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The critical steps in promptly implementing Engineering changes is firstly getting the 'Initiation of the Request' analysed and evaluated accurately for cost Vs benefit and its intended impact on business or the customer. Simply put, it is required to justify whether the change is required or not in the first place! One needs to look at whether it is an individuals requirement or an organisational one. Once this (ECR - Engineering Change Request) is defined and approved, the 3 major phases of 'Planning', 'Execution (Engineering Change Order (ECO)' and 'Release of Engineering change (Engineering Change Notice)' begins. During these phases, all updates of drawings, Bill of Materials, Specifications etc.. and final review are carried out.
The potential failure modes could be as follows:-
1. Not defining the initiation process well.
2. Large number of approvers.
3. Number of objects controlled and groups involved.
4. Downstream groups who are going to implement changes not being alerted in advance about the impending changes coming their way or being 'dumped' with the change notification. Keep them involved!
5. Change records not being maintained with a clear start and finish that enables clear measurement of benefits due to the engineering changes.
Last but not the least, I would like to conclude by saying that one of the most important aspects of any change is that it would be opposed due to the inertia in any organisation caused by people! Therefore, the people involved and their mindset could be one of the biggest causes of failure. People have to be carried along with the changes to make it successful! This would not be mentioned in any books and comes out of experience!
