Designing a product that is easy to manufacture at minimum cost is a delicate exercise. A poorly conceived industrialisation process spells certain disaster within a few months, even if your product is a commercial success!
You will struggle to produce and deliver, and while you burn through your energy and cash trying to produce quality, you will frustrate your sales teams and your customers, who will have to wait to benefit from the promised offer.
A methodical and rigorous industrialisation process avoids these pitfalls. It should be planned as soon as the proof of concept is validated and ends when production becomes routine.
A well-managed industrialisation process begins with three key workstreams:
Assess the full scope of requirements without overlooking regulatory constraints.
However simple an industrial product may be, it must comply with European standards and regulations in order to be CE certified. European directives are complex and increasingly demanding.
If you intend to market your product outside the CE zone, find out about local regulations. Technical standards are generally unified, but acceptance thresholds differ from one region to another.
Choose an industrial scenario in line with your ambition and the skills at your disposal.
If your expertise lies in product design but not in manufacturing, it is better to consider outsourcing production from the outset. Some partners can even manage the entire supply chain for you.
And be clear early on about the fundamentals: production capacity, production batch sizes and seasonality of demand.
Also take care not to become too dependent on your subcontractor; it is important to plan for alternative suppliers from the outset.
Do not hesitate to go through simulation and prototyping phases.
Late modifications are the most costly. They will be all the easier to absorb if you have built a climate of trust with your partners.
Once these workstreams are complete, you will still need to succeed in ramping up and moving to series production.
Remember to manage risks to minimise setbacks throughout development. Experience has taught me that Murphy's law always applies: anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.
Xavier Schuster
Consultant at SXE Consulting. Industrial consulting firm based in Luxembourg, 25 years of experience in operational excellence.
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