Syllabus

Course Description:

MFET 4750 - Master Planning of Resources is part of the curriculum of APICS, the educational society for resource management. It is the second in a series of five certification preparation courses. As such, it is not designed for entry-level students.

Course Credit Hours - 2 semester hours.

Instructor:

Dan Markosian, CFPIM

Required Texts:

Students are required to purchase the following materials for this class. You may call APICS at 1-800-444-2742 or visit their web site at www.apics.org . Please have your membership number or your company's membership number available. If you do not have a membership number, you will purchase the materials at the non-member rate. Please have a credit card available when you place your order. Materials are generally shipped within 24 hours of order placement and arrive 5-7 workdays later. 2-day shipping is available for an additional fee.

Master Planning of Resources Participant Workbook

APICS stock #09124

Vollmann, Berry & Whybark "Manufacturing Planning and Control Systems"

APICS stock #03406

Certification-test preparation is a challenging endeavor. Taken alone, the Participant Workbook cannot sufficiently prepare you for the test. However, it is an excellent outline and introduction to the concepts and techniques that cover the scope of the subject. In contrast, the other required text, hereafter referred to as Vollmann, provides in-depth coverage. Unfortunately, in some instances it goes too far.

For this online course, I've written six essays--which in keeping with the medium, I refer to as pages--that attempt to bridge the gap between the workbook and Vollmann. I occasionally criticize the references. This I do to encourage you to critically evaluate the subject matter. Nevertheless, understand that I have the utmost respect for the authors of the workbook and Vollmann and endorse both as excellent references.

Grading:

Seven session performance check, a take-home exercise from session 2, a case scenario from session 5, five problems pages and a final exam will be used for evaluation and will be scored as follows:

Grades will be awarded on a percentage basis per Weber State University policy as follows:

The problems pages utilize web forms that when submitted end up in a web portfolio accessible to you and your instructor.

Typically, you enter answers in either an one-line box or a scrolling box. In some instances, your answers will be tables or hierarchy trees.

For example, consider the following table:

Here you are given two one-line boxes. You can satisfy the question with:

and

Here you are given one scroll box. You can satisfy the question with:

To represent a hierarchy tree, mimic the following:

Note that the commas on the third line help associate Purchasing as falling under the Finance VP.

As a rule, to aid interpretation make your shorthand answers in the one-line and scroll boxes as intuitive as possible. I will certainly give you the benefit of the doubt when grading your submissions.

Sequence of Study and Navigation

The study sequence is outlined on the Assignments page. You may use it to navigate through the course or you may use the links provided in the Directory.

Time Limits

The student is expected to complete the course within 3 calendar months. Students who have been successful in other distance learning situations pace themselves through the course. The temptation to delay starting the course is great, and students have failed because they do not have enough time to recover at the end of their allotted time.

Please note the monthly targets provided on the Assignments page.

Grade Notification

Grades will be automatically sent to each student at the end of each semester. If a grade is needed sooner than the end of the semester, please contact Kathy Rivera at krivera@weber.edu , and she will provide a certified grade report which can be used for company reimbursement.

WebPortfolio

WebPortfolio is designed as a private and secure communication method between the student and the instructor. Assignments are submitted directly to the student's portfolio. Any editing the instructor does also appears in the student's portfolio. Both the student and instructor may leave messages to each other in the portfolio.

Printing Pages

Since you may find it easier to study printed copies of the material, feel free to print--for your personal use--any of the web pages in this course. In doing so, I suggest you set the page properties to draft quality.