How to estimate an Engineering Change Proposal Time

[thien2002]

I am a contractor to the Air Force, Navy to build test cell for jet engines. I am asking if you know an Engineering Change Proposal process which we have never done in the past. How long will it take from Engineering stand point to verify drawings, approve by all staff members, and complete any estimate or engineering issues. Can anyone give me a breakdown structure of time (engineering)? Air Force is coming for an audit and they want to know the engineering estimate for ECP. Thank you.

 

[automationbabe]

It's difficult to estimate the amount of Engineering time spent during the Engineering Change Process. There are a number of factors that affect this: validity of change request, the type of change (i.e., typo on the drawing, safety, design enhancement) which determines the amount of time Engineering spends on the change. The type of change may require different levels of approval which takes time. This is on the Engineering side only. If the military wants to see the changes implemented, this involves other departments (Puchasing, QA, Manufacturing).

If this is a custom job for the military, this process from change request to implementation can take 30 minutes to 3 days, again depending on the nature of the change. This is a fair guesstimate seeing that military jobs are on a tight schedule and budget.

Hope that answered some of your question.