Context
When working with start-ups, Engineering Change Management (ECM) is often among the first processes identified as required and implemented by the QR_ team. ECM is usually overlooked in early-stage start-ups because communication between stakeholders is typically straightforward, and the organisation hasn't yet reached a stage where changes have downstream impacts in the production world. But it's vital to establish ECM at this early stage — to ensure changes are initiated, reviewed, and implemented in a controlled manner, minimising risk to requested production and product launch.
Failure to manage engineering change from the outset can result in incorrect orders, missing parts, incompatible components — and ultimately significant costs and delays. QR_ has repeatedly observed significant line-side issues in clients who have neglected to implement change management during early development. In one small organisation, QR_ was able to attribute over 30% of line-side issues to a lack of release and change management. BoM errors, design issues, and drawing revisions were the top causes — all of which could have been mitigated via release and change management.
Unfortunately, ECM isn't something that can be bought off the shelf — nor is designing a bespoke process an isolated exercise. There are numerous factors to account for: interfacing processes, system architecture, scalability, company culture, and more. There are a number of prerequisites that must be in place before effective ECM can be designed and implemented. Failure to ensure these are in place at the minimum required level can result in ineffective, poorly controlled change management — and the process could be subject to significant redesign as core elements are introduced retrospectively, reducing stakeholder trust and buy-in.
This paper outlines the key prerequisites that should be in place for ECM to function effectively. For each area, a minimum and ideal requirement specification has been outlined. Although having the ideal requirements in place helps ECM function more effectively from day one and reduces process iterations, making decisions and implementing change management quickly is often the priority to gain control of change throughput. A balance must be struck between speed and creating an ideal environment for implementation.
People
Key process roles must have clear ownership. This should be communicated at an early stage to establish where there are responsibility gaps or confusion, and to gain buy-in from key stakeholders before any changes are made. Key roles include:
- Change controller — As this is a new role, there must be provisions in place to assign ownership prior to ECM implementation. This may be external initially — to ensure the correct expertise is available to guide process implementation and establish organisation-as-usual tasks. The responsibilities should be outlined in detail to facilitate role assignment.
- Engineering — Responsible for technical design changes and the primary initiators of major change. The process can't operate without their involvement, so it's important to secure buy-in before the process is introduced.
- Manufacturing — Representative to ensure changes will be introduced in the production world appropriately — build timing plans and instructions reflecting change, stock switch-over plans, etc.
- Procurement (liaising with suppliers) — Vital for when the programme matures from digital to physical development. Must be involved to ensure orders are placed and costs are managed.
Case study: a green-energy start-up
So how is this achieved? Earlier this year QR_ successfully established ECM in an innovative green-energy start-up within a compressed 6-week time frame. Being able to design and successfully implement ECM within that time is attributable to the engagement and support of the client team. By educating on the need for ECM, the organisational benefits offered (de-risking product launch), and the basic mechanics of the process, key stakeholders were identified and engaged from an early stage.
Collaborative workshops resulted in a process design that stakeholders understood well and aligned their expectations to. As the organisation was small, some roles — such as manufacturing owner — were not yet operationally in place. That was identified, an appropriate temporary representative was assigned responsibility, and this in turn was considered during the MVP design and accelerated the urgency to recruit for those specific roles.
People summary
- Minimum — Basic level of buy-in from key stakeholders; high-level understanding of ECM and associated impacts, with some alignment on a high-level approach; awareness of the need for a change controller and PPM function; representatives available for key approval roles (engineering, purchasing, manufacturing).
- Ideal — Organisation-wide buy-in to the process; knowledgeable of ECM, its benefits, and organisational impact; widespread alignment on high-level approach; plans for creation of change controller role both short-term and long-term; understanding of roles and responsibilities of process stakeholders who are willing to participate.
Data
A base level of Master Data Management must be in place so that ECM can use it to function effectively. This is the most important technical prerequisite for an effective ECM system, and should be prioritised. Specifically, two areas of data should be in place prior to ECM implementation — starting with a part numbering system.
Part numbers provide unique identifiers for components and assembly structures — as well as tooling and software when required. Having a unique identifier is crucial to track revisions, as a part number itself may not have the ability to indicate maturity or versioning.
Data summary
- Minimum — A basic version-controlled BoM structure (can be as simple as a spreadsheet) capturing core master data such as part numbers, descriptions, cost, weight; a BoM validation exercise to baseline data quality.
- Ideal — An intelligent part numbering system with up-versioning ability and maturity indication (prototype vs production); a structured EBoM and MBoM with comprehensive data capture, maintained in a system with capability to interface with CAD structure and the chosen release system; full BoM validation exercise to maximise accuracy and completeness.
Systems
For ECM to work effectively, there must be system architecture in place with the ability to version-control designs, raise and track changes, and facilitate approval workflows. If there's no appropriate system architecture in place, the timeline and scale of investment should be discussed prior to commencing an ECM project — so appropriate intermediate solutions can be implemented.
It's important to have a basic form of change management operational as soon as possible, to de-risk current activity. This could vary significantly depending on the system roadmap. If there are plans to implement a sophisticated PLM system imminently, basic manual control via email and spreadsheet may suffice for the short interim — while preparing to migrate to the new system. But if there are no immediate plans for system investment and no suitable architecture in place, an interim product that meets the necessary requirements may need to be purchased.
Systems summary
- Minimum — Visibility of current and future plans for system investment; ability to version-control designs; basic workflow software to raise and track changes (SharePoint, ticketing system).
- Ideal — PLM system in place/purchased and ready to be configured, or a clear timeline to do so; system constraints known and accountable for in detail design; ability to interface with CAD and other supporting systems; functionality to facilitate "smart" workflows — approvals and workflow selected based on release attributes, approver matrices.
Process
As ECM is often one of the first processes to be introduced into an organisation, there are fewer prerequisites in terms of supporting processes. Upstream and downstream processes — such as issue management, Plan for Every Part, and MRP — should be considered when designing ECM to ensure data flow between each is effective, aligned, and automated where possible.
In terms of ECM itself, agreement should be made regarding the fundamental concepts of the process before detailed design and development. This may be challenging in a situation where senior stakeholders from multiple backgrounds hold strong opinions on what is considered best practice. Key aspects that should be discussed at a high level initially include: high-level definition of change types (major/minor/software); rules surrounding interchangeability; strategy for approval process (push vs pull); and balance between agility and adherence.
Process summary
- Minimum — Basic agreement on several core aspects of change; acknowledgement of surrounding processes and awareness of interfacing mechanism with ECM.
- Ideal — Alignment on industry standard for ECM.
