Introduction
The programme “Professional Mini-Master's in Production Engineering and Smart Manufacturing Operations” develops professional practice in Mini Professional Master Programmes. It connects the subject with workplace challenges by examining existing evidence and practices and choosing methods appropriate to the organization and its available resources.
The learning progresses from production improvement, workflow, and waste reduction to project planning and implementation control, with practical work on designing digital transformation and developing services, procedure analysis and work simplification, engineering design, modeling, and simulation. Participants prepare outputs to support workplace application and review the quality and results of implementation.
Learning objectives
- Analyze a production flow and identify an intervention that improves quality, time, and resource utilization in an application related to “Professional Mini-Master's in Production Engineering and Smart Manufacturing Operations”.
- Assess digitization opportunities and define implementation requirements that improve a service or process.
- Redesign a procedure to reduce delays and rework while maintaining controls.
- Build an engineering model and assess its assumptions, limitations, and verification results.
- Prepare a project plan connecting scope, time, resources, and risks.
Learning areas
1. Production Improvement, Workflow, and Waste Reduction
- Map a product or service flow from order to delivery, collecting data on cycle time, waiting, work in progress, and defects.
- Identify the constraint, bottlenecks, sources of waste, and rework, distinguishing improvement at one workstation from improvement in overall flow performance.
- Compare work balancing, planning, pull, and workplace organization alternatives, considering changes in demand, skills, and safety constraints.
- Design a small improvement pilot with an acceptance criterion and baseline, and define measures to maintain quality and prevent defects from passing between stages.
- Monitor productivity, quality, delivery compliance, and resources, documenting the improved work method and responsibilities for sustaining results. The application examines a case related to “Professional Mini-Master's in Production Engineering and Smart Manufacturing Operations”.
2. Designing Digital Transformation and Developing Services
- Distinguish information digitization, step automation, and business model transformation, and identify the problem targeted by the digital intervention.
- Map the beneficiary journey, touchpoints, and repeated data requests, and identify opportunities for simplification before selecting technology.
- Analyze readiness across procedures, skills, data, and technical infrastructure, and document gaps and dependencies on existing systems.
- Specify solution, integration, access permission, usability, and accessibility requirements, and establish testable acceptance criteria.
- Design a limited-scope pilot with indicators for time, quality, and use, and define conditions for continuing, adjusting, or stopping.
3. Procedure Analysis and Work Simplification
- Define the procedure's start, end, owner, inputs, and outputs, and collect data on processing time, waiting, and rework.
- Map the actual workflow between roles, identifying approvals, handovers, bottlenecks, and duplicate data entry.
- Analyze the value added by each step and the controls it provides, and propose combining, removing, or running steps in parallel with reasons for the choice.
- Document the improved procedure with clear authorities, forms, timelines, and standards, and review its effects on beneficiaries and delivery teams.
- Test the procedure on a limited case, measure time, errors, and output quality, and document adjustments and the rollout plan.
4. Engineering Design, Modeling, and Simulation
- Translate needs into requirements, design limits, and load or operating cases, documenting criteria and references relevant to the case.
- Prepare an engineering model showing dimensions, materials, relationships, and constraints, and review consistency between drawings, assumptions, and inputs.
- Select a simulation method suited to the problem, define boundary conditions, and examine the sensitivity of results to input quality and model settings.
- Compare outputs with a reference calculation or available test data, distinguishing calculation accuracy from the validity of the model's representation of reality.
- Prepare a design report explaining results, limitations, risks, and required modifications, specifying matters requiring specialist engineering review and approval.
5. Project Planning and Implementation Control
- Define the project rationale, expected results, stakeholders, and success criteria, and document the scope of work and exclusions.
- Break deliverables into work packages and related activities, and estimate durations, resources, and activity dependencies.
- Prepare a schedule and cost baseline, identify delivery and review milestones, and clarify approval and escalation responsibilities.
- Analyze implementation risks, define responses and warning indicators, and control change requests and their effects on time and cost.
- Build a progress report covering variances, decisions, and lessons learned, and define procedures for accepting deliverables and closing the project.
Practical outputs
- A value stream map, bottleneck analysis, and production improvement plan.
- A digital transformation roadmap covering the beneficiary journey and implementation requirements.
- An improved procedure map, service profile, and acceptance criteria for implementation.
- Design specifications, a simulation model, and a verification and review report.
- A project charter, implementation schedule, and change and risk tracking register.
Who should attend
- Practitioners, specialists and supervisors whose work relates to the programme subject.
- Managers and teams working in mini professional master programmes, according to their practical responsibilities.
- Professionals responsible for applying the outputs of “Professional Mini-Master's in Production Engineering and Smart Manufacturing Operations” within their organizations.
Prerequisites
- Working familiarity with the programme field and the ability to discuss a professional case or challenge.
- Confirm the suitability of your experience and any specialist prerequisites with the Union before participation.
Conclusion
The programme “Professional Mini-Master's in Production Engineering and Smart Manufacturing Operations” brings together concepts, case review and a practical application. Participants prepare steps that can be adapted to their responsibilities and organizational resources, with an indicator to follow application and review results after returning to work.
Participation arrangements and any special requests are specified in the confirmation issued by the Union.