22fall Operations Management Syllabus - 08.21.2022 - Updated
22fall Operations Management Syllabus - 08.21.2022 - Updated
Professor Wang is a faculty member of Operations Management at the Naveen Jindal School of
Management, University of Texas at Dallas. He obtained his PhD from the University of Michigan –
Ann Arbor, MSc from the Georgia Institute of Technology, MSc and BEng from the National
University of Singapore. Prior to his PhD study, Professor Wang worked as a supervisor of the
industrial engineering department at United Parcel Service Asia headquartered in Singapore. Professor
Wang’s research focuses on the intersection of empirical econometrics and machine learning with
application to personalized healthcare. More specifically, Professor Wang has developed new causal
machine learning techniques such as the instrumental variable forest and the first-difference causal
forest for heterogeneous treatment effect analyses using observational healthcare data.
Professor Wang has published 14 peer-reviewed articles at Management Science, Manufacturing &
Service Operations Management, Production and Operations Management, Advances in Applied
Probability, Transportation Research Part C, Surgery, Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Management and
Business Review, and International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management. His research has
been covered by media outlets such as Associate Press, Crain’s Detroit, Houston Chronicle, Medical
Xpress, National Interest, NPR, PRI, Science Daily, Simply Flying, The Conversation, and Yahoo!
News. Notably, his research on organ transplants was named a runner-up for the Responsible Business
Education Award by Financial Times. He was the winner of the INFORMS Health Application
Society Student Paper Competition, a runner-up of the INFORMS Service Section Best Paper
Competition, and a finalist (twice) of the MSOM Student Paper Competition.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Operations Management studies the design and management of the processes that transform inputs into
finished goods or services. Operations are one of the primary functions of any organization. This
course teaches various ways and means to improve operations, specifically focusing on using
analytical methods and techniques to improve processes. Topics include reducing customer wait times,
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Please email the professor if you would like to meet in person.
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Please email the TA if you would like to meet via Teams.
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measuring productivity, streamlining process flows, tracking outcomes and performance metrics, and
improving operations management processes. The level of analysis varies considerably, from
operations strategy to daily control of business processes. The objective of this course is to assist
students in building the skills necessary to participate actively in decision-making involving operations
management issues.
• Describe and explain services, manufacturing, just in time, and total quality management
strategies.
• Derive and compute optimal decisions, and performance measures such as costs and profits.
• Develop analytical thinking in operations practices.
COURSE MATERIALS:
Required Case Package:
Available for purchase online at: https://hbsp.harvard.edu/import/964406 (registration with Harvard
Business Publishing is required). It contains a set of cases we will discuss in class.
Optional Reading:
“Matching Supply with Demand: An Introduction to Operations Management” by Cachon, G. and C.
Terwiesch. New York, NY: McGraw&Hill / Irwin, 3rd edition. ISBN: 978-0073525204. This book is
strongly recommended.
COURSE RESOURCES:
Course Notes:
Before each lecture, a PDF version of the slides will be posted on eLearning. Most of the time, these
slides will be incomplete and you will be expected to fill in the blanks in class. Partially completed
slides will be posted within three days after the end of each class.
Practice Problems:
Practice problems and solutions will be made available before the tests.
Grades:
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Grades on assignments and tests will be posted on eLearning.
GRADING:
The course grades will be assigned based on the following points,
Category Weight
Participation 5%
Homework 35%
Test 1 30%
Test 2 30%
Participation
Class participation is required. A portion of the grade for this course is directly tied to your
participation, which may include engaging in group activities or others that solicit your feedback on
questions, readings, or materials covered in the lectures. Students who fail to participate in class
regularly are inviting scholastic difficulty. Using phones, laptops, or tablets for non-class-related
activities or eating snacks is strictly prohibited and regarded as class disruption. Class participation and
disruption are documented by faculty.
Homework
Homework assignments are to be done individually. You need to download them from eLearning,
write your answers, (scan if necessary) and upload your answers to eLearning. The due dates for
homework are always 11:59pm on the next Tuesday. No late homework assignment will be accepted
under any circumstance. The lowest assignment score will be dropped.
