Semester in Strategic Operations

News updated 11/18/08

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Master of Engineering

Program Description
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  - Applied Operations Research
  - Manufacturing
  - Financial Engineering
  - Systems Engineering
  - Information Technology
  - Semester in Strategic Operations
  - Data Mining
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(Formerly SiM—Semester in Manufacturing)
(Usually NBA 6500, NCC 5040, NCC 5080, NBA 5020, for a total of 15 credits)

This 15-credit "immersion" course, known as SSO, is a unique concentration within the MEng program. It is a program that is offered to MEng students from the College of Engineering, the Johnson Graduate School of Management, and the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Team-taught by faculty from these schools and from industry, SSO focuses on the critical issues and trends in manufacturing and service industries, with emphasis on manufacturing. To succeed in an increasingly competitive global environment, these companies must align their operational and business strategies. Thus, SSO will include not only various approaches to manufacturing management on the plant floor, but also:

the integration of functional strategies within operations (e.g., production, process control, quality, and HR) to support the overall operations strategy, and
strategic operational decisions including outsourcing, customization for local markets, and supply-chain management.

Students visit approximately 15 manufacturing facilities during the semester, representing diverse sets of products, processes, and manufacturing strategies. Firms such as Borg Warner Automotive, Eaton, Emerson Electric, GE Transportation, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, and Kodak are typically on the itinerary. These visits include extended discussion sessions with management and union representatives, as well as factory tours. During the semester, students work in teams on major projects and make oral presentations in class. This aspect of SSO fulfills the design project requirement of the MEng program.

Note: SSO fills the spring semester. The ORIE 5510 (Operations Research II: Introduction to Stochastic Processes) MEng requirement must therefore be fulfilled in advance of enrollment, during a summer, or in a second spring semester in the program. The fall semester is used to fulfill other MEng course requirements for participants in this concentration. "Having worked as a mechanical engineer, and then having taken the Semester in Manufacturing, [predecessor to SSO] I will be well equipped to go out and change some things." —Paul Staid '95