First Edition Dated September, 2000 52
Section 4.5.6 During the design activities, manufacturing
instructions shall be developed to ensure a standardized
manufacturing process.
The previous sections focused on making the product definition as robust to
variation as possible. The key to controlling variation in the factory is to follow
a robust process consistently.
This requirement helps ensure that manufacturing instructions are robust by
requiring that they be developed concurrently with design activities. The
definition of design activities includes: product definition (engineering
drawings/datasets), tooling design, facilities design, people and equipment
certification requirements, equipment maintenance plans, manufacturing
plans and measurement plans (including functional tests). All of the above
must be included and coordinated in the product and process design to obtain
consistent and cost efficient products that meet or exceed customer
expectations.
The goal of having a standard manufacturing process is to minimize product
variation due to interpretation in work instructions. If there is opportunity for
multiple interpretations or flexibility in task sequences, then variation in the
process results is almost a given.
Obtaining the optimum build process entails an interactive approach during
the design phase and continuous improvement in the build phase. A
recommended way to ensure standardization is to organize all build
definitions relative to the build tree in one place, either in book or electronic
form. At a minimum, the build definition for each build position on the build
tree should include the process flow, manufacturing plan, tooling plan and
measurement plan. Additional information that may be helpful includes:
communication plans, training and certification plans, the product and process
acceptance plan for the build position, and product transportation plans.
Communication plans are especially important for ensuring customer
satisfaction and for working any non-conformances that may occur. Often the
customer of a particular attribute is not the next build position but is several
build positions away. This occurrence is especially prevalent in systems.
Customers for each key characteristic should be identified in the
measurement plan and the communication plan.
