Solution to the Modern Technology Environment
by Abdulrahim A. Mayajan
In the 1990s, rapid change in products is becoming a way of life. Increasing rates of technological and economic change, and the extension of environmental and product liability regulations are contributing to the acceleration of product change on a worldwide basis. Customers expect improved quality, increased variety, improved performance, as an added value bonus rather than special features which "must be paid."
As technology continues to increase, both the products themselves and the processes used to produce those products have become increasingly complex. As the complexity increases, opportunities for the introduction of errors increase, as do the impacts of these errors if they remain uncorrected. Companies are realizing that the continued introduction of new products, coupled with the ongoing evolution of existing products, results in an information management burden.
As design processes and other people and processes become dependent upon the design information, a high percentage of late changes is caused by a lack of communication between departments and clear guidelines on how to accommodate changes and to identify all items affected. The creation and maintenance of product configurations and their supporting documents has long been a critical issue for aerospace and defense contractors and discrete manufacturers. It has also become a key concern for those in regulated industries such as telecommunications, utilities, transportation, chemical, pharmaceutical, health care and medical devices.
Institute of Configuration Management (CMII) is the answer to tackle complexity, burden, lack, and critical issue, which are highlighted in the preceding paragraphs. The more rapid the change, the greater the need for CM. Thus, CMII is very important for continuing improvement, subsequently, a key factor for survival in the world market today. A critical aspect of configuration management is the management of change that is performed against the product structure and the supporting product definition information. The CMII closed-loop process is desperately needed for controlling the change of product's configuration.
CM as Seen by Others
• a "pivotal technology" in modern organizations.
• an important "building block;" how it is accomplished dictates the success of other functions.
• a "communications bridge" between the designer and the rest of the world.
• a "value added process" in today's contemporary organization.
• a "behind the scenes process."
• the "missing link" in today's organizations.
• the "tangible value" it adds to all stages of the product life cycle.
Engineer Abdulrahim A. Mayajan is currently in the Configuration Management Section at the Maintenance and Technical Support Depot for the Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces. He holds CMII certification and is President of the CMII User Group in Saudi Arabia.
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