Comments on: Those Elusive Engineers http://www.esourcingforum.com/archives/2007/06/05/those-elusive-engineers/ The source of information and best practices in strategic sourcing. Fri, 09 Jan 2009 22:35:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: David Bush - Iasta http://www.esourcingforum.com/archives/2007/06/05/those-elusive-engineers/#comment-7819 David Bush - Iasta Tue, 05 Jun 2007 19:05:16 +0000 http://www.esourcingforum.com/?p=439#comment-7819 Here is another article that draws attention to this issue: http://wardsautoworld.com/ar/auto_achieving_alignment/ Here is another article that draws attention to this issue:

http://wardsautoworld.com/ar/auto_achieving_alignment/

]]> By: Eric Strovink http://www.esourcingforum.com/archives/2007/06/05/those-elusive-engineers/#comment-7818 Eric Strovink Tue, 05 Jun 2007 16:09:22 +0000 http://www.esourcingforum.com/?p=439#comment-7818 I agree strongly with Tony, and I'd add that on the Engineering side (I've managed many an Engineering organization, both hardware and software) the best friend an engineer can have is a procurement professional working side by side and sitting in on early vendor meetings, before design-in. It doesn't take too much guidance to train engineers to think more deeply about procurement, and that can make an enormous difference in cost and procurement flexibility. And, procurement people also learn some engineering along the way -- I've actually heard the following conversation in the hallway between a hardware engineer and a procurement guy: "Do we really need a UART here, or can we bit-bang using an I/O port, the way we did with the XYZ unit?" The Bose Corporation in Framingham, MA (the "Wave Radio" people) is a good example of an organization that performs procurement-oriented reviews of engineers' designs very early in the process. That's one reason why Bose has managed to stay competitive and profitable despite the collapse of most of the other American radio and TV makers. I agree strongly with Tony, and I’d add that on the Engineering side (I’ve managed many an Engineering organization, both hardware and software) the best friend an engineer can have is a procurement professional working side by side and sitting in on early vendor meetings, before design-in.

It doesn’t take too much guidance to train engineers to think more deeply about procurement, and that can make an enormous difference in cost and procurement flexibility. And, procurement people also learn some engineering along the way — I’ve actually heard the following conversation in the hallway between a hardware engineer and a procurement guy: “Do we really need a UART here, or can we bit-bang using an I/O port, the way we did with the XYZ unit?”

The Bose Corporation in Framingham, MA (the “Wave Radio” people) is a good example of an organization that performs procurement-oriented reviews of engineers’ designs very early in the process. That’s one reason why Bose has managed to stay competitive and profitable despite the collapse of most of the other American radio and TV makers.

]]> By: Tony Poshek http://www.esourcingforum.com/archives/2007/06/05/those-elusive-engineers/#comment-7815 Tony Poshek Tue, 05 Jun 2007 13:54:35 +0000 http://www.esourcingforum.com/?p=439#comment-7815 Excellent topic David. As someone who has also previously served as a sourcing practitioner for a large global corporation, I can certainly attest that having a strong relationship with your engineers is invaluable. An engineer can single-handedly either make or break many of the cost-saving sourcing initiatives you may dream up. They can also bring to light additional projects that you may not have thought of. Something as simple as setting up regular lunches with some of your engineering counter-parts can go a long way in building trust. -Tony Excellent topic David. As someone who has also previously served as a sourcing practitioner for a large global corporation, I can certainly attest that having a strong relationship with your engineers is invaluable. An engineer can single-handedly either make or break many of the cost-saving sourcing initiatives you may dream up. They can also bring to light additional projects that you may not have thought of. Something as simple as setting up regular lunches with some of your engineering counter-parts can go a long way in building trust.
-Tony

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