RPF Technical Services
CASE STUDY 5
How investment in a comprehensive Project Management contract saved a company
significant on-going production costs, enabling them to improve their profitability.
Problem:
Client ‘D’, a young OEM supplying LCD displays to the aircraft industry, secured a large contract for three different pieces of equipment, but lacked the resources to fulfil it. Having successfully completed various PCB design projects for them previously, the OEM asked for our help in manufacturing the equipment. The biggest problem was that the equipment was extremely labour-intensive, which included numerous complicated cable forms and wiring. In addition, there was insufficient data to facilitate manufacturing.
Solution:
RPF suggested undertaking a Project Management task to improve the design and to supply a full document package to aid production, prior to commencing manufacture. The OEM agreed to our suggestion. The equipment was dissected to the most basic level and plans formulated for each stage. Lengthy consultations with the OEM then ensued to ensure all performance criteria could be met and to gain additional information missing from the data pack they had supplied.
The equipment then underwent a considerable internal re-design, adding new control and connector PCB’s and reducing the labour-intensive cable forms and wiring, replacing them with a ‘plug and play’ type system. Alternative suppliers were found for certain component parts that also reduced costs significantly. The Client was kept informed and consulted throughout the entire process. When the new design had been completed, tested and approved, manufacturing commenced.
Result:
The Project Management task resulted in a significant reduction of production man-hours as well as cost reductions in components. A full data pack was provided to the OEM and the manufacturing task resulted in the successful completion of their contract.
The data pack provided is still being used by our Client, who has grown considerably in the past eighteen months, and improved their profitability as a result of our input to the above project.