OPM 561: Production Management: Lean Approaches and Variability

Contents
To match supply/capacity with demand, managers and planners have to consider different types of variability. This course discusses sources for three dimensions of variability and analyzes the effects on several operational performance measures. It introduces planning tasks for the design and management of operations systems from the strategic to the operational level. The first part of the course deals with design problems for flow production systems. The second part of the course covers control and scheduling decisions. Challenges and opportunities arising from the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) and key concepts for future factories are presented. To manage and reduce variability, we introduce modern business analytics tools as well as classical lean management approaches.
This course aims to provide insights into the key decisions regarding the design and management of lean production systems. For this purpose, quantitative models for the performance analysis and optimization are discussed.

Learning outcomes
Students will

• develop skills for quantitative planning in the field of production management,
• have an overview of requirements, objectives and key concepts in lean production management, and
• understand reasons and effects of variability in operations management.

Necessary prerequisites
–

Recommended prerequisites
Basic knowledge in operations management (e.g. BSc course “Produktion” or “OPM 301 Operations Management”), basic knowledge in mathematics (including Linear Programming) and in statistics (probability distributions).

Examiner Performing lecturer

Prof. Dr. Raik Stolletz Prof. Dr. Raik Stolletz