Complexity Management
The effort for developing and improving products increases exponentially as they are getting technically more sophisticated or as their number of variants is growing. Radical steps will thus become inevitable in the end. Do not let it come to this – start narrowing down the complexity of your products in time. You wonder how to do this?
As a one-time Campaign?
Thorough inspection of critical products ideally leads to measures which promise to reduce complexity swiftly. Executing these measures is usually perceived as an “act of liberation”. However, the effect of this campaign will not be lasting…
As a sustaining Strategy!
More effective than a one-time complexity reduction is mastering complexity. Depending on your company specific goals and expectations (such as expediting time-to-market, improving product quality, or reducing fixed capital) there are very different measures which have to be composed properly for your individual complexity management.Take Advantage of the economic Crisis!
ZAGEL Consulting offers the right support for defining and implementing your
individual complexity management. Below you find additional information on
this.
Nevertheless sufficient internal resources are essential for such a project.
Unfortunately the key people are typically engaged in daily business. This is
why the current economic crisis offers a rare chance: use your available
resources, combine them with highly-skilled support and face up to
complexity!
Expenses for external consulting are extremely small compared to the achievable
results. Take advantage of this situation and arise stronger than ever from
this crisis!
Technical Expertise and Transformation Management
The implementation of complexity management changes the way of working in various enterprise areas – also outside product development. It furthermore impacts established work and communication habits, hence the “human factor” plays an important role. The introduction of complexity management is therefore a demanding transformation process that requires a balanced combination of both technical expertise and transformation skills.
In order to identify the reasons for complexity, technical consulting investigates selected products or assemblies for their interdependencies and external interferences. The findings are used to agree upon an evaluation schema for assessing product complexity. According to your expectations suitable measures for reducing and mastering complexity will be proposed. These measures can on the hand refer to the engineering design and on the other directly address certain complexity drivers. Based on a joint evaluation the most promising measures will be picked and defined as solution modules for your individual complexity management.
The required business transformation starts with an early involvement of affected staff members in the concept phase. This ensures a high level of acceptance regarding the chosen solution modules. The transformation process is considered finished when the complexity of products selected from your portfolio can be assessed and a catalogue of measures to reduce undesired complexity is established. In order to efficiently support this transformation process, members of your team will be trained to become multipliers. They will strengthen the deployment of the solution modules in your company and thus foster a broad acceptance. Regular diagnoses will verify both the level of utilization and the effectiveness of the implemented complexity management. Based on the results additional measures or next steps will be derived. This cyclic approach will ensure the lasting effect of complexity management on your daily business.
For the support of the transformation process ZAGEL Consulting collaborates with Dr. Reinhard Schmitt, a senior consultant and trainer for Organizational Change Management. With his mechanical engineering degree and a PhD thesis dedicated to engineering workflow management, Dr. Reinhard Schmitt is familiar with the challenges related to the development and management of complex products.
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