Operations executives in companies are being asked to make efficient use of capital and be ready for product commercialization from the ‘get go’ by driving optimization in their product operations processes. Yet, this can be a difficult task — if you don’t have the right resources and processes available to make this happen.

Today’s operations management challenges

Since 70%-80% of the products costs are being determined in the engineering and design phase of the product, success often depends on having effective design control and engineering change processes in place. Early and effective collaboration between engineering and operations throughout the product commercialization activities is also imperative.

In addition, operations must have efficient management of quality system processes that expands beyond the company’s boundaries into the entire supply chain. Processes such as nonconforming materials, new product introduction, supplier qualification, etc. are critical to meet demanding margin targets.

Executives in operations must have access to relevant process metrics and trends so that they can keep their fingers on the operational effectiveness of their product commercialization activities. They need to be operationally efficient while, in many cases, maintaining compliance with various regulatory standards (e.g. RoHS, WEEE, FDA, ISO).

Operations executives must also focus on specific core competencies and partnering for product design and product manufacturing with other companies. This environment is creating a strong need for sharing of accurate product information both within the enterprise as well as throughout the supply chain.

3rd generation PLM enables better operational excellence

The good news is that there are now software products available that help better optimize all aspects of product operations. One such solution is QuadRite’s RitePro, which provides a built-in, best practice based information model, business rules and use cases to address the challenges listed above.  RitePro is an out-of-the-box application that can be deployed within days, instead of months. As a fully web-native application that is offered as a cloud-based or in-house solution, it minimizes the IT support need and enables ease of information access and sharing across the extended enterprise.

RitePro includes:

  • Managing Standard Operating Procedures
  • Managing Product Definitions and Configurations
  • Managing Manufacturing Specifications and Assembly Instructions
  • Managing Fixture and Tool Specifications and Equipment Calibration Process
  • Managing Work Instructions
  • Managing Supplier Qualifications and Contracts and Review
  • Managing Product Support and Maintenance Processes
  • Managing Quality Management Processes and Engineering Change Processes
  • Process Metrics, Trends and Exceptions Reporting

To learn more about RitePro, and how it can improve your operations management, click here.

Photo credit: Bigstock

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