Event

The exercise serves as a supplement to the lecture Global Production and deals with the practical implementation of the management of global production networks of manufacturing companies. The contents conveyed in the lecture are put into practice in the exercise and supplemented by lectures from industry and research. The exercise initially builds on a basic understanding of the influencing factors and challenges of global production. Common methods and procedures for planning, designing and managing global production networks are applied in online case studies based on the restructuring of a fictitious company.

According to the lecture, the exercise is divided into three aspects: production strategy, network configuration and network management.

First of all, the exercise shows the connections between the company strategy and the production strategy and highlights the tasks necessary to define a production strategy. Subsequently, in the context of the design of global production networks, methods for site selection, site-specific adaptation of product design and production technology as well as for the establishment of a new production site and the adaptation of existing production networks to changing conditions are taught. With regard to the management of global production networks, the exercise primarily addresses the topic of procurement and supplier management in greater depth.

The topics in detail are:

• Production strategies for global production Networks
• From corporate strategy to production strategy
• Tasks of the production strategy (product portfolio management, recycling management, vertical integration planning, production-related research and development)
• Design of global production Networks
• Ideal-typical network structures
• Planning process for designing the network structure
• Adaptation of the network structure
• Choice of Location
• Production adjustment to suit the Location
• Management of global production Networks
• Coordination in global production Networks
• Procurement process

Learning Outcomes

The students …

• are able to apply defined procedures for site selection and evaluate a site decision with the help of different Methods.
• are capable of selecting adequate design options for site-specific production and product design on a case-specific basis.
• can explain the central elements of the planning process when setting up a new production site.
• are capable of applying the methods for the design and layout of global production networks to individual Company problems.
• are able to show the challenges and potentials of the corporate divisions sales, procurement and research and development on a global level.

Workload:

e-Learning: ~ 20 h
regular attendence: ~ 10 h
self-study: covered in the course of the lecture.