The first phase of the introduction of products, plant and process technologies, which are to be used for series production at several locations worldwide, consists of a detailed project definition. The project objectives, which are usually defined in the three dimensions of time, costs and performance, play a key role here.
In the case of the introduction of products, plant and process technologies, this means:
- setting up the production facilities to SOP of the end products,
- maintaining the respective production costs while taking quality targets into account and
- creating sufficient capacity to produce the targeted number of units.
The implementation of these goals must succeed at the first attempt. After all, failure would not only be costly due to downtime, but could also lead to a reduction in the order volume and even the loss of the order and the nomination for future orders.
In my opinion, four factors are particularly important here:
- the composition of the project management
- the transfer of expertise on validated production technologies and processes
1. put together a qualified project management team.
The project management is a decisive success factor when introducing production technology in plants that are spread across several locations worldwide - regardless of whether small series production or mass production is involved. In my opinion, project management should be entrusted to the manufacturing engineering team - provided that the members of the production engineering team have the following qualities:
A positive track record
Every member of the project management team should already have proven themselves and have a positive track record. That sounds like a matter of course. But in projects of high technical and social complexity, you can't do without it.
The proven ability to solve problems on the shop floor and communicate these solutions to the production teams is essential. This is not only for practical reasons, but is also important in order to be accepted when working in the respective production plant.
Therefore, when assembling the project management team, you should look for problem-solving skills in the series production of components and end products.
The ability to implement solutions
The second characteristic that members of the project management team should have is the demonstrated ability to implement solutions. After all, solutions to problems on site are useless if they are not tested and implemented under real production conditions.
In addition, members of the senior manufacturing engineering team must earn the trust of plant management and production staff at the respective site in order to be able to work successfully. This requires them to be able to implement their proposals.
Be able to maintain production
Thirdly, anyone who is a member of the project management team must be able to maintain production. If production comes to a standstill, growth targets in particular are at risk.
The senior manufacturing engineering team must therefore be able to develop new machines and technologies for series production, relocate them to the respective sites and introduce them there - if necessary, reorganizing the production processes.
The ability to restructure production units
Members of the production management team must be able to restructure production units if necessary and implement the changes. Experience has shown that problems will arise in individual production units during series production that can only be resolved by restructuring. If this does not succeed, it will hardly be possible to achieve the project goals on budget.
In-depth engineering expertise
In order to develop robust processes that guarantee the quality of the components and end products agreed with the customer in series production, in-depth engineering expertise is of course required in addition to management skills. This knowledge should cover three areas in particular, namely
- knowledge of the suppliers' most important process technologies,
- the quality requirements for the input materials as well as
- all in-house machines and systems and the corresponding production processes.
Exact knowledge of the system control
All members of the manufacturing engineering team must also have exact knowledge of the system control. Otherwise, the defined production targets cannot be achieved.
Ability to advise in special cases
In special cases, members of the project management team should also be able to act as in-house consultants to the production plant, namely in two areas:
- in a supporting role as consultants to the quality management in handling customer complaints or production in solving important, budget-relevant problems;
- in proactively developing innovative concepts to prepare the company for future challenges in the production.
2. Transfer the know-how.
A globally active company essentially has two options if it wants to transfer know-how and get new products ready for series production:
- the option of a decentralized introduction for which the individual plants themselves are responsible, or
- the centralized introduction accompanied by a central production technology team.
The main advantage of the centralized transfer of expertise is that problems that arise during the transfer can be solved more quickly. This is because the standardized production technology means that solutions can be worked on simultaneously at several locations and the best solution can ultimately be implemented worldwide.
But what is important in a centralized transfer of production technology?
Selecting qualified project management
The selection of qualified project management is crucial to the success of the transfer. The professional expertise of the manager is just as important as their leadership qualities. Ideally, he or she will have
- a sound engineering background,
- problem-solving skills in production,
- Leidenschaft für Innovationen,
- healthy pragmatism and
- the ability to act as a mentor to senior executives on the ground.
Experience has shown that this mix is crucial for acceptance by the respective production specialists.
Not least, the reporting level of the manager is also important: they should be at least at the same reporting level as the plant management and have their own budget or team. Only then will they have the necessary internal operational reach to take responsibility for decisions.
Create a central transfer team
Next, you should create a transfer team that is capable of developing, validating and transferring all necessary technologies, processes and procedures to the globally distributed production sites on time and, if necessary, carrying out the necessary training for employees on site. Accordingly, this team should consist of at least three operational units:
- Manufacturing Engineering
- Applications Engineering
- Global Quality Assurance
This team should bear full responsibility for the feasibility and performance of the transferred production technology under series conditions, to avoid responsibility being passed on in the event of failure.
