MANF 6860 Assignments

Term 1 2025

Assignment

You have been hired to develop a manufacturing strategy for Phyton Pty Ltd. Do your

best to treat this as a real job and, in the first few weeks of term, you should familiarise

yourself with the business and try to apply what you’ve learnt in class.

We are not interested in an academic evaluation of the tools and their background.

Rather, we expect you to understand where, when, and how to apply them and make

reasoned and practical recommendations to Phyton.

Why teams? Once in the workforce, as a practicing engineer, you will find yourself working

on many projects across a wide range of topics. These will almost always involve you

playing some role in a team. The team will consist of people from different educational

and experiential backgrounds, with different points of view, and with widely varying

interest and energy for your project. By treating this case as a real-world project, you will

develop skills in managing that diversity towards a successful outcome.

Why presentations? In my experience no idea, no matter how ingenious, is ever

recognised purely on face value. Indeed, many of your non-engineer colleagues might

not fully grasp the concept. It is up to you to explain your idea, or plan, or project, in a

clear and compelling way. Here, we provide an opportunity to practice those skills.

Finally, the case study does not portray real people or companies, it is an amalgamation

of information drawn from experiences. Nevertheless, you should treat this as a real

project and involve yourself deeply in the exercise. Case studies are designed to provide

incomplete information, just as occurs in the real world. You may want to bring external

information to the case but always remain grounded in the information in the case and

do not assume away problems or questions. Remember, too, that you have the benefit

of hindsight (this is set in 2015), so you can’t bring events after that to bear.

Format: Presentation (video)

Length: 15 minutes

Mark: This assignment is worth 40% of your grade (30% assignment, 10% delivery)

Notes:

• Upload only one assignment for the group

• The team will discuss the contributions of each member and note the team

members and their relative contribution to the assignment (team total must equal

100%)

• When you upload the assignment, also upload the individual contribution

percentages.

1. Situational Analysis (15 Marks)

Clarify Phyton’s situation in its business, industry, and markets. You can use any of the

concepts from the course as relevant to analyse the case study. For example, you might

analyse market dynamics, market share, core competencies, or the financial position of

the business. Which analyses you leave out may be as important as those you include so

it should be clear to the marker why you have chosen your approach.

2. Manufacturing Strategy (15 Marks)

How should Phyton approach the current situation? You might consider the issues of

process and product, capacity, focus and so on. Consider the current state and the future

state. The choices should come out of your situational analysis, and you should ensure

the links are clear.

3. Strategy Implementation (10 Marks)

Good execution of any plan is critical to success. What are the factors that Phyton should

consider in setting forward its strategy and how are these determined by your answers

to A and B? How will Phyton monitor its strategy implementation?

Rubric

Assessment Attribute Level of Attainment

(Mark)

Insufficient (0 - 1) Developing (2) Functional (3) Proficient (4) Advanced (5)

Knowledge & understanding Does not understand the

fundamental concepts.

Limited understanding of

required concepts and

knowledge.

Inaccurate reproduction of text

and lectures.

Cannot discuss concepts in their

own words

Encyclopedic knowledge and can

reproduce accurately required

facts and definitions. Has

adequate breadth, but l limited

depth of understanding of basic

concepts.

Exhibits breadth and depth of

understanding of concepts in

the knowledge domain. Can use

terminology accurately in new

contexts and has transformed

the ideas so that they can

express them appropriately in

their own words. Demonstrates

an appreciation of the limits of

their own understanding

Exhibits accurate and elaborate

breadth and depth of

understanding of concepts in the

knowledge domain. Knows how

particular facts came to be.

Demonstrates an appreciation

of the limitations and temporary

nature of conceptual knowledge

in the discipline or field.

Can generate and justify

principles, protocols and

hypotheses

Reasoning

Personal and anecdotal Rule based, derived largely

from authority (texts, teachers,

authority figures). Mostly ‘black

and white’ thinking. Little

interpretation or translation.

Can recognise competing

explanations and can identify

the relative merits and

limitations of an argument or

position.

Can describe and defend their

own view or position.

Uses principles to formulate a

position or an argument. Can

articulate the limited nature of

their argument and can

challenge to boundaries of

disciplinary understanding.

Analysis

Personal and anecdotal Descriptive and anecdotal with

limited use of theoretical

frameworks. Limited capacity to

identify the complex factors

within a larger idea or context.

Limited capacity to synthesise a

number of ideas into a larger

argument.

Can break large ideas, situations

or problems down into

components and explain each

using the theoretical ideas and

concepts of the discipline. Can

synthesise several concepts or

factors into a larger idea. Can

evaluate the salience &

limitations of arguments

Analysis is sophisticated with a

balance of theory and personal

reflection.

Capable of generalising from

personal reflection on

theoretical ideas or real-life

experiences to formulate

principles and evaluate the

efficacy of ideas from a number

of standpoints.

Information literacy

Uses immediately available

information with little

discrimination.

Cannot independently seek out

and locate required information.

Can seek out and locate

required information with

minimal support.

Does not always discriminate

effectively between sources of

information.

Can independently seek out and

locate required information. Is

selective, effectively

discriminating between sources

of information.

Independently seeks out and

locates required information. Is

selective and discriminates

between sources of information.

Adopts effective processes for

storage and retrieval of

information.

Use of academic writing

and presentation grammars

Does not demonstrate an

understanding of what is

expected in presentation of

learning products. E.g.

Fails to use spell checker, some

sentences fail to have verbs,

poorly punctuated, written in

note form.

paragraphs have only one

sentence etc.

Adheres to most basic

expectations regarding the

formatting and presentation of

work. E.g., titles name on work,

introduction, conclusion, and

reference list. Has correct

sections for reports, case notes

etc. Spell checked &

grammatically correct

Adheres to all expectations and

conventions with all expected

attributes present. Some

translation and interpretation of

the conventions to suit personal

style and the specific execution

of the task.

All expectations and

conventions with all expected

attributes present but have

been creatively interpreted to

suit personal style and the

specific execution of the task. A

unique but appropriate

presentation of work.

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