Breaking down Walls:
Why Manufacturers are Moving to Collaborative Design
A couple of months into the global pandemic, one-third of all respondents to a McKinsey survey reported that they were already struggling to deal with the worst disruption their supply chains had ever faced. Only 15 percent said they were unaffected… then again, that was in May 2020.
The effects of Covid-19 has pushed company leaders to focus their efforts on improving agility, “to increase the speed at which they adjust strategic direction, make and implement tactical decisions and deploy resources.” For a number of industries, this has meant a hard break with the way things have always been done.
How it’s always been done
Traditionally, a product’s manufacturing lifecycle looks something like this:
Step 1: Market need for a product is established
Step 2: Engineering designs a product that meets specifications
Step 3: Procurement sources parts and materials
Steps 4 to ?: Engineering revises design over and over, based on feedback from procurement and manufacturing
Eventually: Production starts
Often: Errors are discovered along the way that require engineers to go back to the drawing board
Finally: The product goes to market
What’s wrong with the old way?
While straightforward, the traditional method is rife with issues that have made it unsuitable for the modern manufacturer. Among the massive cracks in the system are:
- Linear processes that leave no room for flexibility: Step 1 is followed by step 2, etc. When one department is delayed, everyone else must wait.
- Distinct processes that are corralled by rigid walls. In fact, the traditional method is also referred to as over-the-wall, because as one team finishes their part, they toss it over to the next team, effectively washing their hands of it.
- Delayed discovery of issues that push back delivery dates. For example, materials chosen at the procurement stage, may be found to be unsuitable at the engineering stage or no longer available right before the production stage.
- Silos within silos that occur within each step. At the engineering phase, electrical and mechanical teams work to meet their own requirements without consulting one another. This often results in pieces that don’t fit together.
- Stilted communication caused by silos that is akin to communicating via snail mail. One team sends their feedback in hopes that the other team will act on a correct interpretation; a remarkably sluggish process in an industry where time to market is critical.
- Missed opportunities for innovation that are inevitable as teams have limited opportunities to learn from one another.
- Diminished control over product release date as unplanned iterations delay time to market.
Each of these issues used to be accepted as part of the cost of doing business. Manufacturers would buffer their time and cost estimates to account for them.
Then customer demand began changing more quickly than ever before and the traditional method had to be replaced with something better.
Breaking the barriers
Collaborative design gets everything right before the design leaves the paper. It is the wrecking ball that pulverizes walls between design, engineering, manufacturing, procurement… all disciplines involved in creating and bringing your product to market.
If you are working with a contract manufacturer, the team also includes key point people to further facilitate communication.
Whether literally or figuratively, back-and-forth conversations take place in real time across the table. Together, your diverse team anticipates and solves issues that may come up.
7 game-changing differences of collaborative design
- Early clarity on expectations which is imperative, especially if you are working with a CM partner.
- More accurate and better adherence to cost and scheduling plans as back-and-forth buffers are eliminated.
- Greater speed to market as design conflicts and errors are caught earlier and solved better and faster.
- Products of higher quality and reliability as they are perfected at design stage.
- Optimized supply chain lead-times as there will be an earlier – and therefore wider –selection of appropriate production processes and materials.
- Enhanced flexibility, agility, sustainability and teamwork enabling faster changes to design and a more efficient development process.
Early clarity on expectations which is imperative, especially if you are working with a CM partner.
More accurate and better adherence to cost and scheduling plans as back-and-forth buffers are eliminated.
Greater speed to market as design conflicts and errors are caught earlier and solved better and faster.
Products of higher quality and reliability as they are perfected at design stage.
Optimized supply chain lead-times as there will be an earlier – and therefore wider –selection of appropriate production processes and materials.
Enhanced flexibility, agility, sustainability and teamwork enabling faster changes to design and a more efficient development process.
Greater opportunities for innovation new technologies or materials as interdisciplinary team discusses ideas and improvements in real time.
Greater opportunities for innovation new technologies or materials as interdisciplinary team discusses ideas and improvements in real time.
Bye-bye buffers
Once delays had to be factored into project and production plans. Today, they can cost you your competitive edge. Collaborative design enables you to predict costs, timelines and requirements with heightened accuracy. Critically, it also builds a hyper-agile team that understands all dimensions of the product and process, who communicate well and therefore can spring into action if disruptions occur further along in the lifecycle.
Don’t let status quo procedures block your path to success. Talk to us and ask about our collaborative success stories.
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About Providence Enterprise
Providence Enterprise is a Hong Kong medical device contract manufacturer of Class I and II medical devices with manufacturing in China & Vietnam. We specialize in electro-mechanical assemblies and high-volume disposables. We are FDA registered and ISO 13485, ISO 14971, ISO 14001, ISO 27001 certified. Our capabilities include fabricating tooling for silicone rubber and injection molded plastics, clean room injection molding, electronics, clean room assembly, and sterilization.