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Business Management Techniques

Assignment 1

Manage work activities to achieve organisational objectives

By Steve Goddard – February 2009

Business Management Techniques

Manage Work Activities to Achieve Organisational Objectives

By Steve Goddard

Business Management Techniques

Assignment 1

Manage work activities to achieve organisational objectives

By Steve Goddard

Acknowledgements

David Sullivan – Supplier of lecture resources.

AgustaWestland – Provider of business information that formed the basis of my report.

Mike Tooley & Lloyd Dingle – For there book on higher national engineering.

Please note: The Company written about in this report is entirely fictional

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Table of Contents

Section Description Page- Executive Summary 51 Introduction 61.1 Brief History Of the Company 61.2 Organisational Structure 61.3 Factors for Change 71.4 Aims and Objectives 72 Methodology 83 Findings 93.1 Quality 93.2 Research and Development Programmes 103.3 Engineering 113.3.1 Transmission Design and Development 113.3.2 Manufacturing Engineering 113.3.3 System Engineering 123.3.4 Electronic, Avionic, Structures and Rotor Systems

Design and Development12

3.3.5 Material Laboratory 123.3.6 Testing 133.4 Operations 143.4.1 Production and Final Assembly 143.4.2 Planning and Control 143.4.3 Logistics 153.4.4 Flight Test &Civil Airworthiness 153.5 Procurement 164 Recommendations 175 Conclusion 19- References 20

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Executive Summary

This report describes a project undertaken for the Goddard Corporation that is an international business that has recently decided to expand into Engineering to expand its growing business empire and to take advantage of a potential market gap that the Goddard Corporation feel they can fill within the Commercial Aerospace Industry.

In order to do this the managing director has first requested a report to identify to various engineering functions that will be needed in a new engineering venture and there inter relationships with the rest of the business.

This report will go on to explain the relevance of these functions in detail by what they do, how they work and their main roles within an engineering business.

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1. Introduction

1.1 Brief History of the Company

The Goddard Corporation is an International business and parent to various other businesses.

Primarily Goddard Corporation began in 1982 as an independent travel and holiday planner for public holidays abroad, through the success of this business venture Goddard Travel Planning expanded in 1992 taking over a small marketing and design company specialising in unique and one off advertisements or package designs for various products.

The Marketing and Design Company grew over the next 10 years and continues to be one of the most successful international marketing and design companies in the world securing contracts to design packaging for major consumer products such as Kellogg’s Cereal, Cadbury and Ben and Jerry’s ice cream as well as still creating the unique and one off designs that made the company what it is today.

Meanwhile the Travel planning business advanced to a large scale all across the UK with a chain of shops on many high streets of the country providing a wide range of tailored holiday plans for almost any destination in the world.

Profits of the company over the past 16 years have continued to rise and now the Managing director of the Goddard Corporation (parent company to Goddard Travel and Goddard M&D) is interesting in moving into the engineering industry by designing and manufacturing large scale commercial helicopter transport which will eliminate the need for a runway, therefore giving Goddard Travel the upper hand in eventually providing the most extreme holidays ever straight to anywhere in the world.

1.2 Organisational Structure

The following is the current main organisational chart for The Goddard Corporation.

MD of The Goddard

Corporation

Human Resourc

es

Finance Marketing External Affairs

Business Developme

nt

IT

MD of Goddard Travel

MD of Goddard M&D

The Goddard Corporation organisational structure operates in a conglomerate way and begins with the CEO of the company. Alongside the CEO there are the main directorates overlooking the entire business these are areas such as HR, Finance, Business Development and IT. The structure is then broken down into the separate businesses within the corporation.

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Each business have there own departments for example in Goddard M&D there is a Managing Director and below the MD are his directorates such as, Production, Design, Purchasing, Quality and R&D.

1.3 Factors for Change

The factors for change within the Goddard Corporation are mainly the increasing revenue from the other businesses. The Goddard Corporation are taking a bold step into a new market with profits they have accumulated over the past 26 year of being in business.

