As we enter the 4th Industrial Revolution, industrial equipment companies are starting to develop smarter machines to meet changing customer needs. 
In their day to day lives, people are influenced by technologies such as smartphones and other connected objects, and they want to have the same capabilities in the tools they use at work.
Customers continue to request more diversity and customization, driving Industrial Equipment companies to develop more complex, non-series-type machines. However, developing smarter, more agile machines increases project complexity, and managing a higher number of product components interacting with one other requires an efficient process shared by all stakeholders. Moreover, creating a customized offering for each customer can lead to lower margins and increased errors.
It comes as no surprise when Incose VDC states:
More than 40% of project failures are due to lack of requirements management and traceability”.
If Industrial Equipment companies do not manage this increased complexity, they risk destroying their profit margins. Having efficient product architecture may be the best way to protect profits and provide customers with the products they asked for.
According to Incose VDC,
Up to 50 % of projects fall behind schedule due to poor early systems architecture validation.”
So the question is this: How do you know if your product architecture is efficient?
There are three things to assess:
- Measure the rate of products delivered to your customers that comply with all the requirements that were identified from the beginning. Just delivering a product to a customer does not automatically mean they will be happy with it. You need to monitor product acceptance. If you have efficient Product Architecture, tracking customers’ requirements will be part of product development, guaranteeing good product acceptance.
- Measure the rate of efficient interactions among different components inside the products you develop. One of the key benefits of efficient product architecture is to enable teams from different disciplines to efficiently collaborate.
- Make sure your machines generate enough margin so that your company continues to make a profit. To ensure sustained profitability you need to have a competitive offering, and at the same time keep an eye on your business over the long term with sufficient margin.
- As long as your market share is growing and your margins are maintained you have a long term view of your business.
Efficient product architecture can help make your business more profitable and sustainable. If you want to know how to implement it in your company, watch our on-demand webinar in partnership with Design Machine.
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