ECR / ECO PROCESS

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ECR / ECO PROCESS IN PRODUCT LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT (PLM)

                           Engineering Change Request (ECR)/ Engineering Change Order (ECO) Process is a procedure of documentation involved in companies for implementing a change in product due to valid reasons in a systematic manner. It is a part of the process of product lifecycle management. This process of documentation has to be communicated to various sections of company. It can be done either in manual manner, which is done by maintaining files or by using application software like Agile, Windchill, Team Center, SAP etc. The whole process of documentation is being taken care mainly by the product development section of the company. This process mainly occurs in four stages:-

1.      ISSUE FOR A CHANGE :-
            
                A problem can occur anywhere in a lifecycle of a product. Many cases of problem may occur during production and assembling of the product, sometimes during servicing or maintenance of product even after dispatch from the company. Some of the examples are:-
a)      During assembling of a product, any component which is involved in assembling is being changed or replaced by some other component due to cost or change in the supplier or any other reasons. So, the change has to be communicated and implemented in every sections of the company.
b)      During assembling of a product, there might be change in location or dimensions of any component due to feasibility or cost reduction method. Decisions can be made for such change only when it gets approved from all the sections of the company.
c)      During servicing or maintenance of the product, sometimes some components are being replaced due to its internal damage. This may occur in repetitive manner for many products. The issue has to be cleared by making certain changes which needs to be communicated through various sections, so that the issue may not repeat in next set of products.      

                           A lot of examples can be listed out. The main reasons lying for making a change in a product is when they require a new functionality or when any problem is encountered or when any enhancement is proposed. In most of the companies, the process of the documentation of the ‘ISSUE FOR A CHANGE’ is mainly started by preparing ‘PROBLEM REPORT’. This documentation of change is prepared and communicated to all the sections of the company using application software (listed previously) or using files. It can be prepared by any section of the company.           
  

2.      ENGINEERING CHANGE REQUEST (ECR) :-

                        Once the document concerned with the issue has been released in the form of change notification or problem report. Then, the issue is being discussed so as to know whether the problem or change mentioned is genuine or not. If so, then what are the steps required for rectifying the problem. After discussions and calculations, the section of product development comes into a decision and an ‘ENGINEERING CHANGE REQUEST (ECR)’ is being proposed comprising of one or more problem reports and change notifications.     

                              The engineering change request is being prepared in application software by listing the affected parts which will undergo the change in the assembly of product, preparing the presentation for the changes in the assembly of the product, price of the component to be replaced and many other parameters. In some of the companies, Engineering Change Analysis (ECA) is also released in which ECR is being analyzed and displayed with the change. But, in the companies where ECA is not used, then ECR itself comprises of analysis part also. After preparation of document, ECR or ECA is being notified to various sections of the company, which is related to the product directly or indirectly.

                             After notification, the section of product development waits for the feedback for any issue from any section of the company concerned with ECR. If any feedbacks are received and then the product development section resolves the issue and if not, then ECR is being forwarded to the table of group of specialists known as ‘CHANGE CONTROL BOARD (CCB)’.   This Board comprises of the senior engineers or managers from various sections of the company. A meeting is being conducted by this board in which the ECR is being discussed. ECR is being reviewed by CCB on the grounds of technical feasibility, costs and benefits, impact of change. The ECR gets approved, if it clears all the grounds. The Change Control Board is also termed as Change Review Board.





3.      ENGINEERING CHANGE ORDER (ECO) :-

                          After the approval of ECR from CCB, it undergoes another documentation process known as Engineering Change Order (ECO).  This documentation packet consists of the proposed change, list of the affected parts, requests review and approval from the individuals or head of the sections that would be affected with the implementation of change. ECO is used to summarize the modifications, finalize the details and obtain all the necessary approvals.

                               After getting the approvals from the individuals, ECO is being reviewed by Change Review Board. Finally, if there are no issues from other sections, then the change is implemented. Thus, the ECO is being approved by CCB.


4.      ENGINEERING CHANGE NOTIFICATION/NOTICE (ECN) :-

                          On the approval of ECO from Change Review Board, the change is implemented. The approval and implementation of change is being communicated to all the sections which are affected by the change by notifying through Engineering Change Notification/Notice (ECN).



CONCLUSION

                              The process of documentation for the change is a systematic manner of identifying and resolving the issues for engineering. Just like an engineering change order is used for changes implemented by engineering, there are other change orders like Manufacturing Change Orders (MCO), Document Change Order (DCO) used by other departments. Good ECO practices make it easy to document a full history of changes made to the product. Making a change to the product can be costly and time consuming if it is done without a good ECO practice.

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