This course is part of the Business Foundations Specialization

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2,513 ratings

Christian Terwiesch

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Business Foundations SpecializationUniversity of Pennsylvania

About this Course

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Learn to analyze and improve business processes in services or in manufacturing by learning how to increase productivity and deliver higher quality standards. Key concepts include process analysis, bottlenecks, flows rates, and inventory levels, and more. After successfully completing this course, you can apply these skills to a real-world business challenge as part of the Wharton Business Foundations Specialization.

Flexible deadlines

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Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

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Course 5 of 6 in the

Business Foundations Specialization

Approx. 10 hours to complete

English

Skills you will gain

Process Management
Operations Management
Six Sigma
Inventory

Flexible deadlines

Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.

Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Course 5 of 6 in the

Business Foundations Specialization

Approx. 10 hours to complete

English

Instructor

Instructor rating

4.41/5 (240 Ratings)

Christian Terwiesch

Andrew M. Heller Professor at the Wharton School, Senior Fellow Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics Co-Director, Mack Institute of Innovation Management

The Wharton School

139,404 Learners

7 Courses

Offered by

University of Pennsylvania

Syllabus - What you will learn from this course

Content Rating91%(6,744 ratings)

Week

Week 1

27 minutes to complete

Introduction

27 minutes to complete

3 videos (Total 17 min), 1 reading

Week

Week 2

3 hours to complete

Process Analysis

3 hours to complete

10 videos (Total 115 min), 2 readings, 2 quizzes

10 videos

Flow Rate, Inventory, and Flow Time9m

Finding the Bottleneck11m

Labor Cost and Labor Utilization15m

Little’s Law6m

Inventory Turns7m

Make to Stock vs Make to Order / Reasons for Inventory10m

Dealing with Multiple Flow Units14m

Review of Process Analysis26m

Module 2 Practice Problem: Atlas Inc (video)8m

Module 2 Practice Problem: Multiple Flow Units (video)4m

2 readings

Module 2 - Process Analysis: Lecture Slides (PDF) and Excel Template10m

Module 2 Practice Problems (PDF) and Solutions10m

2 practice exercises

Homework Assignment: Module 2 - Process Analysis30m

Final Exam - Module 230m

Week

Week 3

3 hours to complete

Productivity

You'll learn the key components of productivity in this module. Beginning with the academic definitions of productivity, you'll move on to the common blockers, measurements, indicators of effectiveness, improvement techniques and financial values. By the end of this module, you'll be able to identify, describe and measure the relationship between inputs and outputs and also be able to develop strategies for decreasing inputs while increasing outputs, thereby boosting productivity wherever you see the need to.

3 hours to complete

11 videos (Total 102 min), 2 readings, 2 quizzes

11 videos

Intro to Productivity, Taylorism7m

The Seven Sources of Waste9m

Financial Value of Productivity6m

Key Performance Indicators and KPI Trees 6m

Overall Equipment Effectiveness12m

Takt Time8m

Quartile Analysis9m

Productivity Ratios9m

Review of Productivity19m

Module 3 Practice Problem: Dr. Peters (video)5m

Module 3 Practice Problem: Assign Tasks to Workers (video)5m

2 readings

Module 3 - Productivity: Lecture Slides (PDF) and Excel Files10m

Module 3 Practice Problems (PDF) and Solutions10m

2 practice exercises

Homework Assignment: Module 3 - Productivity30m

Final Exam - Module 330m

Week

Week 4

3 hours to complete

Quality

Quality is not only a cornerstone of operations management, but also a critical component of an organization's long-term viability and success. This module covers all the major aspects of quality in operations, from examining the common reasons for defects to the most widely used implementation techniques for addressing problems of quality and ensuring reliability and standards. At the end of this module, you'll be able to anticipate where defects may occur and recommend a sound strategy for maintaining quality and stability.

3 hours to complete

10 videos (Total 98 min), 2 readings, 2 quizzes

10 videos

Reasons for Defects10m

Quality and Flow17m

Six Sigma12m

Control Charts9m

Jidoka8m

Problem Solving6m

Toyota Production System9m

Module 4 Review19m

Module 4 Practice Problem: Assembly Tolerances (video)3m

Module 4 Practice Problem: Security Check (video)2m

2 readings

Module 4 - Quality: Lecture Slides (PDF) and Excel Files10m

Module 4 Practice Problems (PDF) and Solutions10m

2 practice exercises

Homework Assignment: Module 4 - Quality30m

Final Exam - Module 430m

Reviews

4.4

568 reviews

5 stars
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4 stars
19.49%
3 stars
6.52%
2 stars
2.78%
1 star
3.65%

TOP REVIEWS FROM INTRODUCTION TO OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

by ASApr 27, 2020

Absolutely loved this course. It was wonderful to realise how seemingly tiny changes can affect an operation so drastically and the use of statistics to fix such issues is very elegant.

by SDMay 16, 2020

A very short and interesting course track to understand the basic of operations management if you do not want to go in depth. The concepts are explained well in a very simplistic manner.

by MMNov 27, 2019

The Course is very useful with lots of operational improvement concepts. The difficult part is problem solving, it is too numerical in nature. Overall experience is good.

by CMJan 4, 2018

Great introduction to Operations Management. Many of the principles and equations I was able to immediately use in my work to dispel some myths and improve productivity.

View all reviews

About the Business Foundations Specialization

In this Specialization, you’ll develop basic literacy in the language of business, which you can use to transition to a new career, start or improve your own small business, or apply to business school to continue your education. In five courses, you’ll learn the fundamentals of marketing, accounting, operations, and finance. In the final Capstone Project, you’ll apply the skills learned by developing a go-to-market strategy to address a real business challenge.

Frequently Asked Questions

When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?
Access to lectures and assignments depends on your type of enrollment. If you take a course in audit mode, you will be able to see most course materials for free. To access graded assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience, during or after your audit. If you don't see the audit option:
The course may not offer an audit option. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid.
The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.
What will I get if I subscribe to this Specialization?
When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.
Is financial aid available?
Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.

More questions? Visit the Learner Help Center.

Introduction to Operations Management

About this Course

Skills you will gain