| Fast-Track Projects As A Way To Win Jobs And Add ValueThe key word in business today is "speed" — and that includes the area of project management. No matter what the industry, reduced time-to-market is something that OEMs are pressing their suppliers to achieve. For many companies involved in Metal Injection Molding (MIM), the ability to offer short lead times and critical time-to-market windows for new products has become a key factor in winning jobs, influencing new business and achieving success. There are several reasons for fast-tracking a project — addressing time-to-market issues, improving quality, eliminating waste (though it may be important to note that eliminating steps doesn't necessarily eliminate waste) and achieving tight design controls through concurrency of systems. There is also the relentless pressure on short-term earnings that makes reducing time-to-market critical to a company's bottom line and shareholder value. However, while entire life-cycles are being compressed, it also has the benefit of accelerating the rate of research and development, as well as the discovery of molding techniques. Gettting It Done
According to an article published by Injection Molding Magazine in February 2004, much of the cost of commercializing a new product is contained in those stages from conception through design. At conception, 40% to 60% of the budget is committed. When it reaches design engineering, 60% to 80% of the budget is committed. From that point onward, the cost of changes exponentially increases at each stage. For example, changes made during the design phase could cost $1000. If they are made during the testing of the design, the cost may go to $10,000. At the process planning stage, changes can cost $100,000. And in the test production stage, they can jump to $1 million. If changes are made during final production, a company could be looking at a whopping $10 million in opportunity cost and out-of-pocket capital costs. Cost is the driver, but the seamless integration of program management, design, manufacturability and infrastructure support are what steer fast-tracking projects. Because there is no room for error on a fast-tracked project, the key requirements are concurrent engineering of all processes, understanding all functional requirements and placing appropriate quality controls, understanding the difference between "want" and "need", keeping the core team small and empowering them to get the job done and implementing it all in a no-blame culture. It's an approach that is being called "Process Excellence". Execution of the fast-tracking model — or process excellence — requires a compressed schedule in which the concept development, design verification and manufacturing system design are all done simultaneously. According to experts in the field, the old standard of studying, reviewing and approving every design up and down the line doesn't work. What does make fast-tracking work is good communication at every step, including first mapping out the process by establishing the key milestones and deliverables, and, secondly, making sure that all designs are absolutely associative to ensure concurrent changes through the entire system. Benefits
The benefits of using process excellence as a tool in a fast-track concurrent engineering environment are that it is customer focused, minimizes the duplication of efforts and prevents defects. Defect prevention includes designed-in manufacturing solutions, quality through statistical analysis and a proactive approach to quality vs. defect detection. It reduces the likelihood of re-doing a project — and it's the re-dos that can kill both the OEM and the supplier. It is recommended that companies should not try to fast-track unless they have a small, empowered team, a process-driven engineering system and a data-driven culture. Technology is secondary to the systems, processes, and procedures behind it. Compiled and edited from Injection Molding Magazine, February 2004. |
