A study of engineering change management in Singapore local companies

As long as technology progresses, changes will be introduced in manufacturing and design. Engineering changes can vary from simple selections of newer, cheaper materials (which perform similarly or even better than previous choices) to faster, and often lower costing construction and assembly methods. No doubt, all companies recognize that to stay commercially viable, Engineering Change is an inevitability. Despite that recognition, EC is not being actively embraced by most companies in the world. Instead, many view EC as a timeconsuming and costly process, and hence EC becomes an issue that is dealt with on an entirely (when required' basis. Since EC relates to product improvement or correction, it needs to be properly managed, and optimized to a certain degree, so that the company can improve its performance. Utilizing available knowledge in the field of EC, this paper discusses EC through a study conducted in two Singapore companies.