Project Description (Objectives & Perspective) Please read this document several times over the semester so that you have a very clear idea of what is required of you in this project. The Objective: The objective of the project is to enhance your learning of the material in this course by applying theories, concepts, and tools learnt in class to a realistic business case. This purpose can be best achieved if you select a product early on and work on the selected project diligently and consistently throughout the semester as we go through the material of each chapter. You will be required to develop and submit a project report by the end of 14th week of the semester. The perspective: For your project report, you take the perspective of the promoters / owners of the business enterprise engaged in the manufacture of the product or provision of a service. Decision about the form of organization and region of operations etc is a matter of your choice. Basically, you will write the report assuming the reader to be your prospective investors and or customers, and try to address readers’ interest, questions and concerns in a professional manner with meaningful and clear explanations. In your project report you will first, outline the business and operations strategy, mission statement, core competencies, product and process design, and quality considerations in the manufacturing process for the product/service you have selected. Then you will proceed to analyze and select a production location or locations, forecast your production requirements, plan the capacity of your production facility, schedule considerations, and establish the necessary supply chain partnerships. Additionally, you will need to discuss what your inventory management policies will be, and your plans for implementing E.R.P. and Lean management in your production facility. You will need to include the following sections in your Project Report: 1. Mission Statement that addresses minimally, what business will the company is in, who the customers are, and how will the company’s basic beliefs define the business. 2. Strategy: How do you plan to gain a competitive advantage in the market place, or in other words, “what are your core competencies?” Try to address the question, whether your company will compete on, cost, quality, time (speed), or flexibility? Or on a combination of two or more of these dimensions. 3. Results of environmental scanning (government regulations, trends, opportunities, threats, etc.) and the factors influencing your choice of product, process etc. 4. A detailed description of your product (include complete details of the component parts, and the process of manufacture). You may also want to discuss, How did you pick your product? a) Idea development b) Product screening (alternate products considered etc.) c) Preliminary design and testing (pilot, samples, any market tests etc.) d) Final design (components, processes, 10 material, machinery and other resources necessary to manufacture your product- including any outsourcing) 5. How will you ensure consistent quality in your products and processes? How do company’s standards compare with the industry standards? Any bench marking etc. 6. Forecasting: Decide what to forecast. Evaluate and analyze appropriate data (industry, regional, and national including demand data from a similar company). Select the forecasting method (quantitative, not qualitative) and justify your selection. Generate forecasts (please include as attachments). How will you check accuracy of your forecasts? Will you forecast for seasonality and if so, how? Explain. 7. Operations planning: Determine the necessary “production capacity” of your facility based on your demand forecasts? What productivity measurements will you use? 8. Location Consideration: Describe the steps/analysis that you followed to determine the best location for your facility. Discuss, a) Regional-national considerations, proximity to sources of supply, customers, or sources of labor. b) Community considerations (any use of break-even analysis or other technique), and c) Site considerations. Outline your supply chain strategy and discuss how it impacted your facility location decision (from raw material to customer). 9. Manufacturing: Describe how you will manufacture your product (machines, labor, robotics, etc.). What type of manufacturing process layout will you use and why? Keep in mind that you will most likely utilize just-in-time (JIT) to the extent possible. Also recall the process of manufacture you chose, namely, continuous process, flow shop, cellular, job shop, project, or a hybrid (combination of two or more of the former) 10. Develop a diagram (attachment) of the facility layout and justify your layout choice. Show how the product flows through the facility from raw materials to finished product. Note: Diagrams should reflect space requirements for each function (machine, operator, and WIP, etc.). Discuss briefly, what happens at each station, and show output at each station (pieces per hour or similar measure). 11. How will you utilize “just-in-time” concepts in your facility? Discuss your Inventory management policies and ERP implementation, if any? Project Report- Formatting and Grading The objective of the project is to enhance your learning of the material in this course by applying theories, concepts, and tools learnt in class to a realistic business case. Please use MS Word to develop your report. Be sure to read project description (objectives and perspective) include at the end of the syllabus and follow the guidelines and instructions given. A good project report must include the following details/sections. Please note that your report will be graded using the rubrics appearing at the end of this document. 1) Executive Summary: provides a brief summary of the project highlighting key points and strengths included in the report. Such as, your product/service; organization type; scale of operations in terms of volume and financial outlay; regional, national, international reach; supply chain and logistics, key advantages over competition and any significant specialties. 2) Sections: Include all sections as listed in the project description document, such as. a) Mission Statement b) Strategy c) Environmental scanning d) Detailed description of product e) Quality management f) Forecasting g) Operations planning h) Location Consideration i) Manufacturing j) Facility Layout (diagram as attachment) k) Just-in-time l) Other pertinent details not included above 3) References (sources used / cited in the report) 4) All appendices – charts- tables -images (not included in the main body of the report – please do not duplicate the material already included in main body of report). PROJECT REPORT FORMATTING GUIDELINES Report format must adhere to the following guidelines: a. Report must include a front page and table of contents. b. Report must not exceed fifteen (15) pages, table of contents excluding any appendices. c. Pages must be standard 8 1/2″ by 11″ paper. d. Follow APA Guidelines for formatting the report and citing references. e. However, you may use single, one and half f. Report format must follow the same sequence of sections shown above. If information is not available or a particular section is not applicable to your product/service, include a statement to that effect in the report. g. Creativity through design and use of pertinent value adding, meaningful graphics is encouraged.