Monday 10 June

This Chapter starts by describing, on the basis of more than 20 interviews, an MBA student’s first attempt to document, for a newly appointed CEO of a manufacturing company, what happens with the company’s products from the beginning of their life to the end of their life. The Chapter continues with additional interviews carried out at the company’s main site in South Germany. Those interviewed include representatives of the Production Preparation, Supply Chain, Product Quality, New Ventures, Product Costing, IS Operations, ERP, Business Analysis and After-Sales Groups. Each interviewee explains their product-related activities and the artefacts such as parts, data and documents that they use in the activity. They also outline the IS systems they use. In addition, they relate any product-related issues they have in the activity, as well as making improvement suggestions.