The other factors are an opportunity to increase the effectiveness of Goddard Travel, with a Helicopter planned holiday customers will be able to fly to destinations never thought possible with normal commercial airlines of today.

The Goddard Corporation need to expand, it has been 18 years since the takeover of Goddard M&D and as the Prime Minister stated on a forward in the White Paper:

“In a changing world no organisation, however great, can stand still.”

1.4 Aims and Objectives

My aims and objectives of this report are to describe the possible sectors of an engineering business and describe how each sector interrelates and work together. I will also explain how each department managed activities to meet certain standards and specifications.

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2. Methodology

The research I carried out to produce this report was done in three parts:

1. Work related Research

I used information from AgustaWestland Helicopters Ltd, I looked at various documents including the Organisational Structure to determine the major sectors in a Helicopter Engineering business and also spoke to people and researched the types of standards and specs that each departments use.

2. Textbooks

I have read Higher National Engineering by Mike Tooley and Lloyd Dingle which provided an in site to the various different styles of flat and tall organisational structures; I have also used lecture notes to assist me in this.

3. Internet Research

I have used the internet extensively to look at descriptions and methods of running an engineering business. My full list of references is included at the back of the report.

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3. Findings

After looking at similar engineering business and through my internet and textbook research I have selected the relevant sectors that will make up a successful engineering business.

3.1 Quality Assurance

One of the sectors of the business has to be quality; this ensures our products are of a good standard before the customer receives them and also keeping checks on the overall quality of the business. During the 1980s, the concept of “company quality” with the focus on management and people came to the fore. It was realized that, if all departments approached quality with an open mind, success was possible if the management led the quality improvement process.

The company-wide quality approach places an emphasis on four aspects:-

1. Elements such as controls, job management, adequate processes, performance and integrity criteria and identification of records

2. Competence such as knowledge, skills, experience, qualifications 3. Soft elements, such as personnel integrity, confidence, organizational culture, motivation, team

spirit and quality relationships. 4. Infrastructure

The quality of the outputs is at risk if any of these aspects is deficient in any way.

The approach to quality management given here is therefore not limited to the manufacturing area only but can be applied to any business activity:

Design work Administrative services Finance Testing Computer software Retailing Logistics Procurement Training

It comprises a quality improvement process, which is generic in the sense it can be applied to any of these activities and it establishes a behavior pattern, which supports the achievement of quality.

In manufacturing and construction activities, these business practices can be equated to the models for quality assurance defined by the International Standards contained in the ISO 9000 series and the specified Specifications for quality systems.

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3.2 Research and Development Programmes

Within each of the two businesses under the Goddard Corporation they have a dedicated Research and Development (R&D) sector so setting up a new R&D sector for the engineering business should not be too much of a problem.

In any well-run company, research and development have strictly commercial functions - to further the company's business objectives by creating better products, to improve operational processes and to provide expert advice to the rest of the company and to customers.

Some research is not expected to pay for itself within a foreseeable time span. For example some large companies may allocate as much as one-tenth of their research budget to so-called “blue-sky” investigations whose most likely contribution is to the development of new products and a possible pay-off in the distant future.

Product research and development goes hand in hand with market research and development. Considerable liaison is required between these two areas, and processes need to be standardised. Setting up a production process or a new line can involve considerable cost, and careful work in the early stages will help to ensure that profits are made. Product researchers use marketing information to help them to develop products or services and choose suitable designs.

The layout of a supermarket, or bookshop, for example, has to be designed - a customer must be able to find quickly what he or she wants. In this case the right use and allocation of space is vital to ensure profitability. So is the concept of service; many quality retailers give prominence to aspects of customer service such as clearly visible help desks, or greeters.

Product researchers must also consider production costs, ease of manufacture and selling price.

A company might be reluctant to change an earlier design, particularly if it provides status (e.g. a designer label on a tracksuit or baseball cap). Conversely, small ('cosmetic') changes may be made to products to bring them up-to-date e.g. the logos of leading companies to give them a more modern feel.

