Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA)

Programme Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Rural Management)

Batch PGDM(RM) 43
Academic Year 2023-24
Course Level Post Graduate Programme (Elective)
Course Code PAD
Area Production Operations Management & QT
Term V
Title of the Course Process Analysis and Design
Credits 1.5
Number of Section(s) 1
Type Elective
Prerequisites Basic understanding of Statistics
Course Instructor Prof. Dhanshyam Mahavadi
Email ID dhanshyam@irma.ac.in
Contact Number +91-94045-66059

Course Description:
The Operations Management (Term-2 Core) course has introduced the student managers to
various types of processes in Manufacturing, Services and Industrial setups. This course builds
upon the basic understanding of the Process view of the organizational back-end processes to
understand in depth the various aspects such as process components, process parameters,
performance measurement, and improvement for better outcomes and value delivery. Through a
mix of qualitative discussions, simulations, hands-on exercises, and case analyses, this course shall
deepen the participants’ intuition towards a holistic approach of process design.
Course Objectives:
The essence of this course is to drive detailed intuition about various back-end operational
processes involved in delivery of value to customers, and trigger thinking among the participants
to innovate to improve process performance. By challenging some traditional practices in process
management, it aims to deepen the understanding and facilitate focused decision-making for
sustainable improvement of organizational processes.
Alignment of the Course Objectives with the Programme
This course would enable the participants, the potential employees of diverse services and
industries, to understand and analyze various processes in their organization and facilitate
development and design of better processes. The customer-centric and process flow approach
used for demonstration would enable better value delivery for the customers and beneficiaries.
This in turn will help meet the institute’s objective providing the organizations with professionals
equipped with innovative problem-solving capabilities. Knowledge of Process Analysis and Design
will enhance Functional Area Expertise and drive IRMA towards its mission.
Learning Outcome:
The participants undergoing this course will be able to handle his/her job better than many others
in their organizations. This course may lead to a paradigm shift in the fundamental perception of
various aspects of process design. This course has takeaways for management of one’s own life as
a process, along with Organizations as combinations of living processes. Through developing
detailed intuition on various taken-for-granted aspects, this course shall hone decision-making
capabilities through focus on the right tradeoffs.

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 Pedagogy / Teaching Methodology:
Classroom discussions, analysis of case studies, simulations, excel hands-on and real project.

Evaluation:
Component Learning Objective/s *Weightage %
Class Participation
Quiz 30%
Individual Assignment
Group Assignment: Project 30%
Take Home Assignment
Research Article Review/Discussion 20%
Any Other Component
Mid Term
End Term 20%
TOTAL 100

Details/Instructions for Evaluation:

The quizzes shall comprise a mix of pre-announced quizzes and short quizzes (based on
reflections).
The Group assignment would be a process analysis and re-design hands-on group project.
The article review and discussion component shall be an individual component and shall be
announced by the instructor at suitable time.

TEXTBOOKS: <write NIL, if none, do not delete>

• Eliyahu M. Goldratt & Jeff Cox, The Goal, Productivity and Quality Publishing Private Ltd.,

ADDITIONAL BOOKS / READINGS: <write NIL, if none, do not delete>

• Wallace J. Hopp & Mark L. Spearman, Factory Physics, Second Edition, McGraw Hill Publishers,
<pp 213-287> (Referred to as RB-1)
• Chase, R.B., Shankar, R., & Jacobs, F.R. “Operations and Supply Chain Management”, Fifteenth
Edition (Special Indian Edition), McGraw Hill, pp 159-311. (Referred to as RB-2)
• Cachon, G. & Terweisch, C., Matching Supply with Demand, Third Edition, McGraw Hill
Publishers (Referred to as RB-3 hereafter).

SCHEDULE OF SESSIONS:
Session No. 1 Title of the Session: Introduction to Services and Industrial Processes
Objectives: To recap and sensitize the basic types of industrial and service
processes; process descriptions and representations
Readings: Core Curriculum: Process Analysis (TAU material);
Core Curriculum: Designing, Managing and Improving Operations (TAU
material)
Cases:

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Session No. 2 Title of the Session: Output view versus Process view; Flow and Flow Unit
Objectives: To understand the concepts of flow and flow unit, customer, output,
suppliers, inputs, mapping flow units to process flows, and process
relationships; Process flow diagrams; Business Process mapping
Readings: RB-2 Chapter-11: Process Design and Analysis (TAU material)
Cases: Sriraj Finance Pvt. Ltd.
Session No. 3 Title of the Session: Process metrics and parameters
Objectives: To understand process throughput, capacity, cycle time, lead time,
flow time, process time, value-add time, WIP, constraints, service level,
availability, utilization, yield, and other performance metrics
Readings: RB-2 Chapter-11: Process Design and Analysis (TAU material)
The Goal: Chapters 1-12
Cases: The HAL case (TAU material)
Session No. 4 Title of the Session: Measuring process performance
Objectives: To analyze basic process efficiency, and process performance
metrics in deterministic scenarios: The Little’s Law and the best-case, worst-
case and the practical worst-case performance; Overall Process Effectiveness
Readings: RB-2 Chapter-11: Process Design and Analysis (TAU material);
Basic Process Dynamics (TAU material)
Cases: 1. The penny fab experiment / Bank customer service process simulation
Session No. 5, 6, Title of the Session: Understanding process variability and variability
7 propagation
Objectives: To understand the sources and types of process variability in
independent process and analyze its impact on process performance; To extend
the understanding of process variability impacts to dependent systems,
variability interactions, and analyze general process performance: The VUT
equation, variability laws and the flow laws
Readings: Basic Process Dynamics (TAU material);
RB-3: Chapter – 9: Variability and its impact on Process Performance (TAU
material)
The Goal: Chapters 13-17
Cases: Caselets: Process Variability and Process Choice (TAU Material)
1. Scenario-1: Process Variability Scenario: Variability Propagation Simulation
2. Scenario-2: Process Choice: Hare and Tortoise case simulation
Session No. 8 Title of the Session: Batch Processes
Objectives: To understand and analyze the impact of process and transfer
batches on process performance: Batching laws and capacity tradeoffs
Readings: Basic Process Dynamics (TAU material)
Cases: Process Batch Simulations (TAU material and excel templates)
Session No. 9 Title of the Session: Process Design Applications and Redesign
Objectives: To apply the process understandings to improve existing processes
and design new processes: Strategic alignment of push-pull continuum
Readings: RB-2 Chapter-11: Process Design and Analysis (TAU material);
Cases: 1. HDFC: Quality as a Service: Roshini Jayakar (Business Today)
Session No. 10 Title of the Session: Business Process Re-Engineering
Objectives: To understand and apply BPR concepts
Readings: Reengineering Work: Don’t Automate, Obliterate: HBR (TAU)
Cases: National Automobiles Company (TAU material)

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