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About Tauber Institute Team Projects
In today's competitive world, the industry needs a new kind of leader - someone who can operate as a specialist, but also understand and manage the larger scope of operations - someone who can lead on the plant floor and in the boardroom. Industry needs highly-capable, custom-trained talent, and the Tauber Institute creates these special individuals. Team Projects are your way of capitalizing on their abilities and experiences.
The comprehensive information below addresses the importance of team projects in your organization and gives you the necessary tools to participate in this valuable program.
Tauber staff can help you with an application for a Team Project. For more information about Tauber Team Projects, please contact Al Woodliff, at (734) 763-4160 or woodliff@umich.edu
Team Project Timeline
Frequently Asked Questions |
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What are Tauber Institute Team Projects?
Tauber Institute Team Projects are 14-week multidisciplinary, collaborative internships during which students work on operations or manufacturing issues to potentially earn or save sponsoring companies millions of dollars. In these custom opportunities, students demonstrate their skills to a very demanding audience, and show they can outperform expectations.
Unlike traditional internships, students prepare for Team Projects during the fall and winter semesters by participating in a development program consisting of communications training and project management skills. Tauber students also meet with a team building and workplace consultant to recognize communication styles within the group and identify potential strengths and weaknesses. Strategies are then developed to maximize a team's effectiveness. As a result, students arrive at the project site as a cohesive team prepared to focus solely on the project and the end result.
Tauber Institute teams are also supported by University of Michigan faculty. Advisors from both the College of Engineering and Business School - two leading experts in their fields - oversee the projects and add their knowledge base. Faculty advisors consult regularly with students and make on-site visits to review their progress firsthand.
How do companies benefit each year?
Return on Investment / High Impact Project Results
Team Projects consist of highly visible operations-related challenges with both engineering and business components. A successful team project is one which could add value to your organization, potentially resulting in a significant return on your company's investment. When working with companies to design and select quality projects, the Tauber Institute actively seeks opportunities for students to improve a company's competitive position. Given the opportunity to perform, Tauber students consistently exceed expectations and produce substantive added value over the course of the project and into the future.
Early Recruiting Opportunities
Team Projects help with your recruiting efforts. First, companies are given the chance to present their project proposals and company histories to exceptionally qualified students. This presents a very controlled recruiting environment. Once a student team has been assembled based on the preferences of both students and companies, team projects provide a realistic evaluation period.
Another way we improve your recruiting efforts is by providing numerous opportunities to network with the entire pool of Tauber students. Tauber affiliates gain access to a group of highly talented candidates who are focused on operations-related careers. Most Tauber graduates accept jobs with past or present project sponsors and almost all of them accept jobs with companies involved in Tauber activities.
LeadershipAdvantagesm Program
Your company would also benefit from the Tauber Institute's LeadershipAdvantage Program - the most comprehensive team leadership model among peer universities. The Tauber Institute recognizes professional success is as much about interpersonal leadership skills as it is about individual and academic achievement. All Tauber students participate in ongoing leadership and teamwork training designed to increase workplace performance. Specialized modules that make up Tauber's LeadershipAdvantage Program develop leaders in operations through professional skills assessments, team dynamics training, supply chain modules, lean manufacturing workshops, and lectures that include leveraging effective business relationships, communication skills, project management, and decision-making.
Students complete an extensive
project
timeline for Ford Motor Company.
Students re-engineer container
operations
for General Motors Corporation.
Projects range from high-level strategic analyses, to complex supply chain challenges, to detailed plant layout and work flow issues for a specific product line. The Tauber Team Project Manager is available to assist sponsors in scoping a project.
Specific project deliverables are
agreed upon in advance by the host company and the Tauber Institute. Examples
include:
Supply chain implementation plan
Business unit manufacturing plan
Material handling redesign
New product/process development strategy
Product complexity analysis
Lean manufacturing implementation
Plant floor layout
Manufacturing process design
Manufacturing site strategic assessment
What individuals constitute a project team?
Each project ideally consists of two or three students, typically
from different Participating Programs, and two faculty members - one from the
College of Engineering and another from the Ross School of Business.
Sponsor representatives supporting this team include a project supervisor who maintains close contact with students, a project champion from senior management and a human resources representative to facilitate summer and possible future employment.
Where do projects take place?
Student teams work at the sponsor's site for the duration of
the project. The host firm provides necessary computer and
office equipment along with security access.
