READY FOR MANUFACTURING
Covering All the Bases
I visited a manufacturer a while ago, who had just rented their space, placed their benches, and started to put their assembly and test equipment together.
Housed in a humble industrial estate, when the locked door opened, what greeted our eyes was a brightly lit space still work in progress, but with clear signs of organisation.
We went on to discuss the process of design transfer
- who can be your suppliers just around your neighbourhood?
- how much PQ (performance qualification) product may be available for first sales
- did you get your revised QMS certification scope correct?
- when to purchase new and when to acquire used equipment.
Highly operational questions that need equally operational answers - making friends with the neighbours who turned out suppling some equipment for them, and therefore ensuring great service support; working out the statistics and checking commercial demand for the PQ lot; ensuring the audit scheduling is sync-ed to save time and cost for all; checking total cost of ownership including service, maintenance, utilization and cost amortization and so on.
Important lessons to learn:
- Be fast by planning the step by step and getting tasks cleared, but not rush by thinking things through
- Always ensure the team aligns in information and make decisions together.
- Do not over plan and lose track of actually executing.
- Having the first 2 years making product yourself, sets up a great foundation for oursourcing later. It’s NOT the other way around.
If you are planning on a design transfer, or setting up a manufacturing site. Let us know!
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