BE281 Data-Driven Decision Making Report Assignment Questions | UOE

BE281 Assessment (Individual Report) Tasks    

Question 1 

A small workshop produces two styles of tables: stye 1 ( x1 ) and table style 2 ( x2 ). The production process of these two styles of tables consists of three steps: assembling, painting and finishing. Every unit of table style 1 requires 2 hours of assembling, 1 hour of painting and 8 hours of finishing. Every unit of table style 2 requires 1 hours of assembling and 4 hours of finishing. Total production costs are £4 for table type style 1 and £2 for table style 2. The time available for assembling is more than 10 hours, for painting is more than 2 hours however for finishing it is less than 80 hours. The company’s goal is to minimise the total costs of production.

The following linear programming model represents this case

x1 : represents the number of table style 1 produced
x2 : represents the number of table style 2 produced

The company wants to minimise the total costs of production. Considering this objective, determine how many tables of each style the company should produce. 

In order to do so:

a.Use the graphical method to find the optimum product mix. Explain your manual solution method, include details, present obtained results, and discuss the optimum solution. (10 marks)

b.Use Excel solver to find the optimum product mix. Explain the Excel solution method in detail, include the details of the spreadsheet model, present and discuss the optimum solution obtained. Remember to submit your Excel file. (20 marks)

c.Prepare a brief report (150-200 words) for the management of the company. Outline all your findings from both methods (Graphical method results and excel Solver findings), suggest the best course of action and highlight the benefits of your solution(s). (10 marks)

Question 2

A British-based manufacturing company manufactures Product A in two of its factories in the country. The factories are located in Hull and Exeter. The production capacity for each factory over the next period is presented in Table 1:

Table 1

The company distributes this product through three distribution centres located in Swansea, Sheffield, and Edinburgh. The next period demand forecast for each of these distribution centres is presented in Table 2:

Table 2

The transportation cost (£) of moving every unit of product from each origin to each destination is presented in Table 3:

Table 3

Destination 

Given the available data for the company in discussion:

Formulate the linear programming model that can be used to determine a plan for minimising the total distribution costs and explain every step of the modelling process. Explain the modelling process in full; define and explain the variables, constraints and the objective function. (30 marks)

Note: formulating the linear programming model is sufficient for this question, you do not need to solve the formulated model.

Question 3

A supermarket has recorded sales for two different products (A and B) in the past 30 months. The data is provided in 

Q3-SalesData.2425.xlsx file, available on Moodle under: BE281>Assessment>Data Files.
The manager of this supermarket would like to have the forecasts for the next three months for these two products.
a.Use Single Exponential Smoothing (SES) to forecast the sales for the next three month. Design your own spreadsheet model for this purpose and explain your approach in detail. (10 marks)
b.Present and thoroughly analyse the graphical representation of your data and explain what it shows in detail. (10 marks)
c.Write a brief report (100-150 words) for the supermarket manager and suggest a course of action. (10 marks)

Task Specific Guidance

Please note that:

• You must submit a 2,000-word individual report in electronic format (preferably in PDF format) via FASER.
• This assessment represents 100% of the overall module mark. Please do NOT exceed the word limit.
• Carefully read and answer all questions under Question 1, Question 2,and 3 by detailing all the required aspects.
• You are advised to use Excel Data Analysis tool, Excel data visualisation, and spreadsheet modelling features to answer the numerical questions when applicable. Include all screenshots from your Excel model details (e.g., functions, screenshots) in the main body of the report. You can also submit your Excel file.
• All numerical and graphical analysis should be included in this document (Individual Report). Please include high resolution and clear graphs, figures, and charts. Make sure all graphs, charts, tables, and figures have legends and captions and are properly referred to in the main body of your report.
• This individual report must be well-referenced using Harvard referencing style where necessary. Please carefully read the Academic Office and Citation guideline provided under General Guideline in this document.

Assessment (Individual Report) Structure Guidelines    

Your individual report should be organised as follows:

• Title Page must be included. This page should outline
• i) the type of report submitted,
  ii) module name/number, iii) the name of the module leader, iv) student registration number, and v) the date of submission.
• Executive summary is not required.
• Abstract is not required.
• Table of Content is required. All sections headings and subheadings with corresponding pages must be included.
• List of figures is required including titles of all figures presented in the individual report with corresponding page numbers should be included.
• List of tables is required including titles of all tables presented in the report with corresponding page numbers should be included.
• Main body of the Individual Report:
  oPlease clearly mention the task/question number/name, include your answer and all relevant figures/graphs/charts/functions required.
  o    You should include your main points, arguments, and any diagrams, graphs, tables, etc. here.
  oBear in mind your report must be well referenced. Please carefully read the Referencing and Academic Offence Guidelines provided in this document and ensure all the instructions are followed.
  oYou can use relevant and reliable sources (books, articles, reliable online sources, company, or government reports/documents, etc.). You can also use the lecture notes and reference them like any other secondary resource.
  oYou can use subheadings if you wish.
• Conclusions – is not needed.
• Appendices – If necessary, secondary information table or summary of spreadsheet models and the model results can be presented as appendix.

Marking Scheme

The EBS Making Scheme can be found on Moodle under BE281>Assessment. These criteria will be used to mark your work and will be used to support the electronic feedback you receive on your marked assignment. Before submission, check that you have tried to meet the requirements of the higher-grade bands to the best of your ability. Please note that the marking process involves academic judgement and interpretation within the marking criteria.

Appendix- Assessment criteria

These criteria are intended to help you understand how your work will be assessed. They describe different levels of performance of a given criteria. Criteria are not weighted equally, and the marking process involves academic judgement and interpretation within the marking criteria.

The grades between Pass and Very Good should be considered as different levels of performance within the normal bounds of the module. The Exceptional and Outstanding categories allow for students who, in addition to fulfilling the Excellent requirements, perform at a superior level beyond the normal boundaries of the module and demonstrate intellectual creativity, originality and innovation.

The tailored Assessment Criteria for this module can be found on Moodle under BE281>Assessment.