Christa Prokos
Quality management through integrating design, manufacturing, and quality processes creates a closed-loop system, enhancing performance and reducing non-conformance costs. Autodesk Fusion Manage offers streamlined operations, improved collaboration, and better traceability, helping organizations minimize scrap, launch on time, and achieve profitability goals.
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In the fast-paced world of manufacturing, managing siloed data, lack of collaboration, and broken processes can lead to chaos. Many companies are already operating at full capacity, juggling broken processes, multiple data formats, manual systems, and a mix of digital and analog information. For many organizations, this is the daily environment they live in. One common approach, often referred to as “Throw it over the wall,” involves designing in isolation and passing the work onto the next group without integrating quality upfront. This method is costly, as the later a non-conformance is identified, the more expensive it becomes to address. However, integrating design, manufacturing, and quality information and processes can significantly impact business performance, aligning with both top-line and bottom-line goals.
A closed-loop quality management process, facilitated by tools like Autodesk Fusion Manage, can help prevent these issues from recurring. Fusion Manage offers a simple uplift to digital forms and workflow processes in a modern, scalable cloud environment. This transition helps streamline operations, enhance collaboration, and improve overall efficiency. Ultimately, organizations gain the ability to improve critical business targets including:
- Minimizing scrap and rework
- Launching products on time and on budget
- Hitting profitability targets
Why quality management with Autodesk Fusion Manage?
Let’s review OOTB workflows for NCR, CAPA, and Inspections and address how configurable Fusion Manage is for various professions, scenarios, and specific workflow processes as they address quality management.
Production Operator
The Production Operator, when handling non-conformance in Fusion Manage PLM, can greatly enhance the quality of the product. By embedding quality control directly into every stage of the product lifecycle, Fusion Manage facilitates a closed-loop quality management process. This integration improves product designs, resolves supplier issues proactively, and builds quality into the process itself—ensuring that each project benefits from past insights and future projects are even stronger. The efficiency and traceability provided by Fusion Manage ensures that all quality-related data is tracked and managed effectively, facilitating a seamless change process between quality and engineering.
Quality Engineer
With Autodesk PLM, a Quality Engineer has a centralized system for managing the Corrective Action Process alongside Non-Conformance Reports (NCR) and Engineering Change systems. Autodesk PLM ensures that all related documentation, data, and processes are stored and accessed in one place, facilitating easy retrieval and maintaining a clear audit trail. The workflow tools in PLM can automate processes, reducing task completion time and increasing efficiency. The collaboration tools in Fusion Manage further enhance team effectiveness, ensuring changes are communicated and implemented correctly.
Product Engineer
With Fusion Manage, Product Engineering can receive an Engineering Change Request (ECR) based on a Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA) in a streamlined manner. The unified environment in Fusion Manage facilitates communication between departments, eliminating the need for manual data transfer. This leads to faster change implementation, reduced downtime, and improved productivity. Further, the system ensures that all data related to the ECR is accurately recorded and traceable, maintaining quality standards and reducing errors.
Quality Technician
A quality technician defining a quality inspection plan against a First Article Inspection (FAI) provides an opportunity to identify and rectify non-conformities early in the production process. This process prevents large-scale errors, saving time, effort, and resources. The FAI validates manufacturing processes and compliance, ensuring products meet design specifications and industry standards. This level of scrutiny builds customer confidence in the product’s quality and conformity.
Technical Support Specialist
In Fusion Manage, a technical support specialist can smoothly manage a customer’s return merchandise request. The system allows for the creation of return orders, tracking of return merchandise authorization (RMA) numbers, and approval of returns. The system streamlines the return process, enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty through quicker issue resolution. Comprehensive visibility and tracking of the return process reduce the risk of errors or miscommunication, improving overall efficiency.
Quality Manufacturing Engineer
With Fusion Manage, a Quality Manufacturing Engineer can seamlessly manage a Supplier Corrective Action Request (SCAR). The system helps identify root causes, implement corrective actions, and track their effectiveness, improving supplier performance. Integrated communication tools ensure effective feedback and corrective actions, promoting collaboration and continuous improvement.
NPI Quality Engineer
An NPI Quality Engineer can use Fusion Manage to incorporate lessons from previous quality issues into new product designs. The FMEA (Failure Modes and Effects Analysis) process helps identify potential failure modes and their effects, reducing risk and potential costs. This proactive approach leads to more robust product designs, improved performance, and increased customer satisfaction.
Real-word application
ME Global manufactures high-quality components for large-scale mining operations. The company recognized the need for efficient workflow and quality management among its 1,000 employees across four continents. By implementing Autodesk solutions for data and process management, ME Global achieved faster project completions and complete visibility of all projects. The solution has helped them pre-plan, pull information straight from Vault, and get products to market faster, exceeding customer expectations for predictability.
“We evaluated a number of product lifecycle management systems. We needed one that was flexible, accessible from anywhere, and simple to use. We chose Autodesk PLM.”
– Michael Best, Engineering Technical Manager, ME Global
Quality management with Autodesk Fusion Manage
Fusion Manage is an excellent closed-loop quality management solution because it provides a comprehensive and integrated platform that streamlines and enhances quality processes across the entire product lifecycle. By unifying quality management with product lifecycle management (PLM), Fusion Manage ensures that quality activities are embedded directly into the design and development phases, promoting proactive quality assurance rather than reactive problem-solving. It offers robust features such as non-conformance tracking, corrective and preventive actions (CAPA), and audit management, which help in identifying, analyzing, and addressing quality issues swiftly and effectively. The solution’s real-time data visibility and reporting capabilities facilitate informed decision-making and continuous improvement. Fusion Manage also enables seamless collaboration among cross-functional teams, ensuring that quality standards are consistently met and maintained. Overall, Fusion Manage helps organizations achieve higher levels of product quality, compliance, and customer satisfaction by providing a structured and efficient approach to quality management.