Engineering and Agile Manufacturing

The contributions of a company’s engineering group can be rated according to taking a design apart and making the necessary adjustments to the design to fit the customer’s changing needs. Agile manufacturing models are bought into for the reason that they deal with facets of a business that are out of the control of the manufacturer. Lean manufacturing models, on the other hand, deal specifically with pieces of the business that are within the control of the manufacturer. Engineering teams in the agile model must make use of every tool at their disposal, computer modeling, machining, drafting, and design, in order to react quickly with a redesigned prototype of the customer’s product.

When a product is designed for a customer there is a real good chance that mass production techniques are not going to be applied because products are ordered in smaller quantities that are customized and needed quickly. Engineers take an analysis of the prototype by applying stress tests that are simulated using computer programs. Customized products can easily be over stressed in the field and the customer will be the first to learn of these situations that may have led to a product failure and loss of revenue for the customer. Engineering analysis of the prototype and it’s field application must be done quickly and corrected quickly so that production tooling and machining revisions can be implemented by the production groups.

Additional methods of analysis include thermodynamic inspections of the prototype when heat related failures occur in the product. Other types of analysis depend on the product, but the common denominator is product redesign when conditions warrant. Product inventories must be low and costly reworks must be kept to a minimum.