Business Management Techniques

Assignment 1

Manage work activities to achieve organisational objectives

By Steve Goddard – February 2009

Business Management Techniques

Manage Work Activities to Achieve

Organisational Objectives

By Steve Goddard

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 Business Management Techniques
Assignment 1
Manage work activities to achieve organisational
objectives

By Steve Goddard
 Acknowledgements

David Sullivan – Supplier of lecture resources.

AgustaWestland – Provider of business information that formed the basis of my report.

Mike Tooley & Lloyd Dingle – For there book on higher national engineering.

Please note: The Company written about in this report is entirely fictional

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 Table of Contents

Section Description Page

- Executive Summary 5
1 Introduction 6
1.1 Brief History Of the Company 6
1.2 Organisational Structure 6
1.3 Factors for Change 7
1.4 Aims and Objectives 7
2 Methodology 8
3 Findings 9
3.1 Quality 9
3.2 Research and Development Programmes 10
3.3 Engineering 11
3.3.1 Transmission Design and Development 11
3.3.2 Manufacturing Engineering 11
3.3.3 System Engineering 12
3.3.4 Electronic, Avionic, Structures and Rotor Systems 12
Design and Development
3.3.5 Material Laboratory 12
3.3.6 Testing 13
3.4 Operations 14
3.4.1 Production and Final Assembly 14
3.4.2 Planning and Control 14
3.4.3 Logistics 15
3.4.4 Flight Test &Civil Airworthiness 15
3.5 Procurement 16
4 Recommendations 17
5 Conclusion 19
- References 20

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 Executive Summary

This report describes a project undertaken for the Goddard Corporation that is an international business
that has recently decided to expand into Engineering to expand its growing business empire and to take
advantage of a potential market gap that the Goddard Corporation feel they can fill within the
Commercial Aerospace Industry.

In order to do this the managing director has first requested a report to identify to various engineering
functions that will be needed in a new engineering venture and there inter relationships with the rest of
the business.

This report will go on to explain the relevance of these functions in detail by what they do, how they
work and their main roles within an engineering business.

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 1. Introduction

1.1 Brief History of the Company

The Goddard Corporation is an International business and parent to various other businesses.

Primarily Goddard Corporation began in 1982 as an independent travel and holiday planner for public
holidays abroad, through the success of this business venture Goddard Travel Planning expanded in
1992 taking over a small marketing and design company specialising in unique and one off
advertisements or package designs for various products.

The Marketing and Design Company grew over the next 10 years and continues to be one of the most
successful international marketing and design companies in the world securing contracts to design
packaging for major consumer products such as Kellogg’s Cereal, Cadbury and Ben and Jerry’s ice
cream as well as still creating the unique and one off designs that made the company what it is today.

Meanwhile the Travel planning business advanced to a large scale all across the UK with a chain of
shops on many high streets of the country providing a wide range of tailored holiday plans for almost
any destination in the world.

Profits of the company over the past 16 years have continued to rise and now the Managing director of
the Goddard Corporation (parent company to Goddard Travel and Goddard M&D) is interesting in
moving into the engineering industry by designing and manufacturing large scale commercial helicopter
transport which will eliminate the need for a runway, therefore giving Goddard Travel the upper hand in
eventually providing the most extreme holidays ever straight to anywhere in the world.

1.2 Organisational Structure

The following is the current main organisational chart for The Goddard Corporation.

MD of The
Goddard
Corporatio
n
Human Finance Marketing External Business IT
Resourc Affairs Developme
es nt
MD of MD of
Goddard Goddar
Travel d M&D

The Goddard Corporation organisational structure operates in a conglomerate way and begins with the
CEO of the company. Alongside the CEO there are the main directorates overlooking the entire business
these are areas such as HR, Finance, Business Development and IT. The structure is then broken down
into the separate businesses within the corporation.

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Each business have there own departments for example in Goddard M&D there is a Managing Director
and below the MD are his directorates such as, Production, Design, Purchasing, Quality and R&D.

1.3 Factors for Change

The factors for change within the Goddard Corporation are mainly the increasing revenue from the other
businesses. The Goddard Corporation are taking a bold step into a new market with profits they have
accumulated over the past 26 year of being in business.