Once a design has been completed the product researchers will build a prototype which can then be tested. Some prototypes will be discarded while others may be modified and improved. When a product has been tested and thought to be successful, and all the marketing and production questions have been answered, the firm will need to 'tool up' its production line.

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3.3 Engineering

Within the engineering business I have decided it would be useful to have a main “engineering” directorate, this directorate would contain the individual technical departments to make up “engineering” as a whole.

3.3.1 Transmission Design and Development

Transmission engineering involves the complete design and development process of a transmission system. The services include design, CAE, testing and calibration.

The scope of a transmission design department includes concept development, 3D CAD layout design (supported by CAE calculations for strength and stiffness), risk analysis and the generation of production drawings defining all of the manufacturers required specifications.

Other benefits from having a transmission design and development department are:

Concept and detailed design in 3D CAD Multi-Body Analysis (MBA) and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of

o Gear Teeth (profile and micro-geometry layout) o Complete wheel set, shifting mechanism and synchronization o Strength of shafts, housing and inner shift mechanism o Dynamic vibration of complete system o Noise optimization of transmission components

Risk analysis processes such as FMEA and ORM Extensive tolerance analysis Generation of production drawings Prototype procurement and assembly

3.3.2 Manufacturing Engineering

Manufacturing engineers design, implement, monitor and maintain manufacturing processes. They consult with design engineers in order to achieve the most efficient and cost effective way of producing the highest quality product possible. Many organisations operate 'cross-functional' teams with the manufacturing engineer involved at every stage, from design and development, to production, research and after-sales service.Manufacturing engineers have expertise in a wide range of manufacturing technologies and computer and management control systems. They apply state-of-the art technology to meet increasingly competitive business needs.

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Roles vary according to the setting but the range of activities common to most usually includes:

Organizing, planning, commissioning and maintaining production lines; Improving existing operations, incorporating new methods and processes; Handling equipment purchase and installation; Investigating operational problems affecting production and dealing with them in a systematic,

methodical manner; Planning the use of resources and scheduling activities in order to meet an objective; Preparing manufacturing documentation required for product manufacture; Providing manufacturing data; Identifying ways to reduce production costs; Working with engineering and other departments to produce cost estimates for new designs; Liaising with research and development departments; Liaising with suppliers and customers; Working with regulatory bodies to ensure safety, environmental and design standards are met;

3.3.3 Systems Engineering

Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary approach and means to enable the realization of successful systems. It focuses on defining customer needs and required functionality early in the development cycle, documenting requirements, and then proceeding with design synthesis and system validation while considering the complete problem:

Systems engineering integrates all the disciplines and specialty groups into a team effort forming a structured development process that proceeds from concept to production to operation. Systems engineering considers both the business and the technical needs of all customers with the goal of providing a quality product that meets the user needs.

3.3.4 Electrical, Avionic, Structures and Rotor Systems Design and Development

These departments would be essential as it is the basis of the product. These departments design from ground up each part of the aircraft and develop them together with specialists to form the final product ready for manufacture.

3.3.5 Material Laboratory

In an engineering company a Material Laboratory is essential for testing various materials for specific purposes. A mat lab can determine various qualities such as:

Fatigue Fracture Impact Testing/Charpy & Izod Tensile Properties Elevated Temperature Load Compression Hardness & Strength Flexural & Peel Tear/Drop Weight

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Elastomeric Material & Rubber Modulus of Elasticity N-Values Reduction, Strength, Yield, Elongation

A mat lab can also be used to develop new alloy materials or composite materials to acquire the desired strength for the application.

3.3.6 Testing

Similar to the material lab this department tests the actual components either in a non-destructive testing through the following methods:

Vibration Testing Infrared Thermography Acoustic Emission Analysis Ultrasonic Imaging X-ray Computer Tomography Digital Radiography Eddy Current Imaging

A testing department can also test by destructive methods such as:

Stress tests Crash tests Hardness tests Metallographic tests

3.4 Operations

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Operations are the types of departments such as production, planning and control, final assembly and flight test. I recommend making Operations a main directorate and within it including these sub departments which I will go into in more detail below.

