Projects with Students & Courses: SCForum: Stanford GSB

Projects with Students & Courses

Forum members are able to participate in student projects (listed below) that are offered at the Graduate School of Business and the School of Engineering. The course offerings frequently change, so please contact Lesley Sept for more information.

Operations and Information Technology (OIT) - Graduate School of Business

Strategy and Global Supply Networks (OIT357, taught at Graduate School of Business)
Spring 2008
Course Description:
The course is focused on how companies can set and manage strategies in networked economies--such as Silicon Valley and extended to emerging economies like China and India --where firms must rely on a network of suppliers and customers to provide products and services. Outsourcing and Off-Shoring, key aspects of many companies today, present new problems and require new tools and concepts. This course addresses these problems taking a general management perspective. It combines a study of concepts and tools with cases and guests. Guests have served or are serving in important management roles for their companies. In past years they have included Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun Microsystems, Doug Burgum, Founder of Great Plains Software and Senior Vice President, Microsoft Business Solutions Group, Mike Volpi, Senior VP at Cisco, Ex-CEO's from HP and Ford Motor Company, founders of two start-ups, and others. The course will address issues in global supply networks and the transition from product suppliers to service suppliers. Besides the electronic and high tech industry, the cases used in this course also cover apparel, automobile, consumer goods, software, retailing, mining and natural resources. The classes involve a discussion of the concepts and tools useful for managers emphasizing issues in Supply Networks and the creation of internal core capabilities that will allow firms to establish competitive positions. Guests will comment on the case discussions, add information on the topic being addressed and the responsibilities of general managers, and make themselves available for questions.

Course Instructor: Professor Hau Lee, Professor Charles Holloway
Email: haulee@stanford.edu
Phone: 650.723.0514
Office: Littlefield 253, Stanford University

Supply Chain Management and Technology (OIT362, taught at Graduate School of Business)
Spring 2008
Course Description:
Firms in many industries are scrambling to develop innovative ways to move products from raw materials through manufacturing to customers more quickly and efficiently. Some are responding by necessity to competition, both domestically and internationally. Others are capitalizing on the continuing stream of dramatic improvements in information technology. They redesign their supply chains to gather, process, transmit, share, and exploit vast amounts of information quickly and cheaply. Still others are applying the radically different philosophy of seeking a cooperative approach among all the players in the supply chain. Huge improvements have been enjoyed by firms able to optimize over their entire supply chains and figure out how to share the resulting gains while breaking down the traditional adversarial relationships. Some redesign their chains to bypass unneeded stages. Other innovations derive from deregulation and lower tariffs. This course examines many of the recent innovations in this area with an emphasis on technologies

Course Instructor: Professor Jin Whang
Email: Whang_jin@gsb.stanford.edu
Phone: 650.723.4756

Global Operations (OIT364, taught at Graduate School of Business)
Fall 2007 and Spring 2008
Course Description:
Globalization of businesses has resulted in companies having to manage global networks of suppliers, integrators, contract manufacturers, logistics service providers, distributors, and service support operators in geographically dispersed locations. The customer network is also globally distributed. This course focuses on (1) how global and international companies can overcome the geographical, cultural, and organizational barriers, and leverage the strengths of the network to create values, and (2) how these companies may use different ways to manage operations in different regions to take full advantage of the local strengths and limitations. Through this course, students are exposed to the basic concepts, methodologies and principles of running an effective operation. The course is based on cases, mostly developed in the last two years, on innovative strategies and tactics used by global and international companies.

Course Instructor: Professor Hau Lee
Email: haulee@stanford.edu
Phone: 650.723.0514
Office: Littlefield 253, Stanford University

Seminar on Information-Based Supply Chain Management (OIT665, taught at Graduate School of Business)
Winter 2008
Course Description:
Primarily for doctoral students. This seminar will highlight the research advances on the use of information technology in supply chain management. Such usage has helped companies sharing information to coordinate their supply chain and to realign their incentives. It has also helped reduce the so-called bullwhip effect. Latest information technology like RFID (radio-frequency identification) has also enabled visibility and structural changes that result in significant supply chain performance enhancements. This seminar will focus on the modeling approaches used by researchers that tried to capture the values and potentials of such applications.

