From the initial inception of an idea to final delivery of a finished product, contract manufacturing of a brand name product proves to be a systematic challenge. It is a 14 dimensions management job to incorporate all key aspects of a project, a concept presented in previous E-BI literatures. If examined by a systems engineering approach, the product contract manufacturing operation can be described as establishment and management of technologies, process development, manufacturing chain, value chain optimization, and a supply chain.

For every unique brand name product manufactured, the development of a new system of unique manufacturing processes is required, as well as a set manufacturing chain to accomplish each process. In order to have the manufacturing chain work effectively, it needs to be improved and optimized periodically, the process controlled, and the supply chain managed in order to minimize risks arising from day to day operation. Once developed, this system works as an ecosystem that consist of many independent contractors and is unique to this particular brand name product. The system appears when the product build process starts and disappears when the build process finishes so that all manufacturers and sub-contractors can use their resources to work on other projects. Continue reading “A Systems Engineering Approach to Contract Manufacturing of a Brand Name Product” →