT 802).
· Production facility re-design with cellular manufacturing. Facility layout, JIT.
· Inventory policy design for home-visit health care provider. Inventory.
· Scheduling/workflow improvement in dentist's office. Queueing/simulation.
· Salesforce support -- phone line staffing study. Queueing/simulation.
· Facility location: product distribution for large pharmaceutical corporation. Facility location.
· (Another) production facility layout/line balancing improvement. Facility layout.
· Analysis of parts shipments. Transportation, queueing.
· Analysis of walk-in health care clinic. Queueing.
· Yield improvement in manufacturing process. Statistical process control.
· Customer service improvement: phone line staffing. Queueing, simulation.
· Book publishing cycle time improvement: process analysis. TQM.
· Pension fund deposit cycle time improvement. TQM.
· Cost analysis for bottle production capacity expansion. SPC.
· Facility aggregation and location. Facility location.
· Data entry performance evaluation. Statistical process control.
My hope for the project is that each group will have at least one good candidate for study. By this I mean a process or situation that is ongoing and needs improvement, and where improvement is possible through the application of one or more operations management techniques from this course. These techniques usually, but do not necessarily, involve the development of a mathematical model.
I expect each group to come up with a suitable problem for study (every group in the past has done so!). Accomplishing this requires not only identifying a candidate problem but also surmising whether the application of one or more operations methods would be relevant and tractable within the limited time available. Often a successful project is merely a pilot analysis for a more involved future study.
Each group presentation will be 15-20 minutes. My goal is for our peers to learn about the original problem under investigation, to learn what methods were used to model the problem, and how the solutions (usually mathematical) obtained illustrate whether the situation or process can be re-designed to one's advantage. Often this latter point is demonstrated through some sort of cost-benefit analysis. Charts and graphs, computer runs, etc., are usually necessary and are to be part of a project write-up to be handed in.
Finally, there are two other items that need to be stated:
Disability Statement: This course is open to all students who meet the academic requirements for participation. Any student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the instructor privately to discuss the specific situation as soon as possible. Contact Disability Resources and Services at 215-204-1280 in 100 Ritter Annex to coordinate reasonable accommodations for students with documented disabilities.
Statement on Academic Freedom: Freedom to teach and freedom to learn are inseparable facets of academic freedom. The University has adopted a policy on Student and Faculty Academic Rights and Responsibilities (Policy # 03.70.02) which can be accessed through the following link: http://policies.temple.edu/getdoc.asp?policy_no=03.70.02.