Crises at the international level are dynamizing the consulting market, as business decision-makers are looking for even more thoughtful and cost-effective solutions. But consulting has also had to respond to market expectations, which means that even in the parts manufacturing sector, we now have to focus more and more on a specific, specialised area, one where professionalism really plays a key role. Today, the production of even the smallest elements and components has witnessed great change, especially because they significantly impact the production as a whole and the company’s image.
With the development of automation technology and the spread of CNC programming, the emphasis of component manufacturing in the last decade has shifted towards mass production. Modern machines make it possible to observe such tolerances and precision that in most cases no longer have any practical added value. However, this problem does not only occur in the case of large-scale production, but also in the case of production of the order of thousands, tens of thousands, which is a small series, and precisely because of the small number of units, companies do not take into account cost and time efficiency factors. As the global market for premium products and services grows at an ever-increasing rate, there is an increasing expectation of low-volume production with the best quality for specific purposes. Following the 2008 crisis, efficient manufacturing processes and optimisation projects came to the fore, a trend exacerbated by the economic crisis caused by COVID-19 due to supply chain bottlenecks and cost sensitivity of companies, not least the dynamic development of premium business. In 2021, companies will not be able to design and manufacture parts based on theoretical specifications whose raison d’être has been overridden by practical application for decades.
On the other hand, the predominant theoretical training in educational systems has also led to engineers responsible for component planning to design with expectations, tolerances, and materials that are out of touch with reality and unnecessary in practical installation and use. These plans, in turn, increase customer costs by orders of magnitude in both mass production and small series production, and pose a serious risk to maintaining business continuity. However, a responsible decision-maker cannot risk a production shutdown due to a defective part, causing a serious loss of material and company prestige.
As a result, there is a strong demand in the market for experts who, building on their decades of experience, bring the highest level of expertise into a company’s processes at the design stage, helping to avoid unnecessary expectations, inefficient processes, and decades-old standards. Thus enabling a cost- and time-efficient manufacturing process.
AREAS OF CONSULTATION
Within the field of consulting, we distinguish three main areas in line with market expectations.
COMPONENT MANAGEMENT REVIEW
This process monitors and evaluates a company’s activities related to the production and procurement of parts, its decision-making mechanisms, quality level, and cost-effectiveness. The reliable organisation of part production and strict adherence to deadlines influence the image and reliability of the company in the view of its partners. The selection of the most suitable materials in terms of price/value ratio, and the design and production of components that can be implemented and used in practice in terms of form and quality, directly affect the company’s profitability. COMPONENT MANAGEMENT REVIEW clearly presents the effectiveness of the processes currently used by the company, the most significant risk points, and proposes changes to the processes that can improve the reliability and profitability of the company.
COMPONENT DESIGN CONSULTING
In the last twenty years, it can be clearly observed that engineering training places less emphasis on testing and developing practical professionals. There are institutions where practical training has been almost completely relegated to the background; there are schools where efforts are being made to maintain the level set in the past, but due to market and generational changes, a regression can also be observed here. As a result, there is an increasing gap between the theoretical components designed by younger engineers (including the expectations associated with them, the choice of material), and their feasibility and implications in practice. It is a fundamental market phenomenon that the relationship between the customer and manufacturer is strained, as in many cases, there is no timely consultation. With this, the ordering company faces serious additional costs, slipped deadlines, and in many cases, unreliable performance. COMPONENT PLANNING CONSULTING enters the process on the customer side during the planning phase. Specialists with several decades of experience in practical implementation can provide serious support to the customer’s engineers as early as the first component design phase. Professional advice covers not only the practical feasibility of the parts, but also the choice of materials if required. The extensive experience on the part manufacturer’s side lowers material costs while providing the same functionality, quality, and fulfilment of the customer’s goal; serious cost reduction can be achieved with proper advice.
COMPLEX COMPONENT PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT
Few businesses can state that they can readily handle the complex process of component manufacturing. The production of components, the design and production of necessary tools, the knowledge of the surface treatment process work related to these processes, the professional background for their construction, and the transfer of extensive practical experience all translate to significant time and cost savings for the customer. COMPLEX COMPONENT PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT provides this complex consulting and process management to the customer. Complex management ensures that responsibilities are clearly defined, and accountability is straightforward. This provides serious manufacturing support on the customer side.
Component manufacturing is worth taking seriously because it greatly affects production efficiency, so proper management generates time and money. Although they say that we should not make mountains out of molehills, it is also dangerous to look down and push a mole aside, especially if that mole is worth gold.