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 done totally or can affect only a small part of the product such as its component, assembly or material.
Changes form part of most products nowadays especially the ones that consist of rapidly evolving technologies. They represent both an engine of innovation, opportunities of benefits, but can also generate cost and delays.
Usually the engineering change management process is made up of 6 processes.
Request for engineering change
The first thing that will take place is that a formal request for engineering change must be made to help clarify the problem clearly.
Alternatives to the requested change are evaluated
Alternatives to the ECM are evaluated and the best one is normally taken.
Cost benefits analysis 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
Once a solution seems favorable it needs to be approved by the appropriate managerial department,
Implementing the change
Once approval has been granted the change request becomes a change order and needs to be propagated across the whole organization. Changes can be made in a single phase or in some cases in various small phases.
Reviewing
The change process is reviewed carefully to make sure that everything went out as planned and everything is documented for use in the future.
These 6 steps make up the generic engineering change management process but may be more or less detailed depending on the organization.