Course Instructor: Professor Hau Lee
Email: haulee@stanford.edu
Phone: 650.723.0514
Office: Littlefield 253, Stanford University

Mechanical Engineering (ME) - School of Engineering

Design for Manufacturability (ME317A + B), taught at School of Engineering)
Winter + Spring (6-month project)
Course Description:
ME317 addresses systematic methodologies to define, develop, and produce competitive products. The methods cover characterization of user values, design for manufacturability, and other life-cycle values such as reliability, serviceability, and environmental compatibility. ME317A (Winter quarter) addresses key issues of competitive product development. In the course project, student teams identify opportunities for improvement and apply structured methodologies to develop a comprehensive product definition. Following the product definition process covered in ME317A, ME317B (Spring quarter) focuses on quality implementation of the product definition. In the course project, groups of students apply structured methods to optimize the design of an improved product and plan for its manufacture, testing, and service.

Typical Topics for Student Projects:

Value enhancement: improved features and value propositions for customers and other stakeholders.
Manufacturability improvements of an existing or a planned product: simplifications in design and process.
Life-cycle improvements: reliability/availability enhancements, reduction of life-cycle ownership & service costs, eco-design.
Design for product variety: improved flexibility in product options, robust product architecture, etc.
Cost improvements: Critical study of cost drivers, elimination of non-value added activities.

Requirements from Sponsoring Companies:

A flat fee of $18,000 per project will cover all laboratory expenses for running the project for the two-quarter course sequence. This fee will include nominal domestic travel expenses and Design Division Affiliate Membership. A company partner will designate a liaison to communicate periodically with the students, provide relevant background information and help guide their efforts. An ideal liaison will be enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the problem, enjoy interaction with graduate-level students, and be willing to participate in a few design reviews during the year.

Course Instructor: Professor Kos Ishii
Email: ishii@cdr.stanford.edu
Website: ME317.stanford.edu
Phone: 650.725.1840
Office: Terman 509, Stanford University

Project Solicitation
Companies are expected to provide a project description by mid-December, up to 15 days before the first class.

Total Product Introduction Engineering (ME417, taught at School of Engineering)
Fall 2007
Course Description:
ME417 is an advanced version of ME317 and targets students aspiring to be product development executives as well as leaders in dfM research and education. Students will learn advanced methods and tools that supplement the material covered in ME317: quality design across global supply chain, robust product architecture for market variety and technology advances, product development risk management, etc.

About the Project:

Small teams or individuals will conduct a practical project that produces either an in-depth case study using advanced tools or a significant enhancement to the dfM methods and tools. Each team will lead one seminar discussion on the project topic as well as compiling a comprehensive report and presenting the result.

Lecture Contents (Tentative)

Mapping Stanford dfM to New Product Introduction (NPI) process.
New Trends in Innovation: Personalization
NPI Challenges in Pharmaceutical Industry
Supply Chain Metrics Benchmarking: What is good supply chain?
Design for System Reliability
Smart Vehicle Assembly System
New Technology Introduction Management
Bringing New Technology to Manufacturing and Delivery
Design for MEMS
What is a good dfM/NPI engineer (concurrent with final presentation)

Course Instructor: Professor Kos Ishii
Email: ishii@cdr.stanford.edu
Phone: 650.725.1840
Office: Terman 509, Stanford University

Management Science and Engineering (MS&E) - School of Engineering

Analysis of Production and Operating Systems (MS&E 260, taught at School of Engineering)
Fall 2007
Course Description:
Businesses add value through production and delivery of products and services; operations managers are responsible for designing, running, and improving systems and processes to meet demand for goods and services. Techniques to analyze and operating system. Topics include determination of optimal facility location, production lot sizing, optimal timing and sizing of capacity expansion and inventory control. Prerequisites: probability and optimization.

Course Instructor: Professor Özalp Özer
Email: ozalp@stanford.edu
Phone: 650.725.1746
Office: Terman 336, Stanford University

Inventory Control and Production Systems (MS&E261, taught at School of Engineering)
Winter 2007 (only)
Course Description:
Topics in the planning and control of manufacturing systems. The functions of inventory, determination of order quantities and safety stocks, alternative inventory replenishment systems, item forecasting, production-inventory systems, materials requirements planning (MRP), just-in-time systems, master and operations scheduling, supply chain management, and service operations. Limited enrollment. Prerequisite: 120 or STATS 116, or equivalent.