When do projects take place?
Teams are on-site from early May through August, but
preparations begin as early as October. Companies interested
in sponsoring a Team Project should submit applications by
the beginning of November.
Tauber Institute Participation Fees
Sponsor Fee - $30,000 per project which covers the cost of project administration, faculty involvement and team leadership training. (Smaller potential sponsors who are unable to afford this fee are encouraged to submit a project proposal noting their company would like to apply for a fee reduction.)
Project Expenses - The sponsoring firm pays for student expenses associated with the initial project team meeting (e.g., travel and lodging). This meeting is conducted with students on-site, usually during March or April.
For project sites outside of Southeast Michigan, it is generally expected that student relocation expenses are the responsibility of the sponsoring firm. Housing allowances are permitted and recommended especially in areas with high costs of living. The provision of a vehicle during the summer is also permissible. These additional forms of compensation can be bundled in with salaries, and must be presented to students in the January presentations.
Student Salaries - The sponsoring firm hires Tauber students as summer employees. The following are the recommended weekly student salaries for the summer of 2011.
Companies may choose to offer weekly salaries less than the proposed ranges based on internal company guidelines and/or which reflect market factors in a particular area. Should a company choose to compensate less than the salary range, the company is requested to discuss the proposed salary range with the Tauber Associate Director of Industry Relations at the time of submission.
$1575 - $1750/wk
Graduate students with five or more years of full-time work
experience
$1275 - $1450/wk
Graduate students with more than two, but less than five
years of full-time work experience
$1000 - $ 1175/wk
Graduate students with less than two years of full-time work
experience, including EGL students entering their fifth year
of study.
$825 - $975/wk
Undergraduate students
You should also be aware of the
following:
If your organization regularly pays summer interns at
a level higher than the rates cited above, please contact
the Tauber Institute prior to the January presentations to discuss whether
Tauber can accept these higher levels of compensation.
The Tauber Institute does not permit a sponsor to offer a "signing bonus" as an incentive for students to select its project. (Signing bonuses related to permanent job offers made at the end of the internship are permitted and not within the purview of Tauber's internship compensation policies.)
Please contact the Tauber Institute if you have questions regarding project fees.
October - November
Potential sponsors identify a corporate champion, complete
the Team Project Submission Form, and submit initial project
ideas to the Tauber Institute.
November - December
Potential sponsors meet with Tauber representatives to
discuss potential projects and define project scope and
deliveries.
January
Potential sponsors review Tauber student resumes and present
final project proposal(s) to students on campus.
February
Potential sponsors conduct student interviews on campus.
Note: Both students and corporate applicants rate one
another based on these interviews.
March
Tauber matches project sponsors with student teams based on
mutually expressed preferences. Tauber assigns faculty advisors
at this time.
April
Teams meet at company sites to complete initial project
planning.
May - August
Students confront operations & manufacturing issues for sponsor
companies in a 14-week project time frame.
September
Corporate sponsors, faculty advisors and students meet in
Ann Arbor for project presentations at an all-day event called Spotlight!. Top performing students
are awarded scholarships. Recruiting opportunities are abundant.
Spotlight! Team Project Showcase and Scholarship Competition
Upon project completion, all teams return to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to compete in the annual Spotlight! event. Each team presents its project results to a large audience of corporate representatives, students, alumni and faculty. Judges from industry evaluate projects on the basis of scope, implementation, impact, overall presentation skills and other criteria to determine the winners.
Drawing diverse attention from industry, this event showcases innovative operations and manufacturing solutions that can potentially save corporations millions of dollars. Spotlight! offers an excellent opportunity to establish relationships with students, expand a corporation's university presence and gain exposure to many new ideas in operations.
(L to R): Roman Kapuscinski, Lawrence Seiford, Robert Allen, Matt Junker, Stephanie Kuo (EGL BSE Mechanical Engineering/MSE Industrial and Operations Engineering), Joel Tauber, Doug Essenmacher, Katelyn Bevier (EGL BSE/MSE Industrial and Operations Engineering), John McGill, Lisa Pawlik, Al Woodliff, and Luis Guzman
The BorgWarner Thermal Systems team took first place in Spotlight! 2011 with Tauber students Katelyn Bevier (EGL BSE/MSE Mechanical Engineering) and Stephanie Kuo (EGL BSE/MSE Industrial and Operations Engineering).
