StudyQA — Master: Industrial Systems Manufacture and Management

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Description Contents Requirements Funding

The MPhil in Industrial Systems, Manufacture and Management (ISMM) is a one-year postgraduate programme designed to equip numerate graduates, primarily from Science, Technology, Engineering or Maths backgrounds, with the skills, personal development and industrial experience to be immediately effective in their early careers in industry.

The course considers the whole value chain and builds an integrated view of manufacturing spanning marketing, design, production, product/service delivery and industrial sustainability. The strategic context at company, national and international level is considered.

The programme is structured around taught modules, company visits and in-company projects solving live business or technical problems. An overseas study tour offers a broader international context and the individual research thesis allows greater depth of study in a specific area of manufacturing.

ISMM starts at the beginning of October and consists of 11 months of taught programme plus one month of assessment. The taught programme is split as follows:

Project work, during which you will tackle a number of projects
Taught modules
An overseas study tour either in mainland Europe or further afield.
Two holiday periods - one at Christmas and one at Easter
A long dissertation project where you will be working with researchers for the Institute for Manufacturing applying new theories to industrial applications.

ISMM is not just an academic course - the balance of activities shows clearly that the emphasis is on learning by doing - you will be solving real problems in live industrial situations.

Projects

Members of the course usually working in pairs, undertake a number of company projects. The projects improve analytic, communication and team working-skills, providing an excellent preparation for the working environment.

Each project deals with a live issue relevant to the company. At the start of the course you will be asked to express a preference for the projects you want to work on and, as far as possible, your preferences will be accommodated.

The work is supervised by the host company and you are treated as if you are a company employee. The projects involve framing the problem, understanding the issues, developing ideas for improvement and making recommendations to the company. The final deliverable of the project is a presentation to senior management followed by a technical report.

Projects are completed across the full spectrum of manufacturing, including automotive, aerospace, oil and gas, lifting and excavating, FMCG, food and beverages. Project titles are varied and cover areas of operational improvement, strategic decision-making and organisational management. A typical project will analyse and improve one of the following areas:

Production planning, scheduling and inventory optimisation
Capacity utilisation
Lead time reduction
Quality improvement and control
Make/buy decisions
New product development process
Effective maintenance
Energy usage
Layout floor planning
Inter-departmental effectiveness
Feasibility study in to a new technology

As well as the three operational improvement projects, you will undertake a marketing project following the sales, marketing and business strategy taught module. Typical projects consider new markets, products, company strategies, competitors and routes to market. The marketing project gives a wider context to the placement projects and provides essential skills for industry.

Dissertation

The long dissertation project gives course members the opportunity to deepen their knowledge in their key area of interest through an individual research project. The dissertations can be from any of the Institute for Manufacturing’s research groups:

Design management
Distributed Information and Automation Laboratory
Industrial photonics
Industrial sustainability
Inkjet research
International manufacturing
Strategy and performance
Technology enterprise
Technology management

Taught Modules

The course modules are normally taught in Cambridge and consist of lectures, case studies, exercises and structured visits, all run either by University staff or by visitors, usually from industry, with a specific expertise.

Topics covered include:

Manufacturing Systems, including both strategic and operational topics
Manufacturing Processes, primary and secondary
Management of People, covering administration and motivation
Sales & Marketing, for both industrial and consumer markets
Product Design & New Product Introduction
Personal Development, including presentation and career management skills
Business Strategy & Finance
Technology and Innovation Management
Entrepreneurship
Management of Change
Teamworking & Leadership

Magistr (Master's Degree) at Pass level. Diploma Specialista (completed post-1991) with a minimum overall grade of good or 4/5 Bachelor's from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and other prestigious institutions with an overall grade of 4/5 Bologna Bachelor's from other institutions with an overall grade of 5/5, Excellent
Diploma Specialista (completed post-1991) with a minimum overall grade of Excellent or 5/5 Bachelor's from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and other prestigious institutions with an overall grade of 5/5
IELTS (Academic) 7.5
TOEFL Internet Score 110
£50 application fee
First Academic Reference
Second Academic Reference
Transcript
Personal Reference. This is only required if you are applying for the Gates Cambridge Scholarship.
ISMM Departmental Questionnaire