Configuration Management for Senior Managers

Essential Product Configuration and Lifecycle Management for Manufacturing

Frank B. Watts

• Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9780128023822
• eBook ISBN: 9780128026014
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Operations
• Index: Business

Configuration Management for Senior Managers is written to help managers in product manufacturing and engineering environments identify the ways in which they can streamline their products and processes through proactive documentation control and product lifecycle management. Experienced consultant Frank Watts gives a practitioner's view tailored to the needs of management, without the textbook theory that can be hard to translate into real-world change. Unlike competing books that focus on CM within software and IT environments, this engineering-focused resource is packed with examples and lessons learned from leading product development and manufacturing companies, making it easy to apply the approach to your business. - Developed to help you identify key policies and practices needing attention in your organization to establish and maintain consistency of processes and products, and to reduce operational costs - Focused on configuration management (CM) within manufacturing and engineering settings, with relevant examples from leading companies - Written by an experienced consultant and practitioner with the knowledge to provide real-world insights and solutions, not just textbook theory

Chapter One

Introduction

Abstract

The importance of configuration management for product manufacturing. Why design documents and control their-of are critical to the company? ISO certification is only the first step out of chaos. The discipline is best approached on a process basis. The CM system evaluation ladder. The CM system is comprised of several processes; release, request, bills of material, and change. Best-in-class processes. Why a management champion is important to process improvement. Only critical issues and essential information are addressed in this book. Details can be found in the EDC Handbook and CM Metrics. A testimonial from a VP/chief engineer.

Keywords

CM processes; CM system; Configuration management; Critical issues; Design documents; Management champion

Let’s first identify the basic “raw materials” of product manufacturing—the very essence of the requirements for every product manufacturing operation. There are four primary elements:

Money—for start-up and from profits to prosper

Tools—building, machine, mold, software, etc.

People—and the policy/practices they choose

Product—embodied in design drawings and specs

These four elements must be present in any successful product manufacturing company.

Let’s focus again on the last item, the product—embodied in design drawings and specs. One of the basic raw materials for efficient and affective product manufacturing.

So why is it a surprise for some to hear that the management of the design documents is a critical discipline? Without precise and controlled design documents, you do not have a producible product. The change process is often identified as the company’s most expensive process. The release process is critical for minimizing the time to market. An accurate bill of material is essential to operations folks. The request process is often an irritating “hanging-chad.” Without minimum control of design documents via make-sense processes, practices and measurements, you have some degree of chaos.

A certain amount of chaos exists in almost every product manufacturing company because of a lack of basic CM policies, practices, and processes—what this analyst will most often refers to as “standards.”

Some folks say that they have attained ISO (or similar) certification so they must be okay in the CM world. Sorry, but ISO certification is only the first step out of chaos. ISO doesn’t care if your standards are fast, efficient, measured, or truly effective—only that you have documented them and follow that documentation.

This can be put in perspective by placing your company on the CM evaluation ladder (Figure 1.1).

Since this writer hasn’t witnessed a world-class system, the best practical evaluation can only be made by putting together the best of the best practices witnessed. Much needs to be done in most companies to attain best-in-class CM as defined by this writer:

Figure 1.1 The CM system evaluation ladder. Adapted from an article in Quality Process by DeToro and McCabe.

CM defined: Make sense, documented, fast, accurate, efficient, well understood, minimally controlled, effective, measured, process approach to product design and definition throughout a product’s life cycle.

Most of what needs to be done can be accomplished by a proficient CM manager, if he or she has the resources, training, and a dedicated executive champion.

Policy: If best-in-class processes are to be attained, every company/division should have one executive committed to be the CM champion.

The executive champion will be expected to be frequently in touch with, guiding and helping the CM manager through their process improvement or reengineering. That person will remove roadblocks—there are always some in the way of reaching best-in-class processes.

A knowledgeable and effective CM manager can move slowly toward best in class by continuous improvement without an executive champion. However, most CM managers will have little chance to continually improve (or reengineer) to best-in-class processes in any reasonable time frame without an executive champion.

Some might say that they can point the way to world-class CM. Since this analyst has never witnessed a world-class set of CM processes, it would be presumptuous to claim world-class knowledge. Thus, the writer can only combine the best of the best practices witnessed or devised to hopefully approach a world-class system.

The CM system consists of the following basic processes:

• Release,

• Request changes,

• Making changes, and

• Bill of material.

There are two other processes that might also be included under the CM umbrella:

• Order entry, and

• Deviation/waivers/off-specs.

The field change process will be a separate chapter although it is generally though of as being part of “making changes.” This will be done because some companies simply do not have field changes issues and can thus skip that chapter.

If these processes are overcontrolled (as occurs in some environments—especially DOD contractors and large companies) the engineer’s creativity is stifled and the processes become slow, costly, confusing, burdensome, and often divisive. If the system is undercontrolled, you will have some degree of chaos.

Many, many details involved in the discipline will be excluded from this work. The writer struggled mightily with the challenge of sorting out the critical information from the 350 pages of Engineering Documentation Control Handbook and the 240 pages of CM Metrics. Partial success may have been accomplished but certainly some failures as well.

The goal has been to convey the critical, essential information applicable to both military and commercial products.

Executives, especially chief engineers may be wise, if time allows, to read the EDC Handbook and CM Metrics for the rules, reasons, and metrics delineated there.

One chief engineer, after reading the EDC Handbook (on a beach—during a vacation) and then implementing its essence, wrote:

Date: April 21, 2008

Frank Watts

EC3 Corp

Dear Frank,

Inertia Switch would like to thank you for some of the best wisdom regarding configuration management. We were recently awarded several quality awards and received our IS9001 and AS9100 certification last month. A majority of our audit revolved a great deal around design and development control. We received 100% scores in these areas resulting from techniques we used from your book. We are an old but newly managed aerospace company serving the world. Some customers are NASA, Lockheed, Airbus, Boeing, Raytheon, and Sikorsky. All of these companies have accepted our methods and most have commented that they wish their system was as simple. We feel confident that your “good logic” will continue to grow our company for many years to come. Again many more thanks from all of us.

Best Regards,

Brian DiGirolamo

Vice President, Chief Engineer

Few will take vacation time to read the EDC Handbook, but you may find time to read this work. Then get some handbooks and the metrics book for your key people and designate an executive m...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• List of Figures
• Preface
• Policies and Critical Practices
• Chapter One. Introduction
• Chapter Two. Why CM
• Chapter Three. CM System, Where to Start
• Chapter Four. CM and Software
• Chapter Five. Standard Foundation Blocks
• Chapter Six. Signatures on CM Documents
• Chapter Seven. Process Improvement
• Chapter Eight. Release Process
• Chapter Nine. Bill of Material Process
• Chapter Ten. Request for Change Process
• Chapter Eleven. Change Cost/Payback
• Chapter Twelve. Change Management
• Chapter Thirteen. Field Change Process
• Chapter Fourteen. Take It to the Bank
• Index