Postgraduate Product & Process Engineering Management

Program Overview

The Postgraduate Product & Process Engineering Management program at IQS aims to equip participants with advanced skills in project management, decision-making, and process optimization. Through a blended learning approach and emphasis on practical application, the program prepares students to manage engineering projects and departments effectively, reduce risks, and enhance company profitability.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

The Postgraduate Product & Process Engineering Management program at IQS is a proprietary degree from Ramon Llull University (URL) offered in Barcelona. It is designed for professionals with experience in industrial and logistical process operations. The program aims to equip participants with the skills and knowledge to:

• Increase project reliability and performance.
• Improve project planning, control, and execution.
• Acquire Agile Project Management methodology.
• Analyze situational context and root causes of problems.
• Identify stakeholders involved in decision-making.
• Utilize advanced methodologies and tools for proposing and evaluating alternatives.
• Prioritize actions stemming from decisions.
• Communicate decisions effectively.
• Manage, lead, and direct engineering and/or R&D projects and departments.
• Identify connections between product, process, and production.
• Employ advanced Engineering Management methodologies (soft and hard).
• Adapt Engineering Management methodologies to company needs.
• Manage, lead, and direct the analysis, diagnosis, and resolution of operational risks and problems.
• Utilize tools to reduce or eliminate organizational risks and problems.
• Enhance risk and problem prevention and detection.
• Increase company profitability by avoiding risks and problems.

Outline:

The program is structured as follows:

• Modules:
• Leadership and Project Management:
• Team Leadership Skills:
Team dynamics, strategic and people leadership, effective communication and assertiveness, negotiation and influence, conflict prevention, management, and resolution.
• Project Financial Management: Financial management fundamentals, information flows, financial statement analysis (balance sheet, P&L, treasury), project cost and budget control, project/company economic viability, profitability analysis, and investment decisions.
• Project Direction and Planning: Project definition, projects vs. operations, project life cycle, project initiation, project charter and KPIs, planning, scope, Gantt charts, human resources, execution, control, and project team management, closure, documentation, and project delivery.
• Agile Project Management:
• Projects in Complex and Multi-Project Environments:
Projects in complex organizations, risk and uncertainty management, shared resource dilemmas, project synchronization and prioritization, project speed vs. productivity.
• Multitasking Management: Urgent and important tasks, Parkinson's Law, task duration estimation, protection dilemmas, critical chain vs. critical path, protection buffer calculation.
• Hybrid and Agile Project Management: Project Management revolution, new "Hybrid PM" approach, Agile Manifesto, Agile philosophy, values, and principles, Agile methodologies and language, life cycles (Waterfall vs. Agile), Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Agile teams, introduction to Scrum, Scrum vs. Kanban.
• Strategic, Tactical, and Operational Decisions: Short, medium, and long-term decisions, cohesion between business and operational strategy, internal and external factors in decision-making, organizational structure and decision-making levels, industrial and technological infrastructure for decision-making.
• Product, Process, and Production Engineering:
• Process Engineering: Industrial layout design, work cell or center design, industrial process optimization and continuous improvement, industrial plant management and control software (MES), Lean Manufacturing fundamentals, Jidoka, and Kaizen.
• Production Engineering: Industrial machine and equipment design, industrial facility design, industrialization projects and processes, industrial automation, Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) fundamentals.
• Risk & Problem Solving:
• Risk Management:
Risk types (execution and context), risk assessment (qualitative vs. quantitative methods), methodologies (What if, APR, AMFE, etc. ), ISO standards (ISO 31000, ISO 27005, ISO 45001).
• Problem Management: General problem-solving procedure, methodologies (KT-Method, DOE, Ishikawa, 8D, etc.

Teaching:

The program utilizes a blended learning approach, combining in-person sessions on campus or at company visits with synchronous online sessions via video conferencing.

• Faculty: The program boasts a faculty of experts and practitioners in their respective fields, known for their expertise and commitment to student learning.
• Unique Approaches: The program emphasizes practical application through a project-based learning approach.

Other:

• The program is part of the Master's in Operations Management, which consists of independent postgraduate programs.
Upon completion of all programs, participants receive a Master's degree.
• The program is semi-presencial, offering flexibility for busy professionals.
• Online video conferencing sessions are interactive and recorded for those who miss a session.
• The program includes various dynamics to foster a practical, effective, and stimulating learning process.
• IQS awards a Certificate of Completion to those who successfully complete the program.
• The program is eligible for FUNDAE (Tripartite) funding.