Designing Modern Manufacturing Systems
Designing Modern Manufacturing Systems examines manufacturing as a complex sociotechnical system in which products, people, processes, equipment, data, supply networks, and enterprise objectives must be designed and integrated. Students apply systems engineering methods to analyze and design modern production systems, progressing from process flow, capacity, bottlenecks, quality, and continuous improvement to smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0 technologies, including automation, connected sensors, AI/data analytics, cyber-physical systems, and digital twins. Industry 5.0 extends this perspective through human-centered design, human-machine collaboration, resilience, and sustainability. Through industry cases, simulations, applied design activities, and a semester-long project, students evaluate trade-offs among cost, quality, speed, workforce needs, resilience, sustainability, and customer requirements.
Topics
- Analyze manufacturing systems as interconnected sociotechnical systems involving products, processes, people, technology, information, and supply networks.
- Apply systems engineering and manufacturing-system analysis methods to identify bottlenecks, evaluate tradeoffs, and assess system performance under changing requirements and uncertainty.
- Evaluate and design manufacturing-system improvements that integrate Industry 4.0 smart-manufacturing technologies with Industry 5.0 priorities such as human-machine collaboration, resilience, sustainability, and workforce considerations.
Official roster learning outcomes
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026-2027