"I wanted to call out the Quick Release_ team for the great work they have done over the past few weeks to keep the costing workshop running, developing & maintaining the database and following up with the teams. Often multitasking while CPE and Integration managers are giving conflicting direction!" - Chief Programme Engineer
Case study: Improve engineering efficiency through improved data discipline
PDM is the glue that holds manufacturing systems together, but without processes for data management, things become unstuck.
QR_ was brought in to help eradicate operational efficiencies in a global vehicle manufacturer, which hoped to achieve a 40% faster change throughput and streamline its data management and development processes.
Case study: Accelerate time to market
Our client, a multinational automotive manufacturer, had discovered that the work of their D&R Engineers had drifted away from core engineering work over several years.
This shift from their core responsibilities was caused by time-consuming work on systems, processes and data to support the release of their content. With these distractions leading to operational inefficiencies, it quickly became apparent that for this to be solved, addressing issues relating to data discipline was essential.
1. Challenge
As the engineering team had been distracted by tertiary activities, layers of inefficiencies were plaguing operations and preventing the delivery of high-quality products. This included misspent time on task-chasing to a lack of holistic ownership for BoM. Additionally, with the systems and processes surrounding part ordering being so complex, the programme was experiencing costly build delays and the team needed assistance getting back to focusing on what they do best. To resolve both issues QR_ were engaged to help the client prioritise data management and eradicate inefficiencies, with the overall intention to help reduce costs and get the programme back on track.
2. Approach
As a crucial success factor for any PDM programme, the first step was to train a group of dedicated PDM professionals who would understand the data in context and feed it back to senior teams to enable effective and efficient decision-making through the programme. This would also facilitate cross-functional knowledge sharing and remove political barriers between departments. With this proactive PDM team acting as a central point for all integration activities, engineers would be protected from non-engineering tasks and be able to delivery high-quality engineering on time and on budget.
3. Outcome
As a result of QR_'s approach, the client has seen a 15% improvement in time-to-engineer and a 40% faster change throughput due to improved change quality and process understanding of the CES team. In addition to enhancing efficiency, build quality also improved thanks to a unique plan for each engineering team, backed up by an improved toolset to ensure correct parts are released quickly and orders placed on time.
4. Feedback
"I wanted to call out the Quick Release_ team for the great work they have done over the past few weeks to keep the costing workshop running, developing & maintaining the database and following up with the teams. Often multitasking while CPE and Integration managers are giving conflicting direction!" - Chief Programme Engineer