Effective Transition from Design to Production (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781420046861)

Taking a new product from the design stage to large-scale production in a profitable, efficient manner can challenge the processes of even the most advanced companies. Lapses in these processes drive up the cost of new products, and hinder their launch into the marketplace. Effective Transition from Design to Production provides an expeditious roadmap that considers every phase of production. It identifies customer requirements, discusses product concept, and covers master scheduling and risk analysis, as well as design considerations, prototypes, and tooling essentials. Among other things, it also explains how to identify and augment facility requirements, initiate production ramp up, evaluate packaging, and institute defect control.

Takes an Integrative Approach that Allows Managers to Understand the Big Picture

As the author introduces and explains each stage, he also offers guidance as to when to involve outside parties including potential providers of raw materials and subcontractors who may take part in the production and assembly process. He presents the seven stages of the production process-- system design, detailed design, manufacturing planning, production readiness, low rate initial production, and production--in sequential order, examining how each one leads to the other. This allows readers to not only grasp the basic concepts crucial for success at each stage, but also to visualize the big picture so that they can anticipate problems, eliminate inefficiency, and make informed managerial decisions.