The other factors are an opportunity to increase the effectiveness of Goddard Travel, with a Helicopter
planned holiday customers will be able to fly to destinations never thought possible with normal
commercial airlines of today.

The Goddard Corporation need to expand, it has been 18 years since the takeover of Goddard M&D and
as the Prime Minister stated on a forward in the White Paper:

“In a changing world no organisation, however great, can stand still.”

1.4 Aims and Objectives

My aims and objectives of this report are to describe the possible sectors of an engineering business and
describe how each sector interrelates and work together. I will also explain how each department
managed activities to meet certain standards and specifications.

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 2. Methodology

The research I carried out to produce this report was done in three parts:

1. Work related Research

I used information from AgustaWestland Helicopters Ltd, I looked at various documents including the
Organisational Structure to determine the major sectors in a Helicopter Engineering business and also
spoke to people and researched the types of standards and specs that each departments use.

2. Textbooks

I have read Higher National Engineering by Mike Tooley and Lloyd Dingle which provided an in site to
the various different styles of flat and tall organisational structures; I have also used lecture notes to
assist me in this.

3. Internet Research

I have used the internet extensively to look at descriptions and methods of running an engineering
business. My full list of references is included at the back of the report.

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 3. Findings

After looking at similar engineering business and through my internet and textbook research I have
selected the relevant sectors that will make up a successful engineering business.

3.1 Quality Assurance

One of the sectors of the business has to be quality; this ensures our products are of a good standard
before the customer receives them and also keeping checks on the overall quality of the business.
During the 1980s, the concept of “company quality” with the focus on management and people came to
the fore. It was realized that, if all departments approached quality with an open mind, success was
possible if the management led the quality improvement process.

The company-wide quality approach places an emphasis on four aspects:-

1. Elements such as controls, job management, adequate processes, performance and integrity
criteria and identification of records
2. Competence such as knowledge, skills, experience, qualifications
3. Soft elements, such as personnel integrity, confidence, organizational culture, motivation, team
spirit and quality relationships.
4. Infrastructure

The quality of the outputs is at risk if any of these aspects is deficient in any way.

The approach to quality management given here is therefore not limited to the manufacturing area only
but can be applied to any business activity:

• Design work
• Administrative services
• Finance
• Testing
• Computer software
• Retailing
• Logistics
• Procurement
• Training

It comprises a quality improvement process, which is generic in the sense it can be applied to any of
these activities and it establishes a behavior pattern, which supports the achievement of quality.

In manufacturing and construction activities, these business practices can be equated to the models for
quality assurance defined by the International Standards contained in the ISO 9000 series and the
specified Specifications for quality systems.

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3.2 Research and Development Programmes

Within each of the two businesses under the Goddard Corporation they have a dedicated Research and
Development (R&D) sector so setting up a new R&D sector for the engineering business should not be
too much of a problem.

In any well-run company, research and development have strictly commercial functions - to further the
company's business objectives by creating better products, to improve operational processes and to
provide expert advice to the rest of the company and to customers.

Some research is not expected to pay for itself

within a foreseeable time span. For example
some large companies may allocate as much
as one-tenth of their research budget to so-
called “blue-sky” investigations whose most
likely contribution is to the development of
new products and a possible pay-off in the
distant future.

Product research and development goes hand

in hand with market research and
development. Considerable liaison is required
between these two areas, and processes need
to be standardised. Setting up a production process or a new line can involve considerable cost, and
careful work in the early stages will help to ensure that profits are made.
Product researchers use marketing information to help them to develop products or services and choose
suitable designs.

The layout of a supermarket, or bookshop, for example, has to be designed - a customer must be able to
find quickly what he or she wants. In this case the right use and allocation of space is vital to ensure
profitability. So is the concept of service; many quality retailers give prominence to aspects of customer
service such as clearly visible help desks, or greeters.

Product researchers must also consider production costs, ease of manufacture and selling price.

A company might be reluctant to change an earlier design, particularly if it provides status (e.g. a
designer label on a tracksuit or baseball cap). Conversely, small ('cosmetic') changes may be made to
products to bring them up-to-date e.g. the logos of leading companies to give them a more modern feel.

