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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