Course instructor: Professor Warren Hausman
Email: hausman@stanford.edu
Phone: 650.723.9279
Office: 312 Terman, Stanford University

Supply Chain Management (MS&E262, taught at School of Engineering)
Spring 2008
Project Description:
Students will work in groups of four on a project that is related to supply chain management. The project must relate to an actual company (or division) that produces goods or services. The intent of the project is to perform a systematic audit of the current supply chain performance and identify ways in which performance can be improved.

For each project, the following elements should be addressed:

What is the supply chain network for this company (division), who are the suppliers, who are the customers?
Develop the product structure of the end-product, indicating how the various customization steps are performed, and where.
What performance measures are used for each link of the supply chain? How often are they measured? How does management use them? Do you see any potential problems in the metrics?
What uncertainties exist in the supply chain? When unexpected events occur, what reactive mechanisms are in place to respond?
Consider improvements in any/all of the following:
1. Improvements in operational procedures
2. Changes in incentive systems
3. Changes in the relationships with suppliers and customers
4. New informational linkages
5. Cross-functional integration
6. Product line restructuring
7. Redesign of the supply chain network
8. Redesign of the product
Describe the costs and benefits of the improvements that you would recommend, and the implementation obstacles that you can foresee (the above list should not be viewed as exhaustive)

Typical team profile: 4 graduate students from the department of Management Science & Engineering (School of Engineering)

Course instructor: Professor Warren Hausman
Email: hausman@stanford.edu
Phone: 650.723.9279
Office: 312 Terman, Stanford University
Project solicitation: January-March 2008
Comment: if a company is not within driving distance, the company must agree to cover the cost of 8 student trips to its location (4 students x 2 trips each).

Internet-Enabled Supply Chains (MS&E263, taught at School of Engineering)
Not given this year
Course Description:
E-businesses have changed traditional supply chain interactions by creating a web-like structure and more flexible relationships, and it is no longer possible operationally or strategically to ignore the information-based virtual value chains for any business. How information technologies advanced supply chain integration; e-markets including auctions and exchanges; dynamic pricing; bundling; strategic implications of lock-in and switching costs; compatibility choices; and standardization of efforts.

Course Instructor: Professor Feryal Erhun
Email: ferhun@stanford.edu
Phone: 650.804.1630
Office: Terman 305, Stanford University

Demand and Supply Chain Analytics (MS&E263B, taught at School of Engineering)
Spring 2008
Course Description:
Tools to efficiently manage supply and demand networks. Topics include service and inventory trade offs, stock allocation, pricing and contracts and coordination. Timely product distribution to market while avoiding excess inventories; allocating adequate resources to the most profitable products. Selling the right product to the right customer at the right price at the right time.

This class is project-based, with opportunties for Forum Members to participate. Additional information will be available in Spring 2008

Course Instructor: Professor Özalp Özer
Email: ozalp@stanford.edu
Phone: 650.725.1746
Office: Terman 336, Stanford University

Manufacturing System Design - Multidisciplinary (MS&E264, taught at School of Engineering)
Spring (only)
Course Description:
The concepts and techniques of designing and improving performance and productivity in systems composed of and influenced by people, organizational factors, and technology. Emphasis is on the design of high-performance manufacturing systems. Use of stimulation as a tool for design evaluation.

Course Instructor: Professor Feryal Erhun
Email: ferhun@stanford.edu
Phone: 650.804.1630
Office: Terman 305, Stanford University

Supply Chain Logistics (MS&E265, taught at School of Engineering)
Spring (only)
Course Description:
Student teams redesign the manufacturing and distribution system of a medium-sized manufacturer. Focus is on the transportation system, inventory policies for a regional warehouse, design of a national distribution system, improvement of work flow, and layout of the manufacturing plant. The redesign is at a detailed operational level consistent with strategy of integrating the functions of manufacturing and distribution.Analytical and game software is used. Knowledge of inventory theory, linear/integer programming, economic analysis, and applied probability is required. Emphasis is on group learning. Limited enrollment. Prerequisites: senior or graduate standing, 160, ENGR 60 and 62, or consent of instructor.