Once a design has been completed the product researchers will build a prototype which can then be
tested. Some prototypes will be discarded while others may be modified and improved. When a product
has been tested and thought to be successful, and all the marketing and production questions have been
answered, the firm will need to 'tool up' its production line.

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3.3 Engineering

Within the engineering business I have decided it would be useful to have a main “engineering”
directorate, this directorate would contain the individual technical departments to make up
“engineering” as a whole.

3.3.1 Transmission Design and Development

Transmission engineering involves the

complete design and development process of a
transmission system. The services include
design, CAE, testing and calibration.

The scope of a transmission design

department includes concept development, 3D
CAD layout design (supported by CAE
calculations for strength and stiffness), risk
analysis and the generation of production
drawings defining all of the manufacturers
required specifications.

Other benefits from having a transmission

design and development department are:

• Concept and detailed design in 3D CAD

• Multi-Body Analysis (MBA) and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of
o Gear Teeth (profile and micro-geometry layout)
o Complete wheel set, shifting mechanism and synchronization
o Strength of shafts, housing and inner shift mechanism
o Dynamic vibration of complete system
o Noise optimization of transmission components
• Risk analysis processes such as FMEA and ORM
• Extensive tolerance analysis
• Generation of production drawings
• Prototype procurement and assembly

3.3.2 Manufacturing Engineering

Manufacturing engineers design, implement, monitor and maintain manufacturing processes. They
consult with design engineers in order to achieve the most efficient and cost effective way of producing
the highest quality product possible.
Many organisations operate 'cross-functional' teams with the manufacturing engineer involved at every
stage, from design and development, to production, research and after-sales service.
Manufacturing engineers have expertise in a wide range of manufacturing technologies and computer
and management control systems. They apply state-of-the art technology to meet increasingly
competitive business needs.

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Roles vary according to the setting but the range of activities common to most usually includes:

 Organizing, planning, commissioning and maintaining production lines;

 Improving existing operations, incorporating new methods and processes;
 Handling equipment purchase and installation;
 Investigating operational problems affecting production and dealing with them in a systematic,
methodical manner;
 Planning the use of resources and scheduling activities in order to meet an objective;
 Preparing manufacturing documentation required for product manufacture;
 Providing manufacturing data;
 Identifying ways to reduce production costs;
 Working with engineering and other departments to produce cost estimates for new designs;
 Liaising with research and development departments;
 Liaising with suppliers and customers;
 Working with regulatory bodies to ensure safety, environmental and design standards are met;

3.3.3 Systems Engineering

Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary approach and means to enable the realization of successful
systems. It focuses on defining customer needs and required functionality early in the development
cycle, documenting requirements, and then proceeding with design synthesis and system validation
while considering the complete problem:

Systems engineering integrates all the disciplines and specialty groups into a team effort forming a
structured development process that proceeds from concept to production to operation. Systems
engineering considers both the business and the technical needs of all customers with the goal of
providing a quality product that meets the user needs.

3.3.4 Electrical, Avionic, Structures and Rotor Systems Design and Development

These departments would be essential as it is the basis of the product. These departments design from
ground up each part of the aircraft and develop them together with specialists to form the final product
ready for manufacture.

3.3.5 Material Laboratory

In an engineering company a Material Laboratory is essential for testing various materials for specific
purposes. A mat lab can determine various qualities such as:

• Fatigue
• Fracture
• Impact Testing/Charpy & Izod
• Tensile Properties
• Elevated Temperature
• Load
• Compression
• Hardness & Strength
• Flexural & Peel

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 • Tear/Drop Weight
• Elastomeric Material & Rubber
• Modulus of Elasticity
• N-Values
• Reduction, Strength, Yield, Elongation

A mat lab can also be used to develop new alloy materials or composite materials to acquire the desired
strength for the application.

3.3.6 Testing

Similar to the material lab this department tests the actual components either in a non-destructive testing
through the following methods:

• Vibration Testing
• Infrared Thermography
• Acoustic Emission Analysis
• Ultrasonic Imaging
• X-ray Computer Tomography
• Digital Radiography
• Eddy Current Imaging

A testing department can also test by destructive methods such as:

• Stress tests
• Crash tests
• Hardness tests
• Metallographic tests

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3.4 Operations

Operations are the types of departments such as production, planning and control, final assembly and
flight test. I recommend making Operations a main directorate and within it including these sub
departments which I will go into in more detail below.

