4 Reasons to Keep Engineering in a Box

Part 1: Debunk "cost-cutting" myths and take advantage of your engineering staff's expertise and energy.
 

By Peter Sutton

To get the most out of your design process, it is important to optimize how your company utilizes its engineering staff. As a former engineer in the HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) world I have four tips on how to (or how not to…) "maximize" your engineers' time while improving the skills of your workers and generating additional revenue streams.

#1: Eliminating collaboration reduces time spent in meetings. To reduce unnecessary "discussion" about designs, innovative managers can apply a variety of techniques. One of my favorite techniques is to implement different design tools, none of which work together, throughout the team. This way, you not only prevent designers from collaborating, in the off-chance an outsider does manage to penetrate the design process, contamination is limited to a single system.

Fact: The best way to encourage a healthy design process is to ensure that there are open lines of communication within the design group. Hand-offs should be smooth, not "thrown over the wall." And standardization on common platforms and programs is a proven way to help to promote collaboration, shorten time to market and improve quality. Read more »