4 Engineering change management best practices

Many companies, particularly small engineering businesses, struggle with tracking changes and controlling the management of new releases in their engineering designs. Unlike larger and more established teams with meticulous processes developed over the years, small businesses face unique challenges. Each business has its own distinct requirements, which is why larger enterprises often require customized software solutions to fit their time-tested processes. So, how can engineering businesses find strength through better process organization? Here are five key steps to consider.

1. Design a Process That Fits Your Business.

Rather than rushing to purchase a pre-packaged solution, start by mapping out a review and release process that works for your business. Identify who needs to review the designs, who can submit engineering changes, and other necessary steps. Additionally, determine where the documents will be stored and who needs access. By designing a process that aligns with your needs, you can ensure that any software solution or system you invest in will be truly worthwhile.

Consider these five key steps and roles for reviewing engineering changes:

1. Requestor

This can be a wide user group of product users. They will notice potential improvements. They can submit a change request.

2. Change Manager

The change manager is the first level of review. They can review all the change requests submitted from the user group of requestors and submit any possible changes to the engineering change manager.

Why not just go straight to the engineering project manager? The change manager is the first level of review and can review change requests to filter out non-engineering factors such as cost impact.

3. Engineering Project Manager

The Engineering Project Manager reviews the request for change and evaluates if the change is possible by engineering. If the change is approved, it gets sent to the engineer to implement the design.

4.  Engineer

The engineer designs the change sent from the Engineering Project Manager. When completed, the design gets submitted to the reviewer/approver.

5.  Reviewer/Approver

The reviewer reviews the new change and engineering design and, if approved, releases the design for production.

2. Establish Quality Standards.

Define a set of quality standards and metrics that will be used to measure and ensure the effectiveness of your process. Without clear expectations and measurements, it will be difficult to determine the success of your efforts. Regularly follow up on progress, perhaps on a monthly basis, to track and improve where necessary. Conduct research on typical quality standards within your industry and incorporate them into your framework.

Keep in mind that introducing better quality standards requires more than a good review and release system. Better quality should be introduced at the organization level as well. Policies and procedures should be introduced by the leadership that introduce a good feedback system from the customer, to engineering, to manufacturing. It should also implement systems that encourage a higher standard and enforce system participation. Reference resources such as SafetyCulture for understanding more about quality standards and international standards such as ISO 9000.

3. Enforce & encourage quality checks.

Why establish quality standards if no one uses them? Once you establish a review and release process, create a checklist of items that need to be consistently reviewed across products. Checklists serve as a valuable tool to maintain consistency and improve overall quality. Requiring a checklist to be completed during every quality review is an easy way to ensure that quality is maintained in each engineering change.

Consider some of the key steps that go into an engineering change order. SimplerQMS provides resources for better understanding engineering change orders. For example, it is important to clarify the importance of engineering change orders. ECO’s are intended to track changes so:

• You can always reverse back to changes.
• Keep track of changes with an audit trail. An audit trail can also be required to meet certain regulations or standards.
• Protect critical information from being misused.

4. Invest in the Right Tools to Support Your System.

Consider implementing software that supports your engineering change management process. Once you have outlined the necessary steps for a consistent and sustainable process, explore engineering change management release tools that can help keep changes organized. Vistapoint can be a good option for small to medium-sized engineering firms, offering simplified change management processes and a centralized repository for engineering drawings and project files.

Conclusion

Managing engineering changes can be a challenging task, particularly for smaller teams. It is crucial to ensure that everyone has access to the most up-to-date information to avoid costly mistakes. To strengthen your engineering business, start by designing a system that works for your business, establish quality metrics to measure success, enforce quality checks with checklists to maintain consistency, and invest in the right tools to support your workflow. By following these steps, you can enhance communication, streamline processes, and propel your business toward success.