Using Value Engineering to Improve Quality and Reduce Costs
Companies around the globe are under a lot of pressure to create high quality products at the lowest cost possible. This is especially true for the medical, defense and aerospace industries.
Understanding Value Engineering
Value engineering involves finding creative new ways to produce products at a lower cost. Although many companies associate value engineering with a reduction of quality, the main goal should be to increase quality while reducing the costs of production. This benefits companies in all industries.
There are currently two main types of value engineering used by manufacturers. Process value engineering involves removing waste from the production process. This boosts efficiency and lowers costs. Product value engineering involves changing the design of a product to reduce costs and waste while improving the quality of the finished product.
While process value engineering focuses on waste and is an important part of lean production, it does nothing to increase the quality of products produced or the overall efficiency of the production process.
Benefits of Product Value Engineering
Even though product value engineering helps cut costs, this isn’t the only benefit. Product value engineering encourages companies to search for creative new ways to reduce costs and improve efficiency.
Product value engineering comes from a truly technical perspective. The engineer creating the product must fully evaluate its design to locate unique ways to improve the efficiency of production. This can add significant value to the product produced.
Using a Contract Manufacturer
Companies looking to improve product quality while reducing costs often seek out a second set of eyes. A qualified contract manufacturer can provide a thorough analysis of product designs. They can help you locate areas that can benefit from improvement.
Contract manufacturers help with the design, production and testing of a variety of products. Means Engineering, Inc. has experience working with a wide range of industries. Our experienced engineers are skilled at locating ways to improve efficiency and reduce the costs of production.
We are an AS 9100 and ISO 9001 certified contract manufacturer. This helps ensure the quality and reliability of products produced.
