Offer

Performance measuring within design and engineering processes

PLM software contains very often large amounts of statistical data regarding the design and engineering processes in which it is applied, data like:

• Number of supplied documents as function of time;
• Number of supplied iterations and revisions of documents over time;
• Number of released documents over time.

Working out and analysing this data will allow to make statements about the performance of the considered design and engineering processes. The results of these exercises are often focal points where the process as well as the use of the PDM tool can be improved.
AEGOR-ProductdataBank B.V. has software available to simulate design and engineering processes. This software can be applied to analyse processes, to select points for process improvement or quantify productivity differences between processes.

Roadmap to First Time Right

Whenever making an offer to improve processes it will be related to an explicitly specified objective with a related financial target.

The preferred and certainly most effective improvement in the longer term is a step in the direction of a formulated final picture. Such a final destination might be realising First Time Right. The strategy to get there might certainly incorporate CMII completed with IPM®.

Most effective for organisation and most satisfactory for management and other personnel involved are improvement projects based on a vision and a corporate strategy. The priority of improvement projects is determined by their contribution to the corporate objectives, the feasibility of the project and the requested effort. The impact of the results on the objectives on corporate level will always be evaluated, even if the improvement project is carried out to solve issues of a local part of the organisation. There will be always a request for the controller to confirm that the financial target of the project has been achieved.

AEGOR-ProductdataBank B.V. is focussed on measurable improvements in integral design and engineering processes in the extended enterprise with respect to: flexibility; quality; costs and throughput time.

Process management / Configuration management

Process management is an important function in projects, especially in larger and complex projects. However for many projects, large ones too, this function is quite often missing. This leads, especially in the case of the extended enterprise, to miscommunication, local solutions and sub-optimisations.

The process manager has a task with related responsibility at the start and set up of a project and an operational task and responsibility. Both are shortly described in the following paragraphs.

Process set up 1: Quality assurance

The overall project quality system, the procedures on project level, is designed as an umbrella for all local quality systems of the involved parties to assure the overall quality for the project. Configuration management is included. Contractual appointments complete the quality system on project level.

Process set up 2: ICT Infra structure

The applications of several local information systems are connected to support the project. On spots with no technical solution available, connections are defined by on project level agreed procedures. These procedures can be completed with contractual appointments.

Operational: Configuration management

It is the responsibility of the process manager that the structure of related documents contain at any moment in time the correct definition of the product as wanted by the customer. To achieve this he or she manages the following tasks:

• Good process control on project level;
• Release of documents and objects, including version control;
• Controlling change processes;
• Configuration management;
• Establishing and maintaining good collaboration between parties, design and engineering disciplines and the personnel involved, making sure that the knowledge accessible by the people involved is maximal used within the project.

Change management

Many projects / programmes do have from several to many change processes with also many and unclear divided responsibilities. The consequences are process and product failures, extra costs and unnecessary long throughput times. AEGOR-ProductdataBank B.V. proposes her clients and supports her with the implementation of one clear change process including clear responsibilities and two routes: one nominal and one shortcut for simple changes.

Together with the client AEGOR takes care that in a continuous improvement process the need for corrective actions will vanish from the change process.

PLM advice and services

AEGOR-ProductdataBank B.V. can help enterprises in industry and AEC with consultancy and user support with choosing, implementing and using PLM systems. Like for many complex technologies are within PLM much more functions offered than used. AEGOR can help her clients to operate their PLM systems with maximum contribution to their strategic objectives.
This can be done as a stand-alone project or, even better, as a part of a continuous improvement process with financial targets to achieve

PLM studies and Workshops

PLM and especially Configuration Management are not getting much attention in education; neither universities nor higher technical schools have much on this topic in their curriculum, not only in the Netherlands but also in French and Germany. Therefore it might not be a big surprise that there are many enterprises having difficulties understanding their own development processes.

For AEGOR-ProductdataBank B.V., to reach her mission, to be part of continuous improvement processes with clear financial targets, to guide development processes in the extended enterprise, is having knowledge and distributing knowledge very important. Therefore AEGOR pays much attention on education with practical training and places for research studies for university and higher technical schools. This is and can only be done together with educational institutes and companies.

Specific for companies AEGOR-ProductdataBank B.V. offers PLM workshops, generic or specific created for the situation of her clients. During the workshops the trainees play roles in development processes, get an insight in their own and overall process and a feeling what can be improved. Internet based PLM systems are used where workflow functions are the enablers to simulate processes.

CMII Training

CMII is the second generation of a configuration management process, a business process for the development and change of requirements (documents). CMII means the development of a zero defects design and engineering process or in other words the prevention of unwanted and avoidable changes. CMII has been developed in the U.S. and has amongst others been implemented in the Dreamliner programme of Boeing and a large part of the extended enterprise of HP. Conditionally to each real process improvement is that each person involved knows the process and his or her role and responsibility. So, process improvement starts with awareness and training. CMII is no exception. Usually persons on key positions are trained. They have to define and formulate the objectives and impact of a CMII implementation in their business process. The CMII training contains of six modules. Satisfactorily completing the training leads to certification from the US based Institute for Configuration Management. Except training can AEGOR-ProductdataBank B.V. help her clients to implement CMII, as a stand-alone project or, like as mentioned with PLM, as a part of a continuous improvement programme.

Six Sigma improvement trajectories

The red line through the offer items of AEGOR-ProductdataBank B.V. is process improvement. AEGOR has chosen the Six Sigma principles and structural approach to define and implement process improvements in a continuous fashion. During an improvement trajectory AEGOR can train key persons of her clients to Six Sigma Consultants ("Six Sigma Black Belts"), which are capable to continue a chain of relevant improvement trajectories after the external consultant has gone.