3.4.1 Production & Final Assembly

Production includes the manufacture of any small part that is not procured through suppliers all the way through to making structure and final assembly. Below is a picture of a typical Helicopter assembly line where the aircraft goes through various stages of assembly until it is fully finished.

3.4.2 Planning and Control

Planning and control departments work out plans for the entire production operations; this shows the individual plans and order of processes that are going to happen. Planning and control go hand in hand and this links closely with quality because the processes are constantly monitored and updated.

3.4.3 Logistics

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This department is almost split into two sections, firstly there is logistics as in supplying the customer with the product and the management of the flow of goods, information and other resources between the point of origin which would be our final assembly lines and the point of consumption which will Goddard Travel and other customers in order to meet the requirements of consumers. Logistics involves the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing, material-handling, and packaging.

The other type logistics is within the company and most importantly production. The purpose of production logistics is to ensure that each machine and workstation is being fed with the right product in the right quantity and quality at the right point in time.The issue is not the transportation itself, but to streamline and control the flow through the value adding processes and eliminates non-value adding ones. Manufacturing in an existing plant is a constantly changing process. Machines are exchanged and new ones added, which gives the opportunity to improve the production logistics system accordingly. Production logistics provides the means to achieve customer response and capital efficiency.

3.4.4 Flight Test & Civil Airworthiness

Flight test is a branch of aeronautical engineering that develops and gathers data during flight of an aircraft and then analyses the data to evaluate the flight characteristics of the aircraft and validate its design, including safety aspects. The flight test phase accomplishes two major tasks: 1) finding and fixing any aircraft design problems and then 2) verifying and documenting the aircraft capabilities for government certification or customer acceptance. The flight test phase can range from the test of a single new system for an existing aircraft to the complete development and certification of a new aircraft. Therefore the duration of a flight test program can vary from a few weeks to several years.

Because our aircraft will be used for commercial travel we have to have civil airworthiness. There are typically two categories of flight test programs – commercial and military. Commercial flight testing is conducted to certify that the aircraft meets all applicable safety and performance requirements of the government certifying agency. In the US, this is the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA); in Canada, Transport Canada (TC); in the United Kingdom (UK), the Civil Aviation Authority; and in the European Union, the Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA).

Since commercial aircraft development is normally funded by the aircraft manufacturer and/or private investors, the certifying agency does not have a stake in the commercial success of the aircraft. These civil agencies are concerned with the aircraft’s safety and that the pilot’s flight manual accurately reports the aircraft’s performance. The market will determine the aircraft’s suitability to operators. Normally, the civil certification agency does not get involved in flight testing until the manufacturer has found and fixed any development issues and is ready to seek certification.

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3.5 Procurement

Procurement is the part of the business that is responsible for sourcing bought in parts such as rivets that are manufactured externally to a specific standard. Procurement ties in with design and operations significantly for example if a designer suggests using a certain type of anchor nut there may be a cheaper alternative that can do the same job which procurement may be able to recognise.

The main role in procurement is to source these external parts at the lowest and most cost effective price or when all else fails it may be cheaper to set up and start manufacturing our own.

Procurement will keep checks on all these bought in items over time to make sure the company is always getting a good deal and keeping up with technology and may even change suppliers if necessary. Over time buying from a particular supplier may produce significant industrial relationships between the companies and this may lead to making better deals all this is controlled within procurement.

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4. Recommendations

As with any business there are many standards to be adhered to, I have gone through briefly some of the standards relating to each department in my findings.

Below I have provided a short list of some of the main standards and specifications you will run into in the various departments of an engineering business, front sheets of some of these Standards can be found in the appendix.

Quality Assurance

During the 1980s, the concept of “company quality” with the focus on management and people came to the fore. It was realized that, if all departments approached quality with an open mind, success was possible if the management led the quality improvement process.

The company-wide quality approach places an emphasis on three aspects:-

1. Elements such as controls, job management, adequate processes, performance and integrity criteria and identification of records

2. Competence such as knowledge, skills, experience, qualifications 3. Soft elements, such as personnel integrity, confidence, organizational culture, motivation, team

spirit and quality relationships.

