While transport electrification is inevitable, this industry requires a significant transformation and adaptation of products. Indeed, reengineering is necessary to optimize products and make them high-performing. To accelerate your transition to electrification, we propose three strategies focused on the development of new technologies and new suppliers.
- Accelerate the transformation of products and systems
Before beginning the transformation of products and adapting them to electrification, you must ensure you fully understand the impacts of the changes that will be made to the current product design. To do this, perform a comparative analysis of the current and final product to identify the main characteristics, requirements and technical specifications of the final product. In addition, adopt an agile product development strategy that includessimulation and design in the manufacturing processand collaborate with specialized experts to help you save time. - Capitalize on supplier expertise in product development
It is crucial to partner withstrategic procurement partnersto give you the necessary capacity when needed. Ultimately, your suppliers want to sell their products, so they will be willing to provide the resources needed for product development and offer technical design expertise. Capitalize on their knowledge and rely on collaborative engineering (Joint Design) by integrating suppliers upstream in your product development process. This will give you access to new solutions that will optimize manufacturing costs and save development time.
How to find these strategic partners? Carry out market monitoring and supplier visits to find those that are dynamic, open and, above all, innovative. Analyze your supplier portfolio and identify those that perform well. Also ask your internal resources to identify the best suppliers who meet the qualification criteria and quality requirements. - Work on developing manufacturing capacity in parallel
In parallel with the product development process, establish a manufacturing strategy to identify what you want to insource or outsource based on your capacity and investment plans. First, identify your company’s strengths, its manufacturing capacity and its production capability. Next, simulate the impacts of the new product on your operations and consider different manufacturing scenarios following this simulation. All these steps will help guide your make-or-buy decisions. You will also need to prepare a manufacturing transformation and capacity increase plan to evolve your plant while the new product evolves.
The success of your transition to electrification depends on several key factors, including the multidisciplinary nature of your team and its ability to work collaboratively. In addition, integrated project management and the integration of the supplier network into your product development process will save you time. With a well-established game plan and the right experts, you will be able to significantly accelerate your transition to electrification. If you need support to implement an effective manufacturing strategy or to evolve your products, contact the experts atMerkur!
About
MERKURis a firm of experts in manufacturing performance and innovation, for more than 25 years. From strategy to execution, its sole objective is to make Quebec manufacturing companies more competitive by offering innovative solutions in product development, operational excellence, manufacturing engineering, automation and smart factories. Merkur is proud to contribute to Quebec’s innovation and productivity!
KHROME PRODUIT TRANSPORTis a manufacturing integrator located in Drummondville specializing in the design and manufacture of train car interiors and exteriors. Its strength comes from its strong engineering capacity and manufacturing agility. Among its client portfolio are major contractors such as Alstom, Bombardier Transport and Kawasaki Rail Car.
SYNKRO is software developed by Merkur and designed especially for high-performing manufacturers. It collects, classifies, and then distributes the right data to the right recipients at the right time in real time. SYNKRO gives you a real view of your operations. SYNKRO is the software solution that finally connects your shop floor and your offices!