3.4.1 Production & Final Assembly

Production includes the manufacture of any small part that is not procured through suppliers all the way
through to making structure and final assembly. Below is a picture of a typical Helicopter assembly line
where the aircraft goes through various stages of assembly until it is fully finished.

3.4.2 Planning and Control

Planning and control departments work out plans for the entire production operations; this shows the
individual plans and order of processes that are going to happen. Planning and control go hand in hand
and this links closely with quality because the processes are constantly monitored and updated.

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3.4.3 Logistics

This department is almost split into two sections, firstly there is logistics as in supplying the customer
with the product and the management of the flow of goods, information and other resources between the
point of origin which would be our final assembly lines and the point of consumption which will
Goddard Travel and other customers in order to meet the requirements of consumers. Logistics involves
the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing, material-handling, and
packaging.

The other type logistics is within the company and most importantly production. The purpose of
production logistics is to ensure that each machine and workstation is being fed with the right product in
the right quantity and quality at the right point in time.
The issue is not the transportation itself, but to streamline and control the flow through the value adding
processes and eliminates non-value adding ones. Manufacturing in an existing plant is a constantly
changing process. Machines are exchanged and new ones added, which gives the opportunity to improve
the production logistics system accordingly. Production logistics provides the means to achieve
customer response and capital efficiency.

3.4.4 Flight Test & Civil Airworthiness

Flight test is a branch of aeronautical engineering that develops and gathers data during flight of an
aircraft and then analyses the data to evaluate the flight characteristics of the aircraft and validate its
design, including safety aspects. The flight test phase accomplishes two major tasks: 1) finding and
fixing any aircraft design problems and then 2) verifying and documenting the aircraft capabilities for
government certification or customer acceptance. The flight test phase can range from the test of a single
new system for an existing aircraft to the complete development and certification of a new aircraft.
Therefore the duration of a flight test program can vary from a few weeks to several years.

Because our aircraft will be used for commercial travel we have to have civil airworthiness. There are
typically two categories of flight test programs – commercial and military. Commercial flight testing is
conducted to certify that the aircraft meets all applicable safety and performance requirements of the
government certifying agency. In the US, this is the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA); in Canada,
Transport Canada (TC); in the United Kingdom (UK), the Civil Aviation Authority; and in the European
Union, the Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA).

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Since commercial aircraft development is normally funded by the aircraft manufacturer and/or private
investors, the certifying agency does not have a stake in the commercial success of the aircraft. These
civil agencies are concerned with the aircraft’s safety and that the pilot’s flight manual accurately
reports the aircraft’s performance. The market will determine the aircraft’s suitability to operators.
Normally, the civil certification agency does not get involved in flight testing until the manufacturer has
found and fixed any development issues and is ready to seek certification.

3.5 Procurement

Procurement is the part of the business that is responsible for sourcing bought in parts such as rivets that
are manufactured externally to a specific standard. Procurement ties in with design and operations
significantly for example if a designer suggests using a certain type of anchor nut there may be a cheaper
alternative that can do the same job which procurement may be able to recognise.

The main role in procurement is to source these external parts at the lowest and most cost effective price
or when all else fails it may be cheaper to set up and start manufacturing our own.

Procurement will keep checks on all these bought in items over time to make sure the company is
always getting a good deal and keeping up with technology and may even change suppliers if necessary.
Over time buying from a particular supplier may produce significant industrial relationships between the
companies and this may lead to making better deals all this is controlled within procurement.

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 4. Recommendations

As with any business there are many standards to be adhered to, I have gone through briefly some of the
standards relating to each department in my findings.

Below I have provided a short list of some of the main standards and specifications you will run into in
the various departments of an engineering business, front sheets of some of these Standards can be
found in the appendix.

Quality Assurance

During the 1980s, the concept of “company quality” with the focus on management and people came to
the fore. It was realized that, if all departments approached quality with an open mind, success was
possible if the management led the quality improvement process.