The quality of the outputs is at risk if any of these three aspects is deficient in any way.

The approach to quality management is therefore not limited to the manufacturing theatre but can be applied to any business activity:

Design work Administrative services Computer software Marketing Logistics

This in turn is supported by quality management practices which can include a number of business systems and which are usually specific to the activities of the business unit concerned.

In manufacturing and construction activities, these business practices can be equated to the models for quality assurance defined by the International Standards contained in the ISO 9000 series and the specified Specifications for quality systems.

Research and Development

As for this department research is generally not restricted by standards and specifications, the only standards that could apply to a R&D department would be health and safety standards applicable to the activities being carried out.

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Engineering

Firstly I will concentrate on the design areas of engineering (transmission, avionic, electrical, structures, airframe systems and rotor systems). BS 8888:2002 is one particular standard to keep in mind; this standard supersedes BS 8888:2000, and specifies enhanced requirements for the preparation of all forms of technical product document such as any engineering drawings or technical documents.

As well as these standards it is also recommended to know that many bought in parts are made to specific specifications which should relate to how the products are designed. For example rather than drilling 5.56mm holes it would be much more cost effective for the machinist and procurement to use a stand hold at 5.5mm. A 5.56mm hole would be able to be produced but it would cost much more to purchase a drill piece to that tolerance and also find or make a correct mating piece.

Material Laboratory and Testing, these departments will be testing materials or components to specific standards which are relative to the component in question each material will come with a set of data to describe its properties such as strength, fatigue life, thermal expansion coefficient etc. Testing also involves standards, in this company’s case it could be Civil Aviation standards to determine that a part is able to withstand a certain impact or won’t deform under extreme temperatures etc.

Operations

For production and final assembly the main standards and specifications to be aware of would be general health and safety requirements, the standards to follow which relate to the individual parts the workers are assembling will be decided by planning and control.

Planning and Control write plans for the production lines; this department should work closely with quality and quality standards to ensure the product is produced to the correct specifications. Planning should also look at the standards relating to the individual parts and in the plans should make the production line aware of any standards they should be following such as the standard to produce the correct surface finishes or the correct way to weld one part to another to conform with safety or quality.

Logistics standards would include the correct standards to package a certain product and the required safety or precautions of how a product can be transported. As for internal logistics such as managing the logistics of the machines within a workshop, the logistic management should look at the standard and specifications that come with the machine to check what materials are compatible with the machine.

Standards for Flight test and Civil Airworthiness have already been mentioned in my findings but it is a legal requirement for all aircraft to pass airworthiness tests, in the UK this is awarded by the Civil Aviation Authority, the Federal Aviation Administration in the USA and the Joint Aviation Authorities in the European Union. Flight test will run specific tests to make sure various factors of the aircraft conform to the specifications outlines by these authorities.

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4. Conclusions

As a final word to conclude my report, I feel this is an in-depth description of all the main departments required to run an engineering business under the current situation of the Goddard Corporation.

As with any business the world is constantly changing and as I’m sure you are aware so will the engineering business. Departments will arise and fall as new technology, ideas, political situations and government legislation presents itself.

Helicopter commercial travel is a business opportunity that is ready to be explored and using the correct business layout as I have suggested together with these departments all relating and working together efficiently it can be a great success.

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References

Books

Quality engineering handbook, Keller, Paul A.& Pyzdek, Thomas

Non Destructive Testing Brochure - EMPA

Internet Pages

Report Writing - http://www.mdx.ac.uk/WWW/STUDY/Komba.htm#Contents

The Times Online - http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/theory/

Prospects – www.prospects.ac.uk

International Council of Systems Engineering - http://www.incose.org

Destructive Testing - http://www.answers.com/topic/destructive-testing

Planning and Control - http://accel-team.com/

Procurement - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procurement

OGC Procurement - http://www.ogc.gov.uk/

Work Related Research

AgustaWestland Organisational Structure

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