Please follow these conventions when submitting homework assignments: (1) use either pdf or word,
(2) name the documents as <Homework#>_<Name>.docx or <Homework#>_<Name>.pdf (e.g.,
Homework1_FirstName_LastName.pdf), and (3) arrange the pages in sequence.
Tests 1 and 2
Test 1 covers the materials from sessions 1-5. Test 2 covers sessions 6-12. There is no comprehensive
exam. Both tests will be held in the classroom (closed book, allowed to bring one A4 size handwritten
double-sided help sheet). Do remember to bring your calculator. Any electronics or communication
among students during the tests is strictly prohibited.
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No make-up test will be offered except in a medical emergency, which requires a medical certificate
from a physician. Missing a test without the instructor’s pre-authorization will result in a zero score
and will not be given a make-up test.
Any concern regarding the grading of tests should be addressed to both your instructor and TA no later
than three days after the grade is posted. We will review all your test answers, which may lead to an
increase or decrease in your final grade.
COURSE POLICIES:
COMET CREED:
The Comet creed was voted on by the UT Dallas student body in 2014. It is a standard that Comets
choose to live by and encourage others to do the same: “As a Comet, I pledge honesty, integrity, and
service in all that I do.”
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TENTATIVE COURSE OUTLINE
The descriptions and guidelines contained in this syllabus are subject to change at the discretion of
the Professor. The latest version is available at eLearning.
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OPTIONAL REFERENCE READING
All the material covered in the assignments and tests will be available on the slides. Below books are
optional, although they are strongly recommended.
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STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS
Workload Expectation
The key to success in this course is PRACTICE. You will be given the opportunity to work on many
practice problems. The university guidelines specify that you study at least two hours per week for
every credit hour you are enrolled. Because this course has three semester credit hours, you should
spend at least six hours per week outside class: preparing for and reviewing class materials, solving
homework assignments, and preparing for tests. Trimming this time input will diminish the value of
the educational experience for everyone. Please recognize the importance of advance preparation, and
begin now to level-load your course time input.
Class Preparation
The learning objectives, before-class preparations, and after-class activities appear below. In and after
each class, you will be expected to:
a. Be completely up-to-date with the materials covered so far. A lot of the materials in this course
build on materials taught earlier, so a significant recall will be involved.
b. Follow along with the professor as concepts are explained and examples are solved on paper.
c. Ask questions, contribute to class discussions, and be prepared to answer questions posted by
the professor.
d. After class, review the covered materials thoroughly and refer to the optional textbooks or
additional readings if necessary.
I understand you have limited time. However, I strongly urge you to devote adequate time to the
course because this is not material you can cram over a day or two.
Homework
Because the weekly homework assignments are designed to improve your problem-solving skills
further, they are usually more difficult than in-class examples and problems. I strongly encourage you
to start working on these homework assignments early and submit them to eLearning on time. No late
homework assignment will be accepted under any circumstance.
Tests 1 and 2
Tests 1 and 2 will consist of quantitative questions related to the course materials and homework
assignments. Practice problems and solutions will be provided to prepare you for the tests. The
combination of course notes, homework assignments, and practice problems will fully prepare you to
take the tests. Both tests will be held in the classroom. Students are responsible for making sure they
appear for the tests on time. No make-up test will be offered except in a medical emergency.
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DETAILED SESSION SCHEDULE (TENTATIVE)
A session-by-session outline of the entire course is provided below, where you will find the learning
objectives, before-class preparations, and after-class activities for each session. I will attempt to follow
this schedule as much as possible, although I reserve the right to modify the schedule depending on the
evolution of the course. Details about the textbooks are provided in other parts of the syllabus.
SESSION 1 Aug 24
INTRODUCTION AND PROCESS FLOW ANALYSIS I
Learning Objectives:
• Understand process views of organizations
• Understand the difference between manufacture and service process
• Learn to draw a process flow diagram
• Learn to determine the capacity of a process
Preparation:
• Complete homework 0 and submit it to eLearning by 11:59pm on Aug 23.
