Configuration Management for Senior Managers

Configuration Management for Senior Managers

by Frank B. Watts
Released April 2015
Publisher(s): Butterworth-Heinemann
ISBN: 9780128026014

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Book description

Configuration Management for Senior Managers is written to help managers in product manufacturing and engineering environments identify the ways in which they can streamline their products and processes through proactive documentation control and product lifecycle management.

Experienced consultant Frank Watts gives a practitioner’s view tailored to the needs of management, without the textbook theory that can be hard to translate into real-world change. Unlike competing books that focus on CM within software and IT environments, this engineering-focused resource is packed with examples and lessons learned from leading product development and manufacturing companies, making it easy to apply the approach to your business.



  • Developed to help you identify key policies and practices needing attention in your organization to establish and maintain consistency of processes and products, and to reduce operational costs
  • Focused on configuration management (CM) within manufacturing and engineering settings, with relevant examples from leading companies
  • Written by an experienced consultant and practitioner with the knowledge to provide real-world insights and solutions, not just textbook theory

Table of contents

  1. Cover image
  2. Title page
  3. Table of Contents
  4. Copyright
  5. List of Figures
  6. Preface
  7. Policies and Critical Practices
  8. Chapter One. Introduction
  9. Chapter Two. Why CM
    1. The Dirty Half Dozen
    2. Process Speed
    3. Throw It over the Wall
    4. Quality Control for Engineering
    5. Summary
  10. Chapter Three. CM System, Where to Start
    1. Process Measurements
    2. Distributed CM
    3. Organization
    4. Chain of Command
    5. CM Manager
    6. ISO Standards and Certification
    7. DOD/Military Standards
    8. Best of the Best Practices
    9. Standards Responsibility
    10. People Required
    11. Function Name
    12. Responsibilities
    13. Reengineer or Continuous Improvement
    14. Plan to Improve
    15. Summary
  11. Chapter Four. CM and Software
    1. Software’s Current Condition
    2. Modern Trend
    3. Process Redesign before Software
    4. CM’s Roll in Software
    5. What CM Should Control—and Not
    6. Software (SW) and Firmware (FW) Control
    7. Summary
  12. Chapter Five. Standard Foundation Blocks
    1. Standards Writing
    2. General Standards
    3. Acronyms and Definitions
    4. Part Numbers—Significant or Not
    5. Class Coding
    6. Interchangeability and the Part Number
    7. Interchangeability/Part Number/Rev Change
    8. Item/Document Numbering
    9. Interchangeability Discussed
    10. Interchangeability Defined
    11. Ideal Part/Document Number
    12. Assignment of Part Number and Revision Level
    13. Revision Levels
    14. Revision Control
    15. Part Marking
    16. Cognizant Engineer
    17. Approved Manufacturers List
    18. Deviations
    19. Spare Parts
    20. Publications
    21. Nameplate/Serial Number/Labels
    22. Transmissions to Customers
    23. Summary
  13. Chapter Six. Signatures on CM Documents
    1. Involvement versus Signature
    2. One Author and One Acceptor
    3. Signing the BOM or Parts List
    4. Just In Time
    5. Who Obtains Signatures?
    6. Quality Assurance Role
    7. Technical Release
    8. Signature Alternatives
    9. Summary
  14. Chapter Seven. Process Improvement
    1. Process Speed—Case History
    2. Case Study Change Process Reengineering
    3. Process Time Expectations
    4. Teams
    5. Change Boards
    6. Forms
    7. Customer Orders
    8. Backlogs/Work in Process
    9. Age Reports
    10. Summary
  15. Chapter Eight. Release Process
    1. Engineering and Company Phases
    2. Phases of Release
    3. Release in Lead Time
    4. Lead Time Release Performance
    5. Team in Release
    6. Signatures on Releases
    7. Release Phase Chart
    8. Rules for Release
    9. Product Specification Release
    10. Contract/Planning Phase
    11. Design and Development Phase
    12. Pilot Phase
    13. Production Phase
    14. Obsolete
    15. Software Release
    16. Release Process Standards
    17. Release Metrics
    18. Release Process Quality
    19. Release Process Flow
    20. Release Time and Volume Measurement
    21. Summary
  16. Chapter Nine. Bill of Material Process
    1. Design Data
    2. New Product BOM
    3. Product Cost
    4. PLM and ERP
    5. One BOM Entry
    6. Operations BOM Data
    7. Engineering-Friendly Parts List
    8. BOM Content
    9. Structuring the BOM
    10. Evolve the BOM
    11. Just-In-Time BOM
    12. Structuring Firmware and Software
    13. Features and Options
    14. The Perfect BOM
    15. BOM Work Flow
    16. BOM Standards
    17. BOM Metrics
    18. Summary
  17. Chapter Ten. Request for Change Process
    1. Separate Request Process
    2. Does Your Request Process Work?
    3. Cost Reduction and Improvements
    4. Screening Requests
    5. Request Review Team
    6. Request Work Flow
    7. Request Standards
    8. Request Metrics
    9. Failure Reporting
    10. Summary
  18. Chapter Eleven. Change Cost/Payback
    1. Cost of Change
    2. Real Cost Reductions
    3. Design and Development Costs
    4. Operations and Field Service Costs
    5. Part Costs
    6. Cost Policy
    7. Responsibility for Estimating Cost
    8. Cost Work Flow
    9. Cost Estimating Standards
    10. Summary
  19. Chapter Twelve. Change Management
    1. Managing Changes
    2. Fast Change
    3. Get-Arounds
    4. Change Team
    5. Redline Markups for Change
    6. One–One–One–One Rule
    7. Urgency/Class/Type
    8. Software Changes
    9. Manufacturing, Quality, and Service Documents
    10. Impacts of Change
    11. Technical Signatures on Changes
    12. Change Package
    13. Technical Release: Point of No Return
    14. Rev Level
    15. Updating the Master Documents
    16. Queuing Changes to the Master
    17. Effectivity
    18. Effectivity Volatility
    19. Tracing Changes
    20. Who and How to Trace
    21. Old Design Parts
    22. Closing the Change
    23. Obsolete
    24. Change Standards
    25. Change Work Flow
    26. Change Metrics
    27. Case Study
    28. Change Quality Metrics
    29. Summary
  20. Chapter Thirteen. Field Change Process
    1. Safety Recalls
    2. Changes to Retrofit or Not
    3. Classification of Field Change
    4. Field Change Order
    5. Field Instruction Writing
    6. Field Change Flow
    7. Field Change Metrics
    8. Field Change Standards
    9. Summary
  21. Chapter Fourteen. Take It to the Bank
    1. Benefits
    2. Critical to Success
  22. Index

Product information

  • Title: Configuration Management for Senior Managers
  • Author(s): Frank B. Watts
  • Release date: April 2015
  • Publisher(s): Butterworth-Heinemann
  • ISBN: 9780128026014