Search Results

New supplier / manufacturer relationship are necessary to produce products quickly, cost-effectively, and with features expected by the customer. However, the need for a new relationship is not universally accepted and endorsed. Resistance can be minimized through supplier self-assessment (such as Ford Motor Company's web-based instruments), management initiatives, and incentives. Trust and sharing are hallmarks. This strategy requires a new workplace paradigm affecting culture and people issues. Teams, extend across companies, share ideas and innovations. Decisions need to be mutually beneficial and the long-term value, for supplier and manufacturer, needs to be considered.

Engineering productivity and customer-focused outcomes are ongoing concerns for managers. In order to be effective, engineering departments need to be challenging, satisfying, and productive places to work. Attracting and keeping talented engineers are constant worries in an era of uncertainty caused by competitiveness, downsizing, and restructuring. Design for the Workplace: A Manager's Guide focuses on providing maximum management support and encouragement. Engineering managers can use several strategies to create an effective workplace, including temporary job assignments, work teams, communication, training and career development, and motivation. Thoughtful planning and careful implementation are necessary for any strategy to be viable.

Successful simultaneous engineering requires a team with a high degree of engineering skill and experience, knowledge of the latest materials, processes, and methodologies; and it also requires finely honed people skills. Designing the workplace for people (DFP) can facilitate collaboration, increase quality and other significant metrics, and lead to an enhanced product greatly appreciated by the customer. Design for People applies the principles of performance technology to select and retain outstanding engineers, systematically train and educate for future competency needs, and reward and motivate through traditional and non-traditional approaches. Examples of best practice enable other organizations to apply the concepts of DFP.