Course Instructor: Professor Feryal Erhun
Email: ferhun@stanford.edu
Phone: 650.804.1630
Office: Terman 305, Stanford University

Supply Chain Optimization (MS&E361, taught at School of Engineering)
Not offered this year
Course Description:
Characterization and computation of optimal and nearly optimal multiperiod supply chain policies with known or uncertain demands using dynamic, lattice, network, and convex and concave programming. Cooperations: sharing benefits of alliances. Completition: Leontief-substitution and network flow models. Lattice programming: comparison of optima; existence and comparison of equilibria of non-cooperative games. Stochastic comparison. Invariant properties of optimal flows: graphical optimization of supply chains. Optimality of myopic policies. Prerequisites: MATH 115, optimization theory, probability.

Course Instructor: Professor Arthur Veinott
Email: veinott@stanford.edu
Phone: 650.723.1614
Office: Terman 309, Stanford University

Advanced Models in Management Science (MS&E363, taught at School of Engineering)
Not offered this year
Course Description:
Primarily for doctoral students. Content varies. Topics based on recent literature and working papers. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: consent of instructor

Course Instructor: Professor Özalp Özer
Email: ozalp@stanford.edu
Phone: 650.725.1746
Office: Terman 336, Stanford University

Multi-Echelon Inventory Models (MS&E364, taught at School of Engineering)
Spring 2008
Course Description:
Theoretical treatment of control problems arising in inventory management, production, and distribution systems. Inventory control for single and multi-location systems. Emphasis is on operating characteristics, performance measures, and optimal operating and control policies. Dynamic programming and applications in inventory control. Prerequisite: STATS 217 or equivalent, linear programming.

Course Instructor: Professor Özalp Özer
Email: ozalp@stanford.edu
Phone: 650.725.1746
Office: Terman 336, Stanford University

Game Theoretic Models in Operations Management (MS&E365B, taught at School of Engineering)
Winter 2007
Course Description:
Formal analysis of strategic interactions among decision makers such as suppliers, manufacturers, retailers and consumers; the resulting dynamcis in a market environment. Game theory as the main tool of analysis. Readings primarily from journal articles. May be repeated for credit.

Course Instructor: Professor Feryal Erhun
Email: ferhun@stanford.edu
Phone: 650.804.1630
Office: Terman 305, Stanford University

Advanced Models in Supply Chain Management (MS&E366, taught at School of Engineering)
Not offered during 2007-2008 Academic Year
Course Description:
Primarily for doctoral students. Content varies. Topics based on recent literature and working papers. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

Course instructor: Professor Warren Hausman
Email: hausman@stanford.edu
Phone: 650.723.9279
Office: 312 Terman, Stanford University

Supply Chain Risk and Flexibility Management (MS&E369, taught at School of Engineering)
Spring 2008
Course Description:
Methods and analytic tools for quantifying and managing the impact of uncertainty in supply and demand on the operating and financial performance of firms and networks of firms. Design and delivery of products and services to provide competitive differentiation by enabling cost, value, risk and flexibility to be balanced and managed across supply networks. Case study applicaitons by leading companies to procurement, manufacturing, outsourcing, and sales relationships. Tools, processes, and internal cross-fuctional coordination required to operationalize approaches in core planning and execution systems and processes.

Course instructor: Professor Blake Johnson
Email: blakej@stanford.edu
Phone: 650.723.1614

Global Project Coordination (MS&E464, taught at School of Engineering)
Winter 2008
Call for Projects
Course Overview
Global Project Coordination is a project-based course, in which students engage in projects that are global in nature, and are related to the broad field of supply chain management. Projects are conducted jointly by graduate students from Stanford University and undergraduate/graduate students from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) in Hong Kong. Each team includes 7-8 students from both universities, who work on the projects intensively for a period of 2.5 months.

The projects are supported by partner companies, who provide a challenging problem for the students to work on. The projects provide the companies a thorough in-depth analysis and recommendations on the problem, based on the latest insights developed at the participating universities.

Course Schedule
The course takes place over a period of two and a half months, from January until late March.

