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PRESENTATION   

The Production Engineering emerged at UFPB through the stricto sensu graduate program starting in 1975 as the first program in this engineering modality to be created outside of the Southern-Southeastern regions of Brazil.  Besides representing the foundation stone for the creation of the undergraduate programs in Mechanic Production Engineering (1998) and Production Engineering (2009) at UFPB, the graduate program has provided longlasting contributions to such an area in the country, training an expressive number of researchers that now compose the staff of teaching and research institutions, private companies, governmental bodies, and non-governmental organizations’.

The knowledge accumulated throughout the years enabled the current setting of the Graduate Program in Production Systems Engineering (PPGEPS in the Portuguese initials) of UFPB, a program aligned with the current overview of the world research in this area, but aware of the needs of its regional context. Before the needs of adaptation to the current demands and the design of its future path, PPGEPS carries out periodically a process of strategic planning, which is guided by the mission and vision described below:

• Mission: “To form a qualified staff to develop research and sustainable innovation in Production Engineering with a relevant contribution to society”.
• Vision: “To be recognized as an excellent academic program in the Northeast region, training professionals with systemic reasoning and versatility in the various fields of Production Engineering.”

Although they represent grounds for the definition of improvement goals, the PPGEPS’ mission and vision are also related to its objectives of permanent character:

• To form qualified masters to work at academic promotion activities (teaching), production (research), and application (extension) of the Production Engineering knowledge at teaching and research institutions, and at the production sectors of goods and services;
• To qualify professionals through solid technical-scientific grounds, developing capacities and skills, critical view, and creative and innovative spirit that allow the identification of relevant problems, and the analysis and development of efficient solutions in Production Engineering in the sustainable development context;
• To promote the improvement of undergraduate teaching through the integration of graduate students with undergraduate students in Production Engineering and the involvement of undergraduate students in Scientific Initiation projects linked to the research activities of the program;
• To develop research projects that contribute to the progress of Production Engineering as knowledge fields, and that may bring integrating, sustainable, and innovative solutions to problems that Production Engineering can be applied, considering the need of development of the Northeast;
• To consolidate the important historical role of UFPB in the development of Production Engineering in Brazil as well as to keep the institution as a reference point in the field in Northeast.

CONCENTRATION AREAS

Production Systems

It emphasizes the systemic character of Production Engineering, in which different sub-systems are related to reaching common goals. The program’s systemic character is aligned to an outstanding characteristic of PPGEPS, which is transversality and interdisciplinarity of the academic staff. In this sense, almost every sub-areas defined by the Brazilian Association of Production Engineering (ABEPRO) are covered by the research carried out in the program’s environment, connected by the systemic vision advocated by the program. Therefore, the research problems approached are closer to the challenges found in the production sector, which increasingly needs integrative approaches that cross the frontiers of traditional knowledge. As a consequence, it is not uncommon to find research in PPGEPS approaching, for example, problems of supply chains under the financial perspective, optimization methods applied to corporate sustainability issues, or even problems of production management under the perspective of human factors.

 

LINE OF RESEARCH

Integrative Management of Production Systems

This line of research covers subjects related to projecting, modeling, analysis, and improvement of production systems, exploring from the strategic aspects to the evaluation of performance, either in production unities or in supply chains, integrating the environment, work, and society. The concept of systemic integration demonstrates the valuation of the synergy between the fields of Production Engineering, a philosophy of work followed by the program’s professors.

The nature of the research projects developed by the academic staff is in line with the line of research, reflected in work linked to the application to the context real production systems, either in the production of services, belonging to the public, private, or organizations with no profitable purposes. The different carried out projects often approach transversal subjects, which demand integration and interdisciplinarity for the resolution of problems. On the other side, the courses and the academic activities were conceived to support the integrative vision advocated by the research line.

EGRESS' PROFILE

The systemic and integrative character of PPGEPS enables the practice of interdisciplinarity within the concentration areas of Production Systems. The study of subjects that arise from the context of production systems (e.g., quality, operations management, corporate ergonomics, and sustainability) develop specific competencies in the egress. However, the systemic thinking encouraged throughout the whole program allows the formation of a professional capable of creating connections among the various areas of Production Engineering, between technology and processes, and technical and social aspects of a production system.

After the conclusion of the master program, the egress will be capable of carrying out research in Production Engineering, analyzing the state-of-art, structuring methodological procedures, collecting and analyzing data, and elaboration of texts of scientific promotion. The methodological education will enable the egress to guide the final thesis in the undergraduate and/or specialization level programs. As for the didactical-pedagogical formation, performed in the Teaching Internship practice, will enable them to work as professors at higher education institutions. Besides, at the end of the program, the egresses will also have expanded their systemic vision for the analysis and resolution of real problems, both through carrying out research and the philosophy of the program’s work, and through the interaction with the course colleagues in Research Seminars (I, II, and III). These seminars propose to encourage group learning and collaboration among researchers, in which the students from different stages in the program analyze the work of colleagues and seek synergy among themselves.

In this sense, the deepening of knowledge in Production Engineering, added by the development of the critical analysis capacity and scientific reasoning, may provide the egresses with a relevant particularity. This contributes directly to the regional demand for qualified professionals in the context of Paraíba’s recent industrial expansion and the need for professionals for corporate and academic operations. Even though it has a fundamental profile of a stricto sensu program, the research of the Program has an applied nature, in which the program’s egresses will be capable of incorporating the scientific approach in the solution of practical problems.