PROFITABLE Process Engineering

Robust Manufacturing Processes Win.

One aspect of winning in this context is that robust manufacturing processes are highly profitable for the process owners. Let’s look at an example of how great process engineering creates higher profits and happier customers. A leading manufacturer encountered repeated and serious end-use customer problems. These problems cost this leading manufacturer multiple millions of dollars and greatly annoyed the Fortune 10 OEM who was purchasing these products. The root cause of the failure was identified. It was determined that an improvement in the material properties of the problematic part was the permanent solution to the problem. Mathematical modeling was used to understand the previous customer failures and suggest exactly what material properties needed to be improved. Many lab-scale experiments were conducted to scan a whole universe of possible materials. These possible solutions were examined to see how manufacturable they were and what reliability was provided to the end-use customer. A handful of attractive potential solutions were moved forward into pilot-scale testing. The pilot scale testing created an opportunity to produce test parts for customer evaluation. Scores of pilot scale trials were conducted. The key concerns were manufacturability, profitability, and robustness of the solution for the end-use customers. A material was identified that satisfied all of the key concerns and full-scale trials commenced. Existing manufacturing assets were used to minimize cost and maximize profitability. The resulting manufacturing process was robust, despite it making a completely new material. The robustness was an outcome of close partnership with the operators and a relentless focus on process robustness. The process was engineered and adjusted to gracefully and consistently tolerate the variations in incoming raw materials. The end result of the project:

• A permanent fix for the chronic end-use customer problem.

• Sales of tens of millions of dollars of these parts for the manufacturer.

• An OEM customer who was very happy to not deal with this problem anymore.

• Satisfied end-use customers.

My main learning was the power of Process Engineering Excellence to create important product breakthroughs of significant importance to key customers.

---

YOUR CHALLENGE THIS WEEK

Please think about your process engineering projects over the past 18 months, considering both research and manufacturing focused efforts…

• What has the financial impact been for those efforts? What has the ROI been for those efforts?

• Are there projects that have a compelling ROI that you have not acted on? Why are these opportunities not being acted on?

I’d enjoy hearing about your organization’s “Process Engineering Profits”! As always, please email me and I’ll get back to you promptly.

All the Best, Marty

---