Management Engineering: an industrial case study instead of an exam – Egla’s project with the Politecnico

A university exam replaced by an industrial case study to be solved on a production line for electric motors. This is the format of the laboratory project which, from November to January 2027, will take two Management Engineering students from the Politecnico di Milano to the Egla (EuroGroup Laminations) facilities, the Baranzate-based group that designs and manufactures stators and rotors for electric motors, generators and transformers. The project, launched on the initiative of Professor Portioli as part of the Industrial Management specialisation, is one of the activities that the company will be undertaking in the coming months with the Milanese university, alongside two degree thesis projects.

The workshop will focus on improving the capacity efficiency of a production line within the E-Mobility division, reducing waste and managing rework. Students will analyse defects, apply process improvement methodologies and visual management principles, study material flows and validate tools for collecting production data.

The first dissertation begins this month and focuses on optimising another E-Mobility production line: analysing process performance, plant reliability and maintenance, to be managed using dedicated tools and indicators. It will be developed by one of the two students who, between April and June, spent 250 hours working on a production process at Eurotranciatura, a group company. In that instance, supported by a company tutor and a methodology tutor from the Polytechnic, the students identified the main operational inefficiencies. According to the company, the solutions introduced on the line have led to ‘measurable improvements in first-pass yield and the management of non-conformities’, as well as tools to make certain operational workflows more timely and standardised.

Valentina Gonnella is Head of the Production Performance System at Eurotranciatura and the point of contact for projects with the Politecnico. For her, the aim is to transform ‘real-world needs and processes into opportunities for learning and experimentation’. The model enables students to grapple with the complexities of production whilst still at university, whilst allowing the company to embrace “new skills, methodologies and perspectives”. It was the experiences of recent months, she explains, that prompted the group “to continue along this path”.

This involvement also extends to in-house staff. From December, an Egla employee enrolled on an evening university course will be working on their dissertation within the company. They will begin by analysing the processes currently in use, with a view to defining the acquisition, verification, maintenance and updating of production cycles. The project also includes a tool for creating codes, bills of materials and cycles, designed to speed up data entry and ensure its accuracy. The logic developed can be integrated into the company’s ERP system and applied to the group’s Italian plants.