Principles in Engineering
Assignment 1: Business Activities and Trade Considerations
Learning Aim A: Examine business functions and trade considerations that help engineering
organisations thrive.
A written report detailing how key business activities and trade considerations influence an
engineering organisation and how these can be adopted to create competitive advantage, based on a
case study for a given engineering organisation.
,Contents
Task 1: Different Business Functions in Rolls-Royce 2
Manufacturing of Products or Delivering Services 3
Research and development 3
Design 3
Manufacturing Stage 3
Materials Supply and Control Function 3
The Production Planning and Control Function 3
Maintenance 3
Project Planning and Management 4
Quality Assurance 4
Supply Chain Management 4
Marketing and Sales 5
Customer Relation/Support 5
Resource Management 6
Staff Recruitment 6
Staff Management 6
Finance 6
Task 2: Tendering and Contracting in Rolls-Royce 7
Tendering 7
What is a Tender? 7
Identifying the Right Contracts 7
Expressing Interest 7
Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) 8
Invitation to Tender (ITT) 8
How Tendering Impacts on Trade Consideration 8
Contract Types 8
Fixed-Price Contracts 9
Cost-Reimbursable Contracts 9
(T&M) Contracts 9
How Contracting Impacts on Trade Considerations 10
Influence of Tendering and Contracting on Rolls-Royce 10
Task 3: Intellectual Property Rights 10
Influence of Intellectual Property Rights 10
Competitive Advantages with Intellectual Property Rights 11
Task 4: Evaluating Activities, Trade Considerations and Intellectual Property Rights 11
Business Functions Contributing to the Competitiveness of a Business 11
Trade Considerations 13
Terms 13
Warranties 13
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, Consequences of Non-Performance 13
Documentation 13
Tender Documentation 13
Briefing Documentation 14
Project Brief Documentation 14
Future Strategic Plans 14
Cost Leadership 14
Differentiation Focus 14
Differentiation Leadership 15
Protecting Intellectual Property 15
Outsourcing to Manage Costs 15
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