Engineer to order (ETO) product manufacturing companies are often under severe pressure to provide products that are tailored to customer requirements. The company generally offers product solutions which are loosely termed as ‘standard’. Many companies, however, defer product design until they receive a customer enquiry or purchase order. Engineering must then react to support Sales provide the details necessary to send to the customer, or to allow production to start. This method of working generates many business issues. This section looks at specific issues affecting Production processes.
Delivery time
For engineer to order (ETO) product companies, excessive delivery time may be incurred if product design is completed after receiving the customer order. Additionally, the company incurs further cost and is exposed to additional risks of error. Furthuremore, to counter errors there is additional time and cost for checking the resulting rework to both products and documentation. By working differently, companies can reduce delivery time, reduce costs and avoid unnecessary risks.
Design capacity
Bottlenecks in Sales and Engineering can result in the loss of new business and harm existing projects. Bottlenecks occur either due to excessive workload or the cyclic nature of work. Increasing capacity in both sales and engineering teams often requires recruiting more staff. New staff must be trained and it takes time before they are fully proficient. Costs rise proportionately with the number of staff employed. Errors are more likely to occur when staff are under pressure, and there is a lack of time or resources to complete work. See more …..
Change management
In this section, we consider change management regarding product specifications. Changes may occur for many internal and external reasons. Changes tend to have a more significant impact when they occur later in the business process. External changes may result from, the customer changing the specification or a supplier unable to deliver a critical component. Internal changes may occur as a refinement of the design process, as new information becomes available. Further changes can occur due to solution optimisation or the resolution of a problem, such as a budget issue. By working differently, change can be responded to quicker with less impact on the business and the customer. See more …..
Information library
Finding the most current and comprehensive product information is essential to Sales, Engineering and Production. It is typical for the storage of information to be in numerous locations across many departments. Individuals are known to hold valuable data and information exists in several different types of media. Knowing that information is current and reliable is a challenge when there is no central depository or responsibility.
By working differently, companies can resolve information location problems. Quality information can be available to anyone authorised to access it with the certainty that the information is the most current. See more …..
Component volume
Component volume affects the business in several ways. Better prices may be negotiated or offered for more parts. Higher component volume can justify moving to lower unit cost manufacturing processes. Reducing the number of parts used reduces inventory and associated costs. Greater reuse of parts simplifies product management and builds greater familiarity and confidence in parts used. See more …..
