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How about getting rid of the documentation altogether?
Distilling down the process of building complicated
tubes (yes, this was for rocket science) to it's essence,
I managed to eliminate the ME's documentation.
Old process:
Design tubes, transfer drawing to ME, ME create separate
documentation for each tube design, distribute docs,
re-create tube bending data from drawing, release docs
& build. 3 weeks from design to build.
New process:
Design & add some ME information (trained designers)
to the design documentation (CAD drawing). Convert design
data directly to build data & download to shop.
Shop builds on demand with no paperwork, computer data
only. 3 days from design to build.
I condensed the information that the writer added to
the process, taught the engineers how to do the ME job,
and eliminated all custom docs, leaving only generic
docs that applied to all tubes. The only thing that
changes was the tube data, process remained the same.
Engineers could design, build, & test tubing in less
time than it took for the ME in the old process to
write the docs.
Don't forget to look for the opportunity to simplify
to process to eliminate the docs themselves. Yes, it
may eliminate our job, but allows us to go on to
something else and provide what our customer need.
In this case, a bent tube.
CB
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