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Assignment

• Analysis of the current processes in relation to the CMII standard
• Determining the strengths and weaknesses in the method of working
• Plan the appropriate tasks to eliminate the weaknesses
• Implementation of the planned tasks in small steps.

Approach

• Reducing the development cycle time of new products by avoidance of (corrective) refinements
• Introduction of product configuration to manage complex systems, e.g. lighting control systems (SW and HW)
• Improvement of the documentation by co-ownership (for each document there are at least two responsible people)
• Introduction of a formal change process with fast-track (simplified) method for software and electronics
• Implementation of a suitable tool to manage the documentation and to automate the change process

The new ways of working were developed in large part in a small core team. Where it seemed sensible, Key Users were involved in the development process. The Chief Electronics Engineer was trained so that the fundamentals of the CMII standard were understood. A wider training of employees in the project would have been advantageous, but was not done, as the people concerned were fully deployed in development projects.

Results

The introduction of product configuration and simultaneous deployment of the Co-ownership principle has resulted in shorter development cycle times. At the same time the product quality was improved. This is now always obvious with the introduction of a Problem Reporting System.

Outlook

The change process is currently be deployed in a simplified form, in order to collect experiences/data. The implementation of a PLM tool is also being planned.