The company-wide quality approach places an emphasis on three aspects:-

1. Elements such as controls, job management, adequate processes, performance and integrity
criteria and identification of records
2. Competence such as knowledge, skills, experience, qualifications
3. Soft elements, such as personnel integrity, confidence, organizational culture, motivation, team
spirit and quality relationships.

The quality of the outputs is at risk if any of these three aspects is deficient in any way.

The approach to quality management is therefore not limited to the manufacturing theatre but can be
applied to any business activity:

• Design work
• Administrative services
• Computer software
• Marketing
• Logistics

This in turn is supported by quality management practices which can include a number of business
systems and which are usually specific to the activities of the business unit concerned.

In manufacturing and construction activities, these business practices can be equated to the models for
quality assurance defined by the International Standards contained in the ISO 9000 series and the
specified Specifications for quality systems.

Research and Development

As for this department research is generally not restricted by standards and specifications, the only
standards that could apply to a R&D department would be health and safety standards applicable to the
activities being carried out.

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Engineering

Firstly I will concentrate on the design areas of engineering (transmission, avionic, electrical, structures,
airframe systems and rotor systems). BS 8888:2002 is one particular standard to keep in mind; this
standard supersedes BS 8888:2000, and specifies enhanced requirements for the preparation of all
forms of technical product document such as any engineering drawings or technical documents.

As well as these standards it is also recommended to know that many bought in parts are made to
specific specifications which should relate to how the products are designed. For example rather than
drilling 5.56mm holes it would be much more cost effective for the machinist and procurement to use a
stand hold at 5.5mm. A 5.56mm hole would be able to be produced but it would cost much more to
purchase a drill piece to that tolerance and also find or make a correct mating piece.

Material Laboratory and Testing, these departments will be testing materials or components to specific
standards which are relative to the component in question each material will come with a set of data to
describe its properties such as strength, fatigue life, thermal expansion coefficient etc.
Testing also involves standards, in this company’s case it could be Civil Aviation standards to
determine that a part is able to withstand a certain impact or won’t deform under extreme temperatures
etc.

Operations

For production and final assembly the main standards and specifications to be aware of would be
general health and safety requirements, the standards to follow which relate to the individual parts the
workers are assembling will be decided by planning and control.

Planning and Control write plans for the production lines; this department should work closely with
quality and quality standards to ensure the product is produced to the correct specifications. Planning
should also look at the standards relating to the individual parts and in the plans should make the
production line aware of any standards they should be following such as the standard to produce the
correct surface finishes or the correct way to weld one part to another to conform with safety or quality.

Logistics standards would include the correct standards to package a certain product and the required
safety or precautions of how a product can be transported.
As for internal logistics such as managing the logistics of the machines within a workshop, the logistic
management should look at the standard and specifications that come with the machine to check what
materials are compatible with the machine.

Standards for Flight test and Civil Airworthiness have already been mentioned in my findings but it is a
legal requirement for all aircraft to pass airworthiness tests, in the UK this is awarded by the Civil
Aviation Authority, the Federal Aviation Administration in the USA and the Joint Aviation Authorities
in the European Union. Flight test will run specific tests to make sure various factors of the aircraft
conform to the specifications outlines by these authorities.

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4. Conclusions

As a final word to conclude my report, I feel this is an in-depth description of all the main departments
required to run an engineering business under the current situation of the Goddard Corporation.

As with any business the world is constantly changing and as I’m sure you are aware so will the
engineering business. Departments will arise and fall as new technology, ideas, political situations and
government legislation presents itself.

Helicopter commercial travel is a business opportunity that is ready to be explored and using the correct
business layout as I have suggested together with these departments all relating and working together
efficiently it can be a great success.

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References

Books

Quality engineering handbook, Keller, Paul A.& Pyzdek, Thomas

Non Destructive Testing Brochure - EMPA

Internet Pages

Report Writing - http://www.mdx.ac.uk/WWW/STUDY/Komba.htm#Contents

The Times Online - http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/theory/

Prospects – www.prospects.ac.uk

International Council of Systems Engineering - http://www.incose.org

Destructive Testing - http://www.answers.com/topic/destructive-testing

Planning and Control - http://accel-team.com/

Procurement - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procurement

OGC Procurement - http://www.ogc.gov.uk/

Work Related Research

AgustaWestland Organisational Structure

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