Key Dates for 2007
- September-October 2007: Project solicitation
- November-December 2007: Partner companies work with Stanford university and HKUST to develop project description
- Prior to 1/11/2008: first payment of project fee (50% of total fee) is due
- January 11-14, 2008: All students and company representatives meet at Stanford University for the projects kick-off (define project plan, milestones, and communication plan; build team)
- January-March 2008: Data collection through phone interviews, exchange of emails, and possibly during visits to company sites; data analysis; frequent updates of company project champion and university professors
- March 17 (estimated date): Students submit draft report and draft presentation; opportunity for companies and professors to give final comments and suggestions
- Week of March 24: All students and company representatives meet at HKUST for final presentations. Final report is due then. If company representatives cannot attend final presentation in person, a video or teleconference may be arranged
- March 31: Second payment of project fee (50% of total fee) is due
Project Characteristics
Projects focus on the wide field of Supply Chain Management. Topics may include:
- Supply chain design: how networks of partners should physically be designed, e.g., location of factories and warehouses, inventory location and optimal inventory levels.
- Supply chain planning & control: how to improve material flow & coordination along supply chains.
- Inventory management: how to optimize inventory levels within the focal company, at suppliers and at customers; how to design collaborative planning or Vendor Managed Inventory.
- Technological advances: what are the impacts of advance technologies, such as RFID, on supply chain operations.
- Service supply chains: how to design and manage service operations so as to improve their profitability and maximize benefits throughout the product life cycle.
- Reverse logistics: how to manage product returns in the most efficient way.
- Inventory management: how to optimize inventory levels within the focal company, at suppliers and at customers; how to design collaborative planning or Vendor Managed Inventory.
Examples of Past Projects
Below is a brief summary of some of the projects that were completed in the last few years:

Dow Chemicals: As the most upstream supplier in the chemicals supply chain, Dow experiences huge swings in demand, which add a tremendous amount of variability to their planning processes. The students studied the factors that impact inventory replenishment decisions of Dow's different supply chain partners, and developed a framework for better anticipating future demand.

EPCglobal: The students analyzed the impacts of RFID/EPC implementation on Health & Life Sciences manufacturers, and developed a methodology for calculating expected ROI of such implementation initiatives.

Ericsson: The students analyzed the company's geographically dispersed supply chain for one of its long lead-time, high-value custom components, and proposed ways to reconstruct the flow of material and information between the suppliers and the contract manufacturers' production facilities so as to improve overall performance of Ericsson. Lego: At the time, Lego was in the process of redesigning its global supply chain and defining its long-term supply chain strategy, and were looking for the best way to do this so as to best address the company's defined set of goals. The students tried to answer this question by analyzing the current Lego supply chain, the characteristics of the various retail channels, and best practices from other industries.

Lego: At the time, Lego was in the process of redesigning its global supply chain and defining its long-term supply chain strategy, and were looking for the best way to do this so as to best address the company's defined set of goals. The students tried to answer this question by analyzing the current Lego supply chain, the characteristics of the various retail channels, and best practices from other industries.

Nedap: The project focused on studying the impacts of RFID technology on logistics operations, and the resulting benefits to both Logistics Service Providers, as well as to their customers (shippers) and other business partners along the supply chain.

Nokia: The students gathered information on retail practices in Europe, the U.S., and Asia-Pacific with businesses related to the mobile phones market; analyzed similarities and differences between the three regions, and gained a better understanding of their impacts on supply chain performance for Nokia.

Valeo: The students studied the physical and the administrative processes between Valeo and one of its major suppliers, which has manufacturing plants in Asia and the U.S., and supplies parts to Valeo manufacturing facilities in Europe. They looked for ways to improve the current situation, which was characterized by long lead-times and limited responsiveness of the supplier and made a model to calculate optimal inventory levels.

Requirements from Partner Companies
A partner company should work with the universities early on to define the project, set up site visits (if needed), define data requirements and ensure accessibility of the students to the data. In addition, a partner company should designate a project champion to communicate periodically with the students, provide relevant information, help guide their efforts, and ensure internal organizational buy-in to support the students. The project champion should also participate in the kick-off meeting in Stanford and the final presentation at HKUST.

To support a project, each partner company is required to pay a $30,000 participation fee, to cover all the expenses for running the project, including one international trip for each of the students and university professors and all other relevant costs. If additional air travel or overnight travel is required, the participation fee may need to be adjusted accordingly. The fee should be paid in two equal parts, one prior to the beginning of the project and a second upon its conclusion.

For more information, please contact Barchi Gillai (+1 650-736-1831, Barchi@stanford.edu), or Professor Mitchell Tseng (+852 2358-7091, tseng@ust.hk).

Global Supply Chain Management Forum

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