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Production Methods - Lesson Plan: 2 x 1 hour lessons

A series of 'off the shelf' lesson plans and resources for use in the classroom. These lessons deal with Production Methods and are relevant to the following specifications:

• AQA: Module 2; 11.4, 11.5, 11.6
• Edexcel: Unit 2, Section 5
• OCR: Module 2873

Aim:

These lessons are aimed at pulling together a number of concepts relating to production and organisation against the background of a case study of the Nissan car plant in Sunderland in the north east of England.

The Activity makes use of the link that Biz/ed has with the Times 100 series of case studies - a resource well worth exploring further. These are available through our Company Info section. This lesson uses the Nissan case study [PDF, 255 KB].

The lessons are fairly straight forward - the students need to read the information provided by the case study. We have added some study skills hints to give students direction in building their understanding rather than merely completing the task. The aim is to try to influence the approach to learning by students.

A series of questions provide guidance on the key points to be covered and opportunities to expand students' thinking. Questions 2 and 3 seek to take the student a little further into the issues covered, targeting higher order skills.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the lessons, students should understand the following:

• The different methods of production - batch, flow, cell and job
• How to relate these concepts to different production contexts
• The multiple factors necessary to develop productive and efficient plants - motivation, leadership, planning, layout, resource access, supply chain issues, etc.
• The external factors that influence the extent to which a firm can be competitive in world markets

Resources:

• PowerPoint Presentation - Production Methods & Kaizen [756 KB] (basic version also available for quicker download [120 KB])
• Mind Map - Production Methods & Kaizen
• Activity - Production Methods
• PCs to access Times 100 case study - the hard copy can be used as an alternative
• Projector, PC and whiteboard for the Presentation
• Some large sheets of paper and marker pens for students to sketch production lines on

Lesson Structure:

Lesson 1

1. Begin by asking students (in pairs or groups of no more than three) to sketch out how they think the following items are manufactured:
   1. Bread
   2. Mars bars
   3. A DVD
   4. Bottled beer
   5. A new road bridge
   The aim is to get students to visualise the series of processes that products need to go through in the production process. (15 minutes)
2. Ask each group to briefly explain their thinking for each product - draw out key points and put them on the board or another sheet of paper for later reference. (15 minutes)
3. Discuss the outcomes of the student activity leading into the Presentation on production methods. The slides have been designed to include a number of images to help students visualise the manufacturing environment. (Any opportunities to visit local manufacturing plants are always useful in helping to further develop this awareness.) (25 minutes)
4. Review main outcomes of the lesson. (5 minutes)

Lesson 2

1. Provide a short overview of the Activity to be undertaken during the lesson. (5 minutes)
2. The Activity tasks can be printed out to give to students. (Task 3 can be kept back for homework.) Set students on task - remind them to pay close attention to the 'Study Skills Hints' provided in the Activity. (40 minutes)
3. Spend a short time asking students for their comments on the issues covered - linking this with the learning objectives - through a question and answer session. (10 minutes)
4. Review outcome of the lessons and set task 3 for homework. (5 minutes)