• Read optional textbooks: Cachon and Terwiesch 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3.
After Class:
• Complete homework 1 and submit it to eLearning by 11:59pm on Aug 30.
• Read required cases: Kristen’s Cookie.
• Read optional textbooks: Cachon and Terwiesch Cachon and Terwiesch 3.4, 3.5, 4.1 to 4.4
__________________________________________________________________________________
SESSION 2 Aug 31
PROCESS FLOW ANALYSIS II
Learning Objectives:
• Understand batch process
• Learn how to calculate setup time, batch size, and capacity with setup
• Understand the mismatch between capacity and demand
• Learn to calculate flow rate, utilization, and labor cost
Preparation:
• Read required cases: Kristen’s Cookie.
• Read optional textbooks: Cachon and Terwiesch 3.4, 3.5, 4.1 to 4.4.
• Watch optional video: Shared Medical Appointments at Aravind Pondicherry.
After Class:
• Complete homework 2 and submit it to eLearning by 11:59pm on Sep 6.
• Read optional textbooks: Cachon and Terwiesch 3.6, 7.1 to 7.3.
__________________________________________________________________________________
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SESSION 3 Sep 7
PROCESS FLOW ANALYSIS III
Learning Objectives:
• Understand theoretical flow time versus actual flow time
• Learn to draw inventory dynamics
• Determine waiting time based on inventory dynamics
• Determine potential bottleneck from utilization profile
Preparation:
• Read optional textbooks: Cachon and Terwiesch 3.6, 7.1 to 7.3.
After Class:
• Complete homework 3 and submit it to eLearning by 11:59pm on Sep 13.
• Read case National Cranberry and watch optional video: Cranberry Processing.
__________________________________________________________________________________
SESSION 4 Sep 14
PROCESS FLOW ANALYSIS IV
Learning Objectives:
• Hammer your capacity computation skill
• Review capacity and flow time
• Review batch and theoretical flow time
• Review batch and capacity
Preparation:
• Read required cases: National Cranberry.
• Watch optional video: Cranberry Processing.
After Class:
• Complete homework 4 and submit it to eLearning by 11:59pm on Sep 20.
• Read optional textbooks: Cachon and Terwiesch 5.1 to 5.7.
__________________________________________________________________________________
SESSION 5 Sep 21
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Learning Objectives:
• Represent a project with a network diagram
• Compute the project duration and determine the critical activities
• Reduce the duration of the project in an economical way
• Learn to deal with randomness
Preparation:
• Read optional textbooks: Cachon and Terwiesch 5.1 to 5.7.
• Watch the optional video: Project Acceleration / Activity Crashing – Project Management
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After Class:
• Complete homework 5 and submit it to eLearning by 11:59pm on Sep 27.
• Read optional textbooks: Cachon and Terwiesch 2.3, 2.4, 7.6, and 7.7.
__________________________________________________________________________________
SESSION 6 Sep 28
INVENTORY MANAGEMENT – EOQ
Learning Objectives:
• Understand holding cost and fixed cost
• Learn to calculate optimal order quantity (EOQ)
• Learn to calculate lead time and reorder-point
• Learn to calculate reorder-point under random demand
• Learn to calculate economic production quality (EPQ)
Preparation:
• Read optional textbooks: Cachon and Terwiesch 2.3, 2.4, 7.6, and 7.7.
After Class:
• Complete homework 6 and submit it to eLearning by 11:59pm on Oct 11 (deadline extended
due to test 1).
• Prepare for test 1 by reviewing sessions 1-5 lecture notes, homework, and practice problems
• Read optional textbooks: Cachon and Terwiesch 12.1 to 12.8.
__________________________________________________________________________________
TEST 1 Oct 5
Test 1 will be held in the classroom from 7:00-9:30pm on Oct 5th. It covers the materials from sessions
1-5. The test is closed-book and closed-note, but you are allowed to bring one A4 size handwritten
double-sided help sheet. Do remember to bring your calculator. Any electronics or communication
among students during the test is strictly prohibited.
