Project management for serial production

We keep your entire project together

AMB is an industrial company with the basic processes injection molding, surface treatments and assembly. The business concept is to be a supplier to customers with high demands so that they can achieve their goals.
It can be said that the basic processes constitute the hardware in AMB’s offering.
But of course more than that is needed to get satisfied customers and therefore a kind of “software” is also needed. In addition to competent employees, the software also consists of routines and processes that ensure quality-assured handling of project requests from customers.
Therefore, the project organization works closely with other functions at the company and follows a project model in five phases.

Project structure

To help the project manager, there is a predefined project structure and a number of documents in the digital project folder, which can also be expanded according to the project’s needs.

Phase 1 Preliminary project – review of the request

Every week, representatives of various functions involved in the projects meet to review registered new requests and the status of ongoing projects.
At the meeting, an assessment is made as to whether the request fits AMB’s business concept, competence, manufacturing equipment, legal requirements and environmental aspects, etc. to determine whether the project can be implemented so that both supplier and customer are satisfied. If the project can be accepted, a project manager and in some cases a project group are appointed for the next phase.

Phase 2 Preliminary project – Quotation work

In some cases, the quotation work starts with an extended review of the request.

We go through the customer’s requirements in more detail and do a risk analysis.

Quotes from suppliers of production-unique equipment and on included materials are requested. After that we can start calculating and putting together our quote for the customer.

Design for manufacturing (DFM) and producibility of the intended product are important and therefore, smaller or larger views are communicated continuously with the customer.

Phase 3 – Project planning

Upon acceptance of the quotation through an order, the preparatory work for the actual project realization is now undertaken through the development of a plan for the project.
The order is reviewed in relation to the quotation through a contract review. If there are views, these must be communicated.

The project is now registered and a project description is produced that describes both the available information and the scope of the project. Then activities and the need for resources are planned.

Phase 4 – Project realization

Now the actual project work can begin. All projects are unique, but with the help of checklists, routines and prescribed steps in the work, the following is done, among other things:

Project-unique purchasing
• purchase of tools, fixtures and other production equipment
• purchase of materials

Quality assurance work according to the quotation and the contract review as customer requirements can differ greatly between different projects
• a quality assurance plan is prepared according to a flow chart for key activities
• test runs and process validation that result in instructions and protocols
• UFP / PPAP for customer approval

The above steps describe only a selection of the activities included and after these steps the project is reviewed by the production and quality manager. If no corrective action is needed, the project is approved, which means that the production organization takes over responsibility for the product.

Phase 5 – Project completion

The project is then followed up through a web-based project evaluation by the customer.
Finally, a project summary is made to determine whether the project’s goals are in line with the results.