The design transfer and validation process is the crucial bridge between research and development (R&D) planning and project execution. This stage ensures that designs are accurately translated into production, minimizing costly delays and ensuring product quality. Recently, I had the chance to chat with former process engineer, Josh Goodman, from one of the world’s largest tier-one suppliers in the industry. His personal experiences in this role have led to many valuable learning moments and unique perspectives on what it takes to be successful in such a demanding job.
Understanding Automotive Parts Manufacturing
Before we dive into the conversation, let’s break down the intricacies involved in operating as a tier-one supplier in automotive manufacturing. A tier-one supplier in automotive manufacturing is a company that provides parts or services directly to an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), such as Ford, Toyota, or BMW. Our interviewee oversaw the entire manufacturing process, from the initial metal pieces to the final assembly of radiators on a semi-automatic line. This combines both manual and automated processes, meaning certain tasks are performed by machines, while others require human intervention. His operation was running 24/7 and resulted in the production of nearly 3,000 radiators a day.
These radiators start as pieces of metal but are then welded together to form coils that allow coolant to run through the pipes and cool down the transmission. This process includes assembling an oil cooler into a plastic tank, attaching hose hook-ups, and then sealing that tank onto the metal radiator itself. Drain plugs are then installed manually using a drill — the entire process takes about 30 seconds on average. Even a small change in production time can save or cost millions, highlighting the importance of efficiency.
The Design Problem
During the release of a new car model, a design change in the drain plug posed a significant challenge. The design change aimed to prevent new drain plugs from
being used in older car models, and vice versa. This proactive approach was intended to minimize future errors like using the wrong plugs. However, there was a significant factor that the design team overlooked: the drill no longer automatically fit into the plugs to screw them into place.
The older design allowed operators to complete the full assembly of installing cooler, the hose hook-ups, and the drain plugs into place in roughly 30 seconds before passing the piece along. This newly designed drain plug required a bit more human intervention.
The drill had to be lined up perfectly with the bit to screw it into place. What may not seem like a huge change made a 30-second operation into a 45-second one — a 50% increase in production time.
You may be wondering, “So what? What's another 15 seconds in production time?”
Well, this increase in production time has many implications.
- The supplier must accept a significant decrease in units produced each day.
- The supplier has to make a massive shift in how the manufacturing line operates to combat the higher production time.
- The supplier has to hire more staff to keep their production efficient.
At the end of the day, all these adjustments would cost thousands to millions of dollars. Josh reported this back to the design team, and they ended up delaying the new radiator design by a full year, leaving the new car to require the older radiator design. So, what seemed like a minor and proactive change in design ended in a huge problem for R&D and the company's reputation.
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Avoiding Design Transfer Pitfalls with Minitab Engage
This experience underscored the importance of thorough validation and review during the design transfer stage. If the design and manufacturing teams had communicated effectively, they could have anticipated the issue and avoided moving forward with the newly designed drain plug. When I asked Josh how he went about avoiding this issue in the future he said he was fortunate that his next company staffed a design team in the same factory, acting as intermediaries between the two teams.
The key takeaway from this experience is the critical role of communication and collaboration in preventing design problems. Not every manufacturer can afford to have a whole design engineering team in-house to combat these occurrences, as seen at this plant. So, how could this have been avoided? Minitab Engage.
Minitab Engage is a comprehensive platform designed to manage, share, and track improvement and innovation initiatives from idea generation through execution. It provides features for crodd-functional communication, collaboration, and project coordination, which are essential through the design transfer and validation process.
With Minitab Engage, the design and manufacturing teams could have used its robust set of features to identify potential issues early on. This list of features includes:
- CDOV (Concept, Design, Optimize, Verify): This roadmap provides a clear, step-by-step framework to ensure that all aspects of product development are thoroughly considered and addressed. You can identify and mitigate potential risks early in the process, reducing the likelihood of costly errors or delays and helping ensure that all regulatory requirements are met.
- Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA): This feature helps teams anticipate potential failures and their impacts, allowing for proactive measures to be taken.
- Project Prioritization Matrix: The matrix provides a clear and objective-based way to evaluate projects, ensuring that all team members understand the decision-making process. By involving all relevant stakeholders in defining criteria and scoring projects, the tool ensures that everyone is aligned on what is most important for the organization.
- Process Maps: Use a process map to illustrate the sequential flow and the relationship of steps in a process or procedure. If they had mapped the process, they might have noticed the step in the process that ended up failing. In addition, it would be useful to have that process map when working with FMEA.
Minitab Engage's ability to facilitate real-time communication and feedback would have ensured that both teams were aligned and prepared for the screw’s design change, allowing for rework to be down or changes to be made on the manufacturing floor, ultimately preventing the delay.
Learn More About Minitab Engage and how to build a culture of continuous improvement at your organization.
Wrapping up my conversation with Josh, I asked him what he would say was the biggest takeaway from his experience. He shared that to prevent similar issues in the future, it's crucial to foster open communication between design and manufacturing teams. Encourage collaboration and regular check-ins to ensure alignment before you reach the end of your process. It is much more challenging to react when a process is nearing the end of completion, rather than at the beginning. Utilizing features and technologies in Minitab Engage that facilitate this for you makes it simple.