The courses in this certificate explore how digital transformation and emerging information technologies foster innovation, particularly by leveraging technology (especially AI, blockchain, and security) to achieve a competitive edge in the manufacturing & engineering industries.
Manufacturing and engineering are not what they were even a few years ago. Understanding emerging information technologies and their impact on the manufacturing and engineering industry, and the roles and responsibilities of IT and non-IT stakeholders in leveraging these emerging technologies in light of the digital transformation, will be at the heart of all of the courses.
New technologies allow companies to design and build products faster, more efficiently, and more reliable than ever. The Digital Manufacturing & Engineering Certificate focuses on the use of IT to enhance the strategic, tactical, and operational elements across the manufacturing & engineering industry value chain.
Naturally, having accurate, accessible, secure data is fundamental to a successful AI initiative, thus providing additional topics addressed in this program. The integration of IT and manufacturing / engineering has become essential. The courses in this certificate will provide candidates (IT and non-IT, professionals and executives) with the tools methods, techniques, and standards to derive strategies and plans to leverage current and emerging information technologies.
- Product line optimization and error reduction
- New product introduction timing
- Keeping the Equipment Healthy (Asset Maintenance Planning)
- Expediting Experiments and Design (Materials Design)
- Understanding Processing Optimization
- Optimize the Design (Site Design Generation)
- A Helping Hand in the Field (Virtual Field Assistant for Engineers)
- Enhancing Employee Safety (Personalized OHS Training)
- Optimizing productivity by increasing throughput and yield and reducing conversion costs.
- Improving sustainability by reducing emissions.
- Increasing flexibility in the face of ongoing supply chain disruptions.
- Enabling greater customization and reducing costs of single-run and small-batch goods.
The focus will be on leveraging IT to enhance manufacturing/ engineering practices and processes, to research and to develop tools, processes, machines and equipment, and to integrate the facilities and systems for producing quality products with the optimum expenditure of capital; to design and develop an integrated manufacturing / engineering strategy. This means applying IT to integrate a layered, heterogeneous network of different nodes, from the shop floor to business systems (e.g., purchasing and inventory management), and the overall strategy of the organization.
Organization's need technical leaders and managers who have a wide range of knowledge and expertise in engineering and manufacturing, technology. and business operations.
The IT in manufacturing/engineering certificate builds analytical, modeling, and design skills necessary to understand how to leverage IT in manufacturing and engineering organizations. The core business and information systems direction is complemented with a study of the full life cycle of the manufacturing/engineering enterprise, from product design to product delivery. The manufacturing/engineering courses are selected to give the candidate an understanding of the full life cycle of the manufacturing enterprise, from raw material to production as the industry transforms and regulations evolve especially in light of emerging information technologies (e.g., blockchain, AI, robotics, social media, cognitive computing, analytics, big data). The courses cover modeling, simulation, design, product design, and production systems.
The engineers' role has changed from performing solely technical operations to being involved in the integration of engineering, technology and business operations. This certificate provides this critical education by graduating engineers who understand the increasing demand for efficiency, effectiveness and integration in engineering and business operations across varied industries. The courses are designed for IT and non-IT professionals in the manufacturing/engineering industry whose roles involve leveraging digital manufacturing/engineering industry opportunities to provide demonstrable value from their IT investments, in light of the digital transformation and emerging information technologies (e.g., AI, blockchain, social media, analytics, big data, robotics), while addressing important considerations like providing a secure infrastructure and hybrid work environment.
GIIM will work with you to derive the appropriate focus & content for the courses within this certificate, based on the backgrounds and objectives of the candidates.
The following is the template describing the 4 courses for this certificate:
(All courses are available live/synchronously face-to-face & online)
1. Simulation and Modeling
AI powered simulators use real-world data to run virtual tests on digital versions of new products. Products that in the past took years to develop, now take months. This course emphasizes the development of modeling and simulation concepts and analysis skills necessary to design, program, implement and use computers to solve complex systems/products analysis problems. The key emphasis is on problem formulation, model building, data analysis, solution techniques and evaluation of alternative designs/processes in complex systems/products. Overview of modeling techniques and methods used in decision analysis, including multi-attribute utility models, decision trees and optimization methods are discussed.
2. Computer Integrated Design and Manufacturing
Fundamentals of Computer-Integrated Design and Manufacturing addresses design and manufacturing as a global closed-loop system comprising four major functions: marketing, part design, process specifications and production. The emphasis of this course is on the computer integration of the islands of automation created by isolated computerized systems within these major functions in an enterprise.
3. Design of Production Systems
Introduction to the design and control of production systems using mathematical, computational and other modern techniques. Topics that will be investigated include forecasting, inventory systems, aggregate production planning, material requirements planning, additive manufacturing, project planning, job sequencing, operations scheduling and reliability, robotics, in addition to capacity, flexibility and economic analysis of flexible manufacturing systems, and the adherence to changes in regulations.
4. Advanced Product Development
This course addresses methodologies and tools to define product development phases and also provides experience working in teams to design high-quality competitive products. Primary goals are to improve ability to reason about design, material and process alternatives and apply modeling techniques appropriate for different development phases, as well as development of competitive product design and plans for its manufacture along with facilities layout simulation, testing and service. Products are now designed and developed in virtual environments that facilitate collaboration with customers. Topics covered are: user requirements gathering, quality function deployment (QFD), design for assembly, design for materials and manufacturing processes, optimizing the design for cost and reproducibility, manufacturing process specifications and planning, process control and optimization, validation, compliance, and SPC and six sigma quality processes, tolerance analysis, flexible manufacturing, product testing, rapid prototyping, and the use of robotics and machine learning.
As Manufacturing/Engineering organizations accelerate the digital transformation of their industry, they are focusing their investments in leveraging information technology to improve customer/client products/services while lowering overall costs. In today’s highly regulated, increasingly resource-constrained, and cost-focused environment it is essential to understand how to effectively and efficiently manage an organization’s information technology (IT) resources. There are numerous strategic, tactical, and operational choices to be made about managing Manufacturing/Engineering IT resources and it is essential to ensure that IT and non-IT executives across the organization work in harmony.
Experience has made it clear that Manufacturing/Engineering organizations need well-conceived organizational structures, skills, processes, and decision rights to ensure that IT investments are appropriately leveraged across the organization, especially when considering the impact of emerging information technologies.
This course prepares Manufacturing/Engineering executives by providing a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental decisions related to the management of IT resources in the Manufacturing/Engineering environment. The course will also provide an overview of current and future information technologies and their potential impact on customers/clients, organizations, and associated stakeholders.
The course is designed to be delivered live/synchronously (face-to-face or online) with a total of twenty (20) contact hours. While the schedule is flexible, it is usually delivered in approximately ten (10) 2-hour modules/lectures/sessions.
The IT-Manufacturing/Engineering topics include:
- Deriving IT-business strategies
- Considerations for types of
- organizational structure
- sourcing
- governance (i.e., decision-making and decision rights)
- roles/responsibilities
- processes
- Leverage emerging digital technologies; especially AI, blockchain, and security
- The business value of IT
- The definition, concepts, and contexts of Manufacturing/Engineering IT
- Enhancing business-IT alignment
