Document Control
Although a solid change management process is absolutely necessary, it’s easy to fall into an overly complicated, unnecessary or misunderstood engineering change request (ECR) process—especially if your process lacks purpose. In some cases, by the time you craft the ECR, add in the appropriate documentation, talk it over with the product engineer and send the [...]
Choosing a part numbering scheme is one of the more important decisions you make as you move toward production. Once you commit to a part numbering scheme, you are married to it for a long time to come, so you need to be 100% sure it is nimble enough to evolve and scale right along [...]
Now that I’ve given you a high level analysis of the pros and cons of intelligent and non-intelligent part numbering, I can tell you how I really feel. While well intentioned, intelligent numbering schemes can be a tricky rabbit hole—hostile to growth for a variety of reasons. A good part numbering scheme is nimble. It [...]
Your part numbering scheme is ultimately adopted by every team with a stake in product development—from design and engineering to operations and manufacturing—so it’s no surprise that choosing the right scheme is a point of debate for many companies. Most manufacturing circles today still hold on to the belief that intelligent part numbering schemes are [...]
When you outsource assembly, the product of your engineering department isn’t really hardware—it’s raw information. This raw information (BOMs, drawings, specifications, purchasing and sourcing information) is of critical importance to your suppliers, yet many OEMs lack visibility into how ambiguous their data can be when it’s received on the other end. The idea of throwing [...]
When it comes to product management, standard processes and theories work 90% of the time, but the last 10% is certainly an art. At Arena, we try to find a balance between listening to our customers, and looking ahead to see the possibilities of where technology is going so we can take the best advantage [...]
I wrote a bit on Tuesday about the importance of documenting part information during the design process, and today I’d like to talk about another type of documentation that is commonly overlooked in organizations—the documentation of fixtures and jigs. We talk to many people working in high-functioning manufacturing departments who document everything thoroughly and consistently [...]
You remember those friends in high school that didn’t like to show their work? I predict that many of them are now engineers. Most engineers I know see documentation as an obligatory and pointless chore, solely designed to take them out of ETAP or AutoCAD—and with that point of view, it’s not surprising they avoid [...]
We frequently hear about organizations that rely on the “old” way of doing things to avoid the perceived risks and costs of implementing a new system. But when it comes to managing your product data, maintaining the status quo can cost you in the long run, while the risk of evaluating and embracing new systems [...]
In our many years of working with medical device manufacturers, we’ve seen the rigorous work these companies do to pass a regulatory audit. Preparing for an audit is a time-consuming process that involves gathering, reviewing and updating process documents and ensuring that employees are fully trained on all company procedures. Needless to say, with their [...]
