Engineering change management (ECM for short) is the process of requesting, evaluating alternatives, implementation and reviewing of changes to any given system or product. The change can be either total or partial and related to an item (component, assembly or material) whose content has already been validated at various stages of its design, corresponding to milestones process or program, by the actors to whom this responsibility has been assigned.
Changes are an integral part of development of modern products. They can also provide an interesting opportunity for the organization to generate benefits and to innovate.
Usually the engineering change management process is made up of 6 processes.
Engineering change request
A formal request (engineering change request) must be made and it must precisely define what falls within the scope of changes that will be managed via the ad hoc procedure.
Evaluation of the alternatives
Alternatives to the ECM are evaluated and the best one is normally taken.
Risk evaluation of the alternatives
All the alternatives should be evaluated in terms of cost and benefits in relation with the other department affected by the change.
Solution approval
The top management needs to give approval to the favored solution.
Implementing the change
When approval from top management is obtained the change order needs to be circulated across the whole organization. Changes can be made in a single phase or in some cases in various small phases.
The review stage
The change process is carefully reviewed to ensure that everything went out as planned and that proper documentation is made.
These 6 steps make up the generic engineering change management process but may be more or less detailed depending on the organization.
Written by Robert Bellarmine for www.visitask.com
ECM is simply one of the components that can make or break your projects. Would you like to evaluate the quality of your projects? Head to our web site to obtain our free project management efficiency evaluator