When selecting team members, the focus should be on specialist and management skills in production. Language gaps, which can be filled by translators, are less important. If possible, the team should consist of a mix of experienced experts and young, eager-to-learn engineers or technicians.
Assemble a local reception team at each production site
A so-called technology reception team is responsible for adopting the production technology at each site and implementing it with the support of the transfer team. In addition, the local team will be responsible for ensuring robust and continuous production after the central transfer team has left the site. The members of the reception team should therefore cover the following areas:
- Prozess- und Produktionstechnik
- Lokale Qualitätssicherung
- Maintenance and infrastructure
- Occupational safety
Promoting team building
For the period of cooperation on site, both teams, the central transfer team and the local reception team, must be formed into one team. On the one hand, this requires a clear definition of the respective responsibilities. This also includes regularly setting goals for each team member and monitoring their implementation as well as carrying out any necessary training.
On the other hand, active team building should be carried out with the aim of establishing trust and respect within the team. This does not come for free: Rather, sufficient resources should be planned and allocated for this.
3. Build a local supplier base.
The third step in a global rollout of equipment, processes and products for series production at multiple locations is to build a local supplier base. The establishment of local supply chains serves to support the local production facilities.
This is because localizing the supplier base can reduce supply chain risks as much as possible. This is not only necessary for the mass production of components or end products. After all, supply chain bottlenecks would also affect production sites where only small batches are planned.
The second advantage of a local supplier base is the opportunity to reduce manufacturing costs and at the same time increase the efficiency of local production: both decisive factors when implementing local cost targets.
When building up a local supplier base, however, you should make sure that you do not lose strategically important expertise to the market. You should therefore only outsource products and services to local suppliers that are not of strategic importance for your value creation stages. However, identifying these requires comprehensive analysis. You should therefore initiate the corresponding make-or-buy decision processes as early as possible.
4. Take local conditions into account when putting together your launch teams.
The fourth and final step is to put together the launch teams, taking local conditions into account. This is because a different approach is required depending on the product, production location and target customer. Even if launch management is complex in detail, four scenarios can generally be distinguished:
- The development of globally distributed production sites
- The entry into the international market with competitive products
- Entering the international market with products that are not yet competitive
- Entering the international market with newly developed products
The development of globally distributed production sites
In the first scenario, further production sites are to be developed at globally distributed locations. The design, quality and price of these products are stable and also internationally competitive. The target is typically aftermarket customers. In this - most favorable - case, a small core team of qualified employees from the production and quality departments will be sufficient to accompany the preparations for the transfer of production technologies to the new locations.
Entering the international market with competitive products
In the second scenario, products whose design, quality and price are internationally competitive are to be launched on the international market. The target customers in this case are OEMs. The challenge is to transfer the production technology to the globally distributed production facilities in such a way that they can produce without any loss of quality. After all, the customer expects a level of quality to be maintained regardless of location.
To achieve this, an international launch team must be put together that can handle the technical and organizational details of the technology transfer. The launch team should also be able to train the local staff if they lack the training and experience of the employees at the original production site. Otherwise, it will not be possible to manufacture products of equivalent and consistent quality at the specified manufacturing costs.
Entering the international market with products that are not yet competitive
In the third scenario, locally manufactured products that cannot yet compete internationally are to be launched on the international market - with OEMs and/or aftermarket customers as the target.
The assumption here is that the local employees have the potential to manufacture the product in line with customer expectations. However, not only would the design have to be adapted to the requirements of the target customers, but also the quality, which ultimately has to remain unchanged from batch to batch. In this case, it is up to the Product Engineering team to adapt the design and validate it, as well as support the customer's release, while the Manufacturing Engineering team is responsible for the internal release of the product for production.
Entering the international market with newly developed products
In the fourth scenario, a newly developed product is to be produced at several globally distributed locations and the product is to be launched on the market in the same year.
The procedure here does not differ significantly from that of scenarios two and three. However, it may be necessary for the manufacturing engineering team to develop and validate an entirely new production technology and implement it promptly in series production - for example, to meet strict internal company cost targets or to satisfy high quality requirements on the part of the customer.
The challenge is therefore much greater than that of scenarios two and three, but it also contains an opportunity for growth and increased global competitiveness. This is because upgrading existing machines and/or developing new production machines and technologies is an important differentiator compared to the competition.
