General Dynamics Electric Boat was founded in 1899, and has established standards of excellence in the design, construction and lifecycle support of submarines for the U.S. Navy. Primary operations are the shipyard in Groton, Connecticut, the automated hull-fabrication and outfitting facility in Quonset Point, Rhode Island, and an engineering building in New London, Connecticut. The current workforce is more than 11,000 employees.

In 2007, Electric Boat conducted an independent study to reduce the ship production cycle time and costs after winning a contract to build the Virginia Class Submarine (VCS) program. Studies have shown ship design processes are not keeping pace with state-of-the-art manufacturing practices. Identified challenges at the shop floor include:

• Poor coordination among work cell operations,
• Lack of timely, accurate and electronic data,
• Outdated design and construction 3D modelling system,
• Delays are pushing costs up beyond the allocated budget,
• Poor work flow and construction sequence resulting in wastages,
• Outdated or wrong drawings for production, and
• Frustration leads to finger pointing among staff and turnover.

The stakeholders are willing to further invest into the infrastructure at the shop floor to integrate work cells seamlessly. Hence, Operation Seamless Deliverable was initiated with the objective to reduce waste and production cycle time.

Major Deliverables

• Written Report as part of coursework 90%
• Class Presentation as part of coursework 10%

The purpose of the assessment is to evaluate student's understanding of the course materials and his/her ability to apply the acquired knowledge to the type of problems that may be encountered in the working environment.

Upon the completion of this module, students must achieve the following intended learning outcomes:

1. Appreciate the process of setting corporate / company objectives and of crafting strategy.

2. Understand the basic content of, and recognize and appreciate the significance of, the linkages between marketing, manufacturing and corporate / company strategy.

3. Understand the concepts underpinning the theory of manufacturing strategy and how a manufacturing strategy can contribute to business performance and competitive advantage.

4. Evaluate individual elements of a manufacturing strategy and with this knowledge / capability, be able to apply a conceptual framework or methodology for its development / refinement.

5. Demonstrate capability to potentially improve a company's business performance. This capability will be evident through the successful application to the assignment case study of theory, knowledge and appropriate analytical and deductive skills developed during the module. The outcome will be justified improvements to the strategies of the case manufacturing company.