Reference Weidmüller Interface (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. - Leadership in Technology through Process Management in Product Development
Introduction of an Integrated Process Management System at the Weidmüller Location Suzhou in China
Initial Situation and Project Goals
For Weidmüller, leadership in technology is a significant factor influencing the lead position of the company in its core businesses. At all locations, innovative product development is a significant contributing factor for maintaining and expanding this position. Weidmüller provides services and products aimed at the Chinese market through its development center and production plant in Suzhou, China. The growing demand for technologically sophisticated products and the growing number of employees meant that procedures in product development had to be improved and further the company had to be aligned to the international standard.
“Thanks to the high level of competence in innovative process design in the international environment, with the help of UNITY we were able to significantly increase the effectiveness and efficiency of our development center in China and further strengthen our foundation for business success in the region. UNITY ’s OMEGA method is an optimal tool for easily and clearly designing and analyzing processes.”
Dr.-Ing. Timo Berger, Director of Technology, Weidmüller Interface International Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
Tasks of UNITY
In August 2009, Weidmüller commissioned UNITY to improve processes in the electronics development area at Weidmüller Interface in Suzhou. The collaboration began with a description and visualization of the actual processes. Based on these results, the UNITY experts improved the development process in dialog with the client and adapted them to the worldwide corporate standard. In the process, important regional requirements were taken into account. One of the goals of the project was the smooth daily flow of processes as well as lean and effective communications within the electronics development area. An integral component of the UNITY project work was to qualify employees of Weidmüller in process management. Specific training sessions supplemented the practical project work and provided an important foundation for Weidmüller to be able to independently carry out further development of the processes in the future.
Benefits for the Client
The finely-tuned electronics development process brought sales, product management, development, and production together so well, that the regional market can be optimally serviced. Weidmüller China is seamlessly implementing the jointly developed process into its current product development. It forms a mandatory guiding principle for everyday work and serves to orient the employees. This optimization minimizes interfaces in process organization and speeds up processes and lead times in product development. With the help of the qualifications it conducted, Weidmüller has developed its own competence for professional process management. Based on this project, the effectiveness and efficiency of the development process could be significantly improved. In this way, Weidmüller China is contributing directly to ensuring the company ’s leadership in technology.
Weidmüller
Weidmüller is a leading provider of solutions for the electrical bonding, transmitting and conditioning of energy, signals and data in an industrial environment. The group of companies has an international character and has its own production plants, sales companies and agencies in more than 70 countries. The company has been represented in China since 1994. Following many years of development work, Weidmüller China now collaborates with renowned companies in China, Asia and the rest of the world. Weidmüller China supplies products and customerspecific services to the Chinese market from its development center and production plant in Suzhou.