Postgraduate in Manufacturing Plant Leadership

Program Overview

The Postgraduate in Manufacturing Plant Leadership from Ramon Llull University trains professionals to lead and manage industrial plants with a focus on Lean principles, Industry 4.0 technologies, and business process optimization. Delivered in a blended format, the program combines theoretical knowledge with practical applications through project development and dynamic learning methods. Participants can apply their learnings to a company initiative, demonstrating the program's value and enhancing their career prospects in manufacturing plant leadership.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

The Postgraduate in Manufacturing Plant Leadership is a proprietary degree from Ramon Llull University (URL) offered at the Barcelona campus. It is designed for professionals with experience in production environments or production engineering. The program aims to develop participants' competencies and skills to:

• Manage, lead, and direct the productive operations of an industrial plant.
• Relate the effects of decisions on strategy, process, production, and inventory.
• Master the methodologies and technologies in production planning and control.
• Lead the implementation of a "Lean" quality analysis and improvement system adapted to the company.
• Map flows to identify the causes of variability that harm agility and adaptability.
• Iterate Kaizen improvement processes to eliminate the causes of variability with buffer management.
• Manage the cultural change that the implementation of a total quality and continuous improvement program entails.
• Manage, lead, and direct the digital transformation of industrial operations.
• Reflect and identify the new model of Smart production plant.
• Incorporate the most appropriate technologies in the Smart Manufacturing context.
• Implement the TPM methodology in a Lean Manufacturing environment.
• Establish an autonomous maintenance system.
• Control operations using OEE, MTBF, and MTTR indicators.
• Audit and diagnose the current TPM model of the company.

Outline:

The program is structured as follows:

• Leadership and Project Management:
• Skills in team management
• Strategic and people leadership
• Effective interpersonal communication and assertiveness
• Negotiation and influence
• Conflict prevention, management, and resolution
• Project financial management
• Fundamentals of financial management and information flows
• Analysis of financial statements, Balance, P&L, Treasury
• Project cost and budget control
• Economic viability of a project/company
• Profitability analysis and investment decisions
• Project management and planning
• What is a project and what is not?
• Projects vs. Operations
• Project life cycle
• Project initiation, Project charter, and KPIs
• Planning, scope, Gantt, and human resources
• Execution, control, and project team management
• Closure, documentation, and project delivery
• Production Planning and Control:
• Fundamentals of planning and control
• Industrial strategy and tactics
• Factors influencing strategy
• Demand models and management
• Production planning phases
• Planning and control systems
• Production processes and work centers
• Types of planning and control systems
• Matching production process and planning system
• Industrial plant management and control software (MES)
• Management indicators (KPIs)
• Planning and inventories
• Inventory control and production batches
• MRP-I: Materials Requirement Planning
• CRP: Capacity Requirement Planning
• MRP-II: Manufacturing Resources Planning
• Pull Flow System
• Production leveling: Heijunka
• Lean Manufacturing:
• Toyota Production System: the origin of lean
• The 5 principles of Lean Manufacturing
• Lean Six Sigma: a step beyond the Lean model
• The Kaizen methodology, as a catalyst for the Lean model
• Designing the Lean System (Lean Business System)
• Tools in a Lean process
• Building the Lean system aligned with strategy
• Transformation plan based on the Lean road-map and VSM
• Organization, communication plan, and change management
• Implementing Lean (Lean Business Deployment)
• Acceleration vs.
Transformation: Speed vs. Sustainability
• Implementation of pilot activities
• From the traditional factory to the Lean factory
• Real cases
• Controlling Lean Operations (Lean Business Scorecard)
• Alignment with Balanced Scorecard indicators
• Lean indicators: OEE, SQDIP, QCDMS
• The costs and benefits of a Lean implementation
• Industry 4.0: Smart Manufacturing:
• New models of economy and companies
• Products, services, processes, and business models
• The new models of industrial plants
• The eight "drivers" of the value chain:
• Digital transformation
• New technologies of Industry 4.0
• Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data
• Cybersecurity and Block Chain
• Additive manufacturing (3D printing)
• Robotics: Robots & Cobots
• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
• Augmented Reality
• BPO: Business Process Optimization:
• Lean fundamentals in business process management
• Management models adapted to the context
• Selection of the appropriate model for each particular case
• Self-assessment and definition of an improvement strategy
• Business process optimization (BPO)
• Business process improvement route
• SIPOC and definition of the project scope
• Makigami for process design
• Process and team interaction
• Process standardization
• RACI for process decision standardization
• Servant leadership for team development
• Honest feedback for people development
• Management routines
• Analysis of current routines
• NEXT for routine optimization
• Individual management
• Innovation in business processes
• OKR: Innovation oriented to objectives
• Design of future automated processes

Teaching:

The program is delivered in a blended format, combining face-to-face sessions on campus or at company visits with synchronous online sessions via videoconference. The program emphasizes practical learning through:

• Project Development: Participants work on a value-relevant initiative for their company, applying classroom learning and demonstrating the return on investment.

Other:

The Postgraduate in Manufacturing Plant Leadership is part of the Master in Operations Management, which consists of independent postgraduate programs. Upon completion of all programs, participants receive the Master's degree. The program is offered in a semi-presencial format, making it compatible with work schedules. The program is eligible for FUNDAE (Tripartite) funding. The program is taught by experienced professionals and practitioners in the field. The program includes networking opportunities with other professionals. The program is designed to help participants advance their careers and achieve their professional goals.