ASSESSED COURSEWORK CASE: Delwarca Software Remote Support Unit

This case involves using specialised discrete event simulation software to model the flow of calls through a support service unit. The management goal is to understand the causes of problems and investigate possible call flow redesign options.

Submission requirements: Deadline: Thursday March 13th 2014
Individual management report [15% of the marks for the Unit]
Technical report/appendices + computer files (one per team) [20% of the marks for the Unit]
Team presentations [15% of the marks for the Unit]
See later for more detail.

Introduction

Delwarca’s Remote Support unit is under pressure due to inefficiencies and long client wait times. You will model the flow of calls through the Remote Support Unit using the simulation software package Simul8 which is available on the MBS networks, and which you may download and install on your own computers.

This coursework project is intended to expose you to a reasonably realistic simulation project, state of the art discrete-event simulation software, and the experience of working in a project team.

Work Style and Submission:

You will work on the case in teams. You are expected to collaborate with the others in the team on modelling and analysis and share a write up of these in a technical report (or technical appendices) for submission. You must also write on your own a personal summary in the form of a short management report – beware of plagiarism in this.

Individual Management Report
This must be your individual unaided explanation of what you did and what you recommend. The aim here is to imagine you are a consultant writing the report for the clients. They will not have a great deal of time to read and digest your report, so it should clearly and concisely present what they will want to know: important recommended actions and predicted consequences, with only enough technical detail to have a flavour of how you have done the work and be reasonably convinced in your findings.
Reports should be fairly short1, clear and concise, covering brief explanation of the problem, modelling, solution and implications, and consideration of the issues which arise. The style should be ‘snappy’ and bullet points preferred to long blocks of prose. The report should not be heavily theoretical, but you should make it clear you understand and have considered any issues and assumptions that arise. Rather than including technical details and large volumes of data, there should be clear reference to specific points in the technical report/appendices where the further detail or supporting data or analysis can be found. Academic referencing should be avoided. If you feel theoretical or academic material are needed these should be confined to appendices. Try to use graphs and smallish tables, rather than including lots of numbers in amongst text.

Suggested structure: title page report identification: title, who the report was prepared for, author, date etc. executive summary page one paragraph very briefly outlining the problem, the approach, highlight the main results and their implications for the client, main recommendations for action contents list of sections of report, structured with a numbering system, and their page numbers introduction background to the project, problem description etc. outline of the report, explaining structure modelling outline of alternative approaches, approaches chosen, reason for choice problem formulation and assumptions involved data collection and any issues raised details of model built and brief explanation solution solution techniques used - brief explanation of how they work, and any software used brief discussion of solution and assumptions involved - validity etc. conclusions and recommendations implications of the results recommended courses of action for clients any suggestions for further work - data collection,