Management Systems Engineering Program
An Introduction

Management Systems Engineering (MSE) is the application of engineering principles to problems involving the design and operation of management systems throughout the enterprise.

Public, private, and government organizations are being forced to operate in an environment that is characterized by intense competition, constant change, and a strong customer focus. UPLB is not exempted from that trend. As the premier state university, it must not only train the students in the basics of their field but ensure that these students will be at the forefront of improvement initiatives that would benefit the national economy in the future through research and development. As such, it is imperative that they be equipped with the most advanced tools that integrate technology and industrial engineering.

UPLB, in its efforts to become a world-class university, must focus both on its core functions (i.e. academic, research, and extension functions) and support functions specifically, in improving its systems and administrative processes. This is also true for other types of organizations as they pursue industry leadership and operational excellence.

In order to prosper, or even to survive, in this environment, organizations are undergoing a major shift in their thinking and practice – they are focusing on institution/enterprise-wide, customer-driven processes and support functions in order to enhance their competitive position in terms of cost, quality, and schedule. In order to meet these challenges, new approaches and new tools are needed to transform these organizations. Davenport has termed the integration of two of these tools – information technology and business process redesign – as the “new industrial engineering.” This is one example of the need to apply industrial engineering skills beyond manufacturing. Considering today’s business environment and the widespread process movement, there is a strong need in all sectors and at all levels of the economy to apply engineering principles throughout the enterprise.

Background

A management system is the framework of processes and procedures used to ensure that an organization can fulfill all tasks required to achieve its objectives. It is made up of people interacting with other people and machines that, together, set the goals and objectives, outline the strategies and tactics, and develop the plans, schedules, and necessary controls to run an organization. For instance, an environmental management system enables organizations to improve their environmental performance through a process of continuous improvement. An oversimplification is “Plan, Do, Check, Act”. A more complete system would include accountability (an assignment of personal responsibility) and a schedule for activities to be completed, as well as auditing tools to implement corrective actions in addition to scheduled activities, creating an upward spiral of continuous improvement. Also as in the aforementioned management system, an occupational health and safety management system (OHSMS) enables an organization to control its occupational health and safety risks and to improve its performance by means of continuous improvement.

A critical success element of the management system is the management systems standards. Management system standards provide a model to follow in setting up and operating a management system. This model incorporates the features on which experts in the field have reached a consensus as being the international state of the art. World-class management system standards exist to provide guidance to organizations on the creation of these business processes. These cover all aspects of business management, including the management of Quality, Occupational Health, and Safety, Environment, Information Technology, Finance, etc. Examples of management system standards include ISO 9001 Quality Management, ISO 14001 Environmental Management, ISO/IEC 27001 Information Security Management, SA8000 Social Accountability.

Mission

The mission of the MSEP focus area is to play a major role in meeting the public, private, and government organization needs to be described above in developing and implementing the management systems needed to provide for the timely delivery of high-quality, cost-effective output (i.e. products and/or services).

Vision

A self-sustaining program that continuously helps UPLB, its mother unit, in improving its management systems, in providing an avenue for students to conduct research, and in conducting research extensions and projects that may help improve the condition of the general public.

Academic Relations

Course offerings should support research focus areas, just as research focus areas should support the curriculum. The department currently offers a concentration in Management Systems Engineering at the undergraduate level. The following defines the current course offerings that are directly related to the focus area, as well as those under consideration for development. Portions of these courses can be developed into short courses for industry.

The current industrial engineering courses that are directly related to MSE include:

Engineering Administration
Engineering Economics
Enterprise Systems Engineering
Process Improvement Engineering
Project Management

Split-level courses that are under consideration for development in support of MSE’s mission:

SAP (Systems Application and Products)
Cost Analysis and Management
Decision Support Systems
Logistics Analysis
Information Systems for Engineers

Accomplished Research and Activities

Since it has been approved and established in 2012, the Management Systems Engineering Program has successfully finished the following research and activities:

Title	Involvement	Funding Agency
Efficiency Improvement of the Inventory System through Plant Layout Optimization and Web-Based Inventory System Development of Supply and Property Management Office of the University of the Philippines Los Banos	Haerold Dean Z. Layaoen (Project Coordinator OVCA-IED-SPMO) Clarissa M. Pesigan (Project Leader of OVCA-SPMO Project)	UPLB
Establishment of Incoming Quality Control Inspection System for Common Use Supplies in SPMO, UPLB	Haerold Dean Z. Layaoen (Project Coordinator OVCA-IED-SPMO) Clarissa M. Pesigan (Project Leader of OVCA-SPMO)	UPLB
Energy Audit in the Rice Supply Chain in Region IVA Through Value Analysis	Diana Marie R. De Silva (Project Leader)	DA- RFUIVA
Establishment of a Centralized Warehouse for the Construction, Electrical and Mechanical Supplies Used in Maintenance and Rehabilitation Projects in UPLB College, Laguna	Haerold Dean Z. Layaoen (Project Coordinator) Clarissa M. Pesigan (Project Leader) Mark Lester G. Teodoro (Study Leader)	OVCPD
Establishment of a Supplier Database and Performance Evaluation System through Systems Analysis and Design at SPMO, UPLB, College, Laguna	Haerold Dean Z. Layaoen (Project Coordinator) Clarissa M. Pesigan (Project Leader) Sharl Anne Mari R. Resurrecion (Study Leader)	OVCA
Establishment of an Incoming Quality Control System for Common-Use Supplies at SPMO, UPLB	Haerold Dean Z. Layaoen (Project Coordinator) Clarissa M. Pesigan (Project Leader) Sharl Anne Mari R. Resurrecion (Study Leader)	OVCA
Improvement of the Document Process Flow of the UPLB Cashier’s Office through Establishing Time Standards, Elimination of Non-Value Adding Non-Essential Activities, and Providing Layout Enhancements	Dr. Josefa Angelie D. Revilla  (Study Leader) Haerold Dean Z. Layaoen (Co-Leader)	UPLB
Systems Evaluation and Improvement through Process Streamlining and Facility Layout Analysis of the UPLB Accounting and Cashier’s Office	Clarissa M. Pesigan (Study Leader) Haerold Dean Z. Layaoen (Co-Leader)	UPLB