Engineering Change Management in the Engineer-to-Order Production Environment: Insights from Two Case Studies

Abstract

Engineering changes (ECs) are part of any Engineer-to-order (ETO) project. The engineering change management (ECM) literature provides various tools, methods and best practices, and this study investigates ECM practices in the ETO production environment. Through two exploratory case studies, we identify five main ECM challenges; EC impact analysis, EC data management, internal and external collaboration and communication, and EC post-implementation review. Both companies have implemented the main ECM steps recommended in literature but there are considerable weaknesses in the execution of the post-implementation review process. More ETO cases are needed to confirm the findings and investigate how ECM tools and approaches vary by different dimensions.

Status of engineering change management in the engineer-to-order production environment: insights from a multiple case study

“…This paper seeks to address this question by investigating ECM research in the context of the Engineer-To-Order (ETO) production environment. The paper extends previous research conducted by the authors in this area (Iakymenko et al 2018).…”

Improving Change Management in Large Engineering Projects: A Case Study

“…The changes can be triggered by the various stakeholders (internal and external), including customers, suppliers, internal company departments, government bodies, and even market drivers (Iakymenko et al, 2018). In fact, change can not only be triggered by, but can also affect all the major business functions, such as manufacturing, purchasing, marketing, and after-sales support, illustrating its relevance in the project context (Jarratt et al, 2011).…”

“…The organisation needs to ensure that the change is possible and that there is sufficient time, materials and resources to implement it (Iakymenko et al, 2018). The change impact assessment allows evaluation of the organisational capability to achieve the desired level of change and to move from the current state to the future state (PMI, 2013).…”

“…In addition, the scope of the change is usually greater than originally planned. For example, the impact of adding an isolated part or component to a product is relatively easy to determine at the beginning of the design process (Iakymenko et al, 2018). However, at a later stage, the insertion of a component may conflict with others or even be incompatible, requiring rework, material waste, more people involved, and resulting in higher costs and delays (Iakymenko et al, 2018;Jarratt et al, 2011).…”

“…However, the assessments can still be incorrect and it is positive and recommended that the project team uses supporting tools and methods to make more accurate estimations (Iakymenko et al, 2018).…”