In the automotive process, it is important to manage the technical changes of a producteffectively.
In fact, product development and design activities require many changes during industrialization. Once designs and assembly schemes are defined, the prototyping phase is run to verify the project’s validity; in this phase, there are many technical changes that become necessary for correcting the project and, as a consequence, many project revisions are required: these must be preventively evaluated so as to consider the cost/benefits and the impact on the development lead time.
This analysis becomes much more important when we are still in the devel- opment phase and the drawings have been used to design tools and equipment. In this case, it is also necessary to modify the specific tools already built.
During the development of new products, the Project Manager is respon- sible for assessing the true necessity of the technical changes and verifying their compatibility with the economic targets of the initiative (R&D expenses, investments, product cost) and with the ‘‘time to market’’ targets. Neverthe- less, the decision-making process should be as quick as possible to guarantee extra additional costs and critical conditions for the ‘‘time-to-market’’.
For existing products, the main reasons for technical changes are as follows:
1. product content improvement, the consequence of specific requests from
‘‘marketing’’;
2. quality level improvement for market alignment (style, functionality, reli- ability), considering the same product’s contents;
3. direct material cost reduction (raw material and ‘‘buying’’ components);
4. transformation cost reduction(‘‘making’’ parts);
5. ‘‘production non-quality’’ cost reduction (reduction of rejections, reworks…);
6. ‘‘after sales non-quality’’ cost reduction(warranties).
As a consequence of actions related to point 1, we should have a profit increase (increasing of price or sales).
Actions related to points 3, 4, 5 and 6 must be preventively evaluated from an economic point of view so as to guarantee a good cost/benefit return.
Technical changes for solving non-quality problems perceived by customers have to be introduced at all stages, searching for solutions with minimum devel- opment cost and less impact on final product cost. Improvements that reduce warranty costs (ideally more than three years for the main carmakers) when increasing product cost or requiring nonspecific investments must be economically evaluated to check the cost/benefit return as well.
To finish this chapter, let us describe the criteria used to introduce the technical changes for a new product during the industrialization phase or the production phase. For this purpose, it is important to distinguish the following levels of complexity,progressing from the lowest level to the highest:
1ST LEVEL for a single element or more, without interchangeability con- straints; the design number changes, but not the function code of the element, and it is sufficient to act on the specific tools of the single components.
2ND LEVEL for more elements, with congruence and interchangeability constraints; composition for assembly does not change, nor for the sub-assemblies;
design number changes, but not the function code of the element, and it is suffi- cient to act on the specific tools of the single components.
3RD LEVEL in addition to what was referred to in the previous point, the structure of the assembly and sub-assemblies also changes; in this case, the design number changes as well as the function code of the elements. It is also necessary to review the assembly schemes and the manufacturing engineering plan.
Considering the above three levels of complexity and introducing an emergency level, it is possible to introduce a technical change in different ways, as described by the scheme in Table2.1.
In planning the introduction of the changes from level 2 and 3, in case of modifications in tooling that prevent the production of components before the changes, it is necessary to evaluate the specific spare parts stock level for after sales assistance.
Considering what is mentioned above, the necessity of planning the introduc- tion of technical changes, and complying with the requirements of the Product and Process Engineering Department, Manufacturing Department and Supply Chain Department, is clear (considering also, when necessary, the Purchasing Depart- ment, the After Sales Department and the Suppliers).
Once these preventive checks are completed, all instructions are invoiced to all departments involved simultaneously by e-mail. The Product Definition Depart- ment is in charge of this task; this department is also in charge of coordinating the other secondary plants for the introduction of changes in other co-producer plants.
If the ‘‘scheduling’’ is inconsistent, the introduction of technical changes can cause delays in the production process and/or economic losses, which can also be due to the rejection of direct material no longer usable.
In the automotive sector, technical changes require the setting of a significant amount of expenses; this amount influences the economic balance, and for this reason it is checked periodically by the Finance Department. The forecast of the total amount of projected expenses is foreseen in the budget and checked finally for each version of the product, deploying the differences for each one of the cost centres and for each of the root causes that have generated the changes.
With this last section on technical changes, this important chapter, dealing with the industrialization of a new product and product management during its life cycle in production, ends.
Table 2.1 Technical changes management by priorities Level of
complexity and
of emergency
Introduction methodology From
1st level/not urgent
It is planned by the end of the stocks of the components before change with significant value
Progressive number detected after the introduction 1st level/
urgent
It is planned by date, speeding up the specific tooling as much as possible
Progressive number detected after the introduction 2nd level/not
urgent
It is planned from a certain progressive number, after having checked the availability of the components of the same type and after the end of the stocks of the components before change with significant value
Progressive number detected after the introduction
2nd level/
urgent
It is planned by a specific date, after having checked the availability of the components of the same type and speeding up the specific tooling as much as possible
Pre-established progressive number
3rd level/not urgent
It is planned from a certain progressive number, after having checked the availability of the component of the same type and after the end of the stocks of the components before change with significant value. It is also important to check the availability of the new assembly and after sales instructions
Progressive number detected after the introduction
3rd level/
urgent
It is planned from a certain progressive number, after having checked the availability of the component of the same type and speeding up the specific tooling as much as possible. It is also important to check the availability of the new assembly and after sales instructions
Pre-established progressive number