engineering change management

Engineering change management is a complex process for companies involved in machinery, equipment and plant manufacture, and is critical to success. More is involved here than just following up changes to drawings or managing drawing versions. Individual manufacturers in the industry have to deal with a large number of different change issues on a daily basis, which, depending on the type of change, involve different areas and company staff members. A requirement for change generally involves a great many levels of management and administrative units within the company, from design through to purchase, logistics and cost management. To establish effective change management in the company, fully integrated and transparent process management is required, covering all areas and dealing with the total product life cycle.

The answer to engineering change and event management within a supplier network is collaborative ramp-up management, because it achieves transparency and defined structures in the ramp-up planning and steering processes. The usage of the ramp-up demonstrator, developed by the IML, simplifies the serial start-up within a supplier network. The ramp-up demonstrator is a combination of order-to-delivery simulation and current workflow management concepts, by which a controllable and plannable ramp-up environment is achieved.