Who's job anyway?
Who's job anyway?
(OP)
I guess I'll try to get this Forum going by posting a question. Who's job is it to handle Configurations, and exactly what type of products are we talking about?
My company looks at Configuration Management as a means to reduce costs. If we can build an entire product line from one core product, by changing certain aspects of the product to fit different consumer needs, then we are one step ahead of our competitors. Our R&D engineering department determines the intitial configuration for our products, then once it is released, it is the job of Production engineering to maintain the system.
My company looks at Configuration Management as a means to reduce costs. If we can build an entire product line from one core product, by changing certain aspects of the product to fit different consumer needs, then we are one step ahead of our competitors. Our R&D engineering department determines the intitial configuration for our products, then once it is released, it is the job of Production engineering to maintain the system.
"Happy the Hare at morning for she is ignorant to the Hunter's waking thoughts."





RE: Who's job anyway?
Do other definitions have anything in common?
RE: Who's job anyway?
More complex assemblies may require actual engineering design and review. These are Engineer-to-Order manufacturers. For ETO manufacturers, configuration management could mean the process of maintaining the Bills of Materials.
RE: Who's job anyway?
From my experiences, "Product Configuration" can mean a mmany different things to many different people, based on industry, job function, ect. I was trying to convey that I thought this was a very vague Forum.
"Happy the Hare at morning for she is ignorant to the Hunter's waking thoughts."
RE: Who's job anyway?
RE: Who's job anyway?
Depending on the industry, there may be others that play a smaller roll in Configuration Management. For instance, an Engineer-to-Order manufacturer may have a production manager that is authorized to make material substitutions of equivalent items. Ex: Replace 3" x 9" x 1/2" Flame Cut Steel with a 3" x 1/2" HRS Bar cut to 9".
In an Engineer-to-Order environment, modifications to the As-Designed BOM are a commonly accepted practice. These changes are typically (or, should be) captured in the As-Built BOM. Quite often, the As-Built BOM is simple a marked-up copy of the As-Designed BOM. This usually gets stored in a file when the job is complete, and is forgotten about until a similar job comes along a year or two later. Then all the same mistakes/substitutions are recreated because the primary owners of the design control never reviewed and processed the As-Built changes.
In a Repetitive manufacturing environment, modifications to the As-Designed BOM are not permitted. Still, production personel play a roll in Configuration Management -- especially in regulated industries, like Medical or Nuclear. Because every step of the manufacturing process must be documented, these documents become an element of the configuration. Maintenance of these documents and their ralationship to the products that they describe are often the responsibility of the owners of the documents -- Quality, Marketing, R&D, Packaging, Production, Service...
Its all about DesignControl ; )
RE: Who's job anyway?
"Happy the Hare at morning for she is ignorant to the Hunter's waking thoughts."
RE: Who's job anyway?