Manufacturing Systems - 2024 entry

Manufacturing systems are a means of organising the efficient production of industrial goods. The purpose of this module is to give you an insight into modern manufacturing systems and their design and management and to enable you to apply various tools and techniques to solve practical problems.

By the end of the module, you will have a good understanding of different types of manufacturing systems and their management including process planning, materials requirements planning, capacity requirements planning, manufacturing resources planning (MRP II), production scheduling, and production control. You will also have obtained a good understanding of basic approaches to systems design and analysis, including layout planning, cell formation, line balancing, and systems modelling.

 
Corequisite module: ECM2102 or equivalent.

As well as enhancing your understanding of manufacturing systems, this module teaches you useful practical skills, such as calculate economic batch quantities in purchasing and manufacture. This will include calculation with price break points and multiproduct manufacture. Furthermore, you will acquire knowledge of batch reordering methods, lead times and stock-out penalties, find out how to calculate optimum re-order levels, and learn how to deal with uncertainty in demand for products.

This is a constituent module of one or more degree programmes which are accredited by a professional engineering institution under licence from the Engineering

Council. The learning outcomes for this module have been mapped to the output standards required for an accredited programme, as listed in the current version

of the Engineering Council’s ‘Accreditation of Higher Education Programmes’ document (AHEP-V3).

This module contributes to learning outcomes: SM1p-SM3p, SM1m – SM5m, EA1p-EA4p, EA1m - EA5m, D1p, D1m, D3p, D3m, D5p, D5m, D6p, D6m, ET2p, ET2m, EP1p, EP1m, Gp, G1m, G3p, G3m

A full list of the referenced outcomes is provided online: http://intranet.exeter.ac.uk/emps/subjects/engineering/accreditation/

The AHEP document can be viewed in full on the Engineering Council’s website, at http://www.engc.org.uk/

On successful completion of this module, you should be able to:

Module Specific Skills and Knowledge: SM1p-SM3p,SM1m-SM5m, EA1p-EA4p, EA1m-EA4m, D1p, D1m, ET2p, ET2m, EP1p, EP1m

1 understand manufacturing systems and their complexities, and the economic cost of excessive WIP and long production lead times;

2 recognise the various tools and techniques for production planning and control, and systems design/analysis, and apply them to practical problems.

Discipline Specific Skills and Knowledge: SM2p, SM2m, D3p, D3m, EA2p, EA2m, EA4p, EA4m, EA5m, D5p, D5m, EP1p, EP1m

3 comprehend the methods and tools used to support systems analysis and design and be able to apply them to practical problems.

Personal and Key Transferable/ Employment Skills and Knowledge: D6p, D6m, G1p, G1m, G3p, G3m

4 demonstrate improved project management skills, through set problem sheets and assignments, in terms of setting targets, scheduling and progress control;

5 illustrate strong team skills, through group discussions and problem solving;

6 exhibit advanced presentation skills.

- introduction to manufacturing, systems concepts, manufacturing systems and their classifications;

- process planning, line balancing and plant layout;

- production planning, scheduling and control, product quantities/mix analysis, MRP 1 and 2, capacity planning, JIT, Kanban, and OPT; 

- batch production, the unit of production, economic batch quantities in purchasing, including: price break points and manufacture, economic batch quantities in single product and multi-product manufacture; 

- optimisation criterion, batch balancing, batch size formulae;

- batch reordering methods, lead times and stock-out penalties; 

- determination of optimum re-order levels;

- balancing of production lines, determination of transfer and buffering requirements;

- dealing with uncertainty in demand;

- systems modelling, simulation and analysis techniques; 

- specification of logistic systems modelling; 

- advanced systems concepts, automation and flexible manufacturing systems, agile manufacturing, mass customisation, supply chain management and virtual enterprises.

Reassessment will be by a single written exam only worth 100% of the module. For deferred candidates, the mark will be uncapped. For referred candidates, the mark will be capped at 40%.

ELE:  https://ele.exeter.ac.uk

Reading list for this module: