Industrial Management, TEK 250

2025/2026, study period 4

Examiner and lecturer:       Torbjörn Jacobsson, Supply and Operations Management, Tel: 031-7725233, e-mail: torjac@chalmers.se

Lecturer: Ala Arvidsson, Associate professor, Supply and Operations Management, Tel: 031-7721372, e-mail: ala.arvidsson@chalmers.se

Lecturer: Peter Almström, Docent, Supply and Operations Management, tel: 031-7721283, e-mail: peter.almstrom@chalmers.se

Case instructors:

Gustav Holst, student, Supply and Operations Management, e-mail: holstgu@student.chalmers.se

Simon Uhlander, student, avdelningen för Supply and Operations Management, e-mail: simonuhl@student.chalmers.se

Mode of instruction: On-site, supervision and communications will also be facilitated through Canvas and Zoom

Examination dates:

Wed 03 Jun 2026, start 14:00, Johanneberg INSP, 4 h.

Fr 28 Aug 2026, start 14:00, Johanneberg INSP, 4 h.

Course Aims

The aim of this course is to provide students with knowledge of industrial organization and operations management, and to examine how the management of production and operations can contribute to companies’ sustainable competitive advantage and long-term success. The course also aims to provide students with relevant theories, tools, and models for managing and developing production systems, products, and services, as well as for developing and evaluating operations and business strategies in different industrial settings.

Content

The course covers the field of industrial management primarily from a production and operations management perspective, i.e., the management of resources devoted to the production of products and services. Every organization has an operations function, as all organizations produce some type of product and/or service. From an operations management perspective, the firm is viewed not only as a production system but also as part of a value chain that includes suppliers, sub-suppliers, system integrators, and customers. The course addresses central areas within industrial and operations management in order to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the field. The areas covered include:

• Operations management
• Lean production
• Operations strategy
• Process, product, and service design
• Supply chain management
• Process technology
• Job design and work organization
• Planning and control
• Operations improvement and total quality management

Course objectives

The main objective of the course is to enhance participants’ ability to analyze and develop companies’ operations and production systems. Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to:

• Understand the strategic importance and impact of industrial and operations management
• Demonstrate knowledge of the central areas of industrial and operations management
• Apply relevant theories, frameworks, and models to develop, design, and evaluate production systems and companies’ operations and business strategies
• Critically reflect on emerging concepts and ideas within the field of industrial and operations management

Organization

The course is structured around the central themes of operations management. Reflective and applied learning approaches are used to illustrate the challenges associated with managing operations. Students both learn and are assessed through mandatory assignments and case discussions in which central topics within industrial and operations management are analyzed in depth. The theoretical content of the course is defined by the prescribed course literature. Compared to purely technological subjects, the reading load is relatively extensive. Parts of the literature consist of real-world examples intended to illustrate key concepts and facilitate deeper understanding.

Literature

Book: Slack, N., Brandon-Jones, A. & Burgess, N. (2022), Operations Management (Tenth Edition), Pearson Education. (available at “Store”, Chalmers, Camus.)

E-book: https://www.chalmersstore.se/e-bocker/e-bok-operations-management.html

E-book/Journal via Chalmers library:

1. Liker och Meier, D. (2006), The Toyota Way fieldbook: a practical guide for implementing Toyota´s 4Ps, McGrewHill. Start on page 6-7, “How the Book is organized” with the description of the 4P model (Philosophy, Proces,…) and then continue with pages 8-14 ”Overview of the Toyota Way principles”.
2. Bellgran, M and Safsten, K., (2010), Production development: design and operation of production systems, London; New York: Springer. (First chapter)

Additional literature may be distributed during classes or published at the course website.