__________________________________________________________________________________
SESSION 7 Oct 12
INVENTORY MANAGEMENT – NEWSVENDOR I
Learning Objectives:
• Briefly review probability
• Learn the newsvendor model
• Learn to calculate underage and overage costs, critical fractile, and optimal order quantity
• Apply the newsvendor model in revenue management
Preparation:
• Read optional textbooks: Cachon and Terwiesch 12.1 to 12.8.
After Class:
• Complete homework 7 and submit it to eLearning by 11:59pm on Oct 18.
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• Read optional textbooks: Cachon and Terwiesch 17.3 to 17.5.
• Read required cases: L.L. Bean.
_________________________________________________________________________________
SESSION 8 Oct 26
INVENTORY MANAGEMENT – NEWSVENDOR II
Learning Objectives:
• Apply the newsvendor model in practice: L.L. Bean
• Determine the overage cost
• Determine the underage cost
• Determine demand distribution using A/F method
Preparation:
• Read optional textbooks: Cachon and Terwiesch 17.3 to 17.5.
• Read required cases: L.L. Bean.
After Class:
• Complete homework 8 and submit it to eLearning by 11:59pm on Nov 1.
• Read the optional article: The Poisson Distribution and Poisson Process Explained.
__________________________________________________________________________________
SESSION 9 Nov 2
QUEUEING THEORY
Learning Objectives:
• Understand variability causes queues
• Learn process performance measures
• Learn Little’s Law and its applications
• Solve waiting problems in practice
Preparation:
• Read optional textbooks: Cachon and Terwiesch 8.1 to 8.6, 8.9.
• Read the optional article: The Poisson Distribution and Poisson Process Explained.
After Class:
• Complete homework 9 and submit it to eLearning by 11:59pm on Nov 8.
• Read optional textbooks: Topaloglu Chapters 1-2.
• (Optional) Install the Solver Add-in by reading the instruction and watching the video.
__________________________________________________________________________________
SESSION 10 Nov 9
LINEAR PROGRAMMING
Learning Objectives:
• Identify decision variables
• Learn to write the objective function and constraints
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• Understand optimal solution and feasible solutions
• Learn to solve a linear programming (LP) problem graphically
• (Optional) Learn to use Excel Solver to solve an LP problem
Preparation:
• Read optional textbooks: Topaloglu Chapters 1-2.
• (Optional) Install the Solver Add-in by reading instruction and watching video.
After Class:
• Complete homework 10 and submit it to eLearning by 11:59pm on Nov 15.
• (Optional) Watch video: Linear Programming Optimization with Excel Solver.
• Read optional textbooks: Cachon and Terwiesch 10.1 to 10.5, Chapter 11.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
SESSION 11 Nov 16
QUALITY CONTROL
Learning Objectives:
• Understand variability in quality
• Determine whether a process is in control
• Measure a process’ performance in quality
Preparation:
• Read optional textbooks: Cachon and Terwiesch 10.1 to 10.5, Chapter 11.
After Class:
• Complete homework 11 and submit it to eLearning by 11:59pm on Nov 22.
• Read optional textbooks: Cachon and Terwiesch Chapter 17.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
SESSION 12 Nov 30
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Learning Objectives:
• Review inventory management
• Learn forecasting methods
• Illustrate the concept of bullwhip effect
• Understand the drivers of bullwhip effect
• Propose remedies for the bullwhip effect
Preparation:
• Read optional textbooks: Cachon and Terwiesch Chapter 17.
After Class:
• Prepare for test 2 by reviewing sessions 6-12 lecture notes, homework, and practice problems.
__________________________________________________________________________________
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TEST 2 Dec 7
Test 2 will be held in the classroom from 7:00-9:30pm on Dec 7th. It covers the materials from sessions
6-12. The test is closed-book and closed-note, but you are allowed to bring one A4 size handwritten
double-sided help sheet. Do remember to bring your calculator. Any electronics or communication
among students during the test is strictly prohibited.
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