Seeing is believing

What started as a system for improving internal engineering change order (ECO) control for existing products at high tech manufacturer FujiFilm Electronic Imaging (FFEI), has evolved into an integrated backbone handling all new product introduction (NPI), not only covering internal collaborative design but also procurement and supplier management. Indeed in just three years FFEI has transformed its processes company-wide, and the result has been new products much faster and better to market and volume, with typically four to six weeks shaved off earlier cycle times, and an entry into lucrative higher volume markets. FFEI is a £50 million turnover company headquartered in Hemel Hempstead, with manufacturing in Peterborough. It designs, develops and manufactures high resolution electronic imaging systems and scanners for the publishing market. Back in 1997 the firm’s main problem was engineering change control, which was paper-based and manual, with the usual product change notes clogging the system, sometimes getting stuck for weeks, even getting lost, and causing delays. At the time, the company felt it needed a PDM (product data management) system, but not one that classically was going to take months or even years and millions of dollars to implement. It selected developer Agile’s system, which was being pitched as just that – and £100,000 and six weeks later, early in 1998, the firm was up and running. Dave Arnold, FFEI’s business process engineering manager, says the time scale was achieved by deliberately making no attempt to migrate all data from older products at first, but instead focusing specifically on one product due to be launched that year. It was also implemented stand-alone, with around 20 key users across research and development, manufacturing and support – and no other links. Within the first year the company achieved its first objective of halving the cost of product information management, by axing its documentation centre. But that was just the start. With its limited PDM soon integrated to the then BPCS ERP system from SSA GT, FFEI also started to see substantial improvements in speed of handling change across the company. The firm’s scanners involve a complex mix of mechanical engineering, lasers, optics, electronics and software development, so any change involves several engineering disciplines as well as manufacturing, procurement, production planning and the rest. Yet, with the system in place, it was now able to support 24 hour turnaround for all functions if need be, and even complex change could be accomplished within 10 days. It was a considerable early achievement. Arnold says the first year also demonstrated that doing it electronically resulted in improved accuracy. Although he can’t quantify that, he says the simple fact of having information instantly available on desktops (120 users across engineering, manufacturing, commercial and customer service were rapidly added), with workflow driving action and ECO audit trails for all to see, made understanding intuitive. With the experience gained from its internal collaborative inter-departmental operations, the stage was set for taking the system further. Arnold says FFEI wanted to expand the remit of the system into external supplier collaborative design working, and push it towards new product introduction management. So late in 1999 and into 2000, the firm set up six of its key suppliers, initially with local Agile Windows client software (but latterly web client) so they could view controlled information over a VPN (web-based, secure virtual private network). Interestingly, it wasn’t just the PCB contractor; sheet metal manufacturers and machine shops were also in the mix, and it’s telling that FFEI now selects its suppliers on their ability to participate electronically. “We gave them online access to released data relevant to them, so they could pull out, for example, the correct drawings with the ECOs.” Now they get access to released drawings; they collaborate on pre-release design, participate in the concurrent NPI and ECO processes and provide feedback and costing information, as well as being notified immediately of release. That done, during 2000 and 2001 the system was further extended to include quantities, call-offs and the like, as well as engineering design. FFEI had by then changed its ERP to SAP, and the Agile to SAP integration (via Siemens Business Services ChangeCast), which previously served to streamline the BoM cut-over from engineering design to manufacturing planning, now also provides the links for supplier management. Costings, inventory, material allocations and the like, remain the preserve of purchasing, and are dealt with through SAP, but the web link is via Agile, which acts as both the central information repository, holding all product content data, and project manager, controlling the processes and who sees what, when. With this framework, Arnold’s team is now able to approach NPI with instant involvement of the whole extended team – engineering development, manufacturing, business and product management and suppliers. Arnold says the system has been the lynch pin for moving to core team working with an emphasis not only on getting product designed and out quickly – although this remains key – but also on lifecycle management. It does so in several ways. First it provides the environment in which to define requirements: it hosts the skeleton BoM and looks after its build-up in terms of pre-release designs, materials, design for manufacturability and the rest, allowing the product to evolve throughout the disciplines. Design itself is in SDRC Ideas on the MCAD side and Veribest for ECAD: FFEI has not gone for integration here, instead linking files to records, and copying design data into Agile on release – a process that Arnold describes as “not onerous”. Thus part objects in the Agile BoM get populated from CAD, and as the BoM builds, it’s automatically replicated into SAP. From an NPI/ECO perspective, what’s interesting is not only that this has streamlined the processes, but that it has provided a structured, yet open, interactive and non proscriptive environment in which to work. And that applies all the way from product definition, through engineering confirmation and the build of example products, to manufacturing proving, and finally the major review before commercial release and ramp to volume. Key benefits of that, he says, have been twofold. First it’s meant speed and agility, with everyone involved and getting the information they need early – including procurement, remembering that some special lenses, for example, are on four month lead times. “We’re all singing from the same hymn sheet,” he quips. Second, it’s been instrumental in enabling a creative, more responsive design environment but still with checks and balances in the background through the system’s audit trails and workflow. “Because of the audit reports we can err on the side of openness, without losing the controls.” What does that mean in terms of return on what has now been a £200,000-plus investment? Arnold concedes it’s difficult to give hard numbers. He reiterates that the NPI cycle time has been cut by around four to six weeks, and says: “Time to market and time to volume are critical for us… This is about improving on the opportunity cost and getting to market and volume faster.” But he does add another couple of benefits worth dwelling on. First, when faced recently with the challenge of moving into what, for it, were high volume, low complexity products, like its Lanovia Quattro scanner, FFEI found that the processes and connectivity embedded in the system not only coped, but helped and supported the evolution easily. Second, when new products are at concept stage, again the structure of the system and the fullness of its data repository have meant that scoping change has become much easier, with all parties likely to be involved seeing the implications up front.