Designing for Profitability



Mitch Free

Engineers face new job pressures that they have never seen before. They are forced to do more with less and still design products that will compete globally. They need to respond quickly to changing technologies, customer needs, and the continual demand for new products.

As these changes have gone on, the biggest change may be what they are responsible for. Instead of only designing a part that was functional and manufacturable, engineers are now asked to source the parts they design. In fact, nearly half the RFQs (requests for quote) on MFG.com come from engineers; the rest come from sourcing professionals and procurement folks. That is an amazing leap over just a year or two ago when the buy on our site was almost exclusively provided by the purchasing pros. This concerns many in the engineering community who hear from company executives that the products they design and the decisions they make during the design to production process will impact manufacturing, marketing, customer service as well as the company’s shareholders and customers.

Many factors have caused this change in an engineer’s responsibilities. Recently, companies have become “brand owners,” meaning that they outsource most of their manufacturing to contract manufacturers. As companies continued to outsource, the “experts” that designers turned to for help are no longer in the office — they are across the country or across the world.

What I recommend to engineers struggling with this new responsibility is to incorporate the tools of a process I call “designing for profitability.” I am sure many of you are familiar with “designing for manufacturability”; it’s the easy first step. Truly, anything can be manufactured — that doesn’t mean it should, and it doesn’t mean it will be profitable for the company.

What is new about designing for profitability is that engineers who design for profitability consult closely with manufacturing engineers, machine shop personnel, and other component suppliers from the absolute outset of the design process. Not only does this ensure that the design is manufacturable, but engineers and team members work together to cut the time, cost, and complexity from making a part well before a design is finalized.

Invite your suppliers to participate in your design development or to propose design alternatives in the quoting process. Welcome their expertise. Savvy manufacturers will provide it free. Their advice can save you hundreds of thousands of dollars over the life of a product in reduced production and warranty costs. You can reward cooperative suppliers by giving them additional work and making them a member of your design review board.

Designing for profitability can and should be a win-win for all involved. You bring suppliers into the inner circle, leverage their expertise, and give them more work. The savings quickly add up within a single product over its lifecycle, and across all the products you make.

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While the role of the engineer will continue to change, utilizing these techniques may help you stay ahead of the curve. n
Mitch Free is the founder, president, and CEO of Atlanta-based MFG.com. Send your feedback here.