ACDMM (formerly ACPMM)

The first post graduate course aimed at teaching engineers the fundamentals of workshop technology and organisation of production, the ACPMM (Advanced Course in Production Methods and Management), began in 1966/67. This was financed entirely by industry, with the co-operation of ninety-six different firms. The name of the course was changed to ACDMM in the 1990s when a design option was added.

The Advanced Course in Design, Manufacture and Management, a one year postgraduate course run by the Department's Institute for Manufacturing, came into being as a result of some experimental vacation courses, instigated by William Hawthorne in 1953, when undergraduates were sent out into industry to get a taste for the problems of the 'real world'. The success of these experiences highlighted the need for a similar but full-time post-graduate scheme, which was eventually funded with the support of some ninety-six companies, following useful contacts made at a conference of the Universities Engineers Association in 1965.

The course (initially without the Design option) was experimental - was it possible to use the standard university methods of lectures, demonstrations and laboratories to teach graduates manufacturing and administrative practice? Under the enthusiastic leadership of the course Director, Mike Sharman, the answer was a resounding 'yes'.