Risk management

Experience has shown that the detection of weak points, for example in technical product specifications, and the initiation of meaningful changes in an early phase of the product development process is more cost-effective, easier to implement and less disruptive than later damage limitation or even risky product recalls. In short: avoiding damage is more economical than repairing direct or indirect damage at a later date.

Misinterpretations of construction drawings, for example with regard to tolerance management, "default rules" or material designations, can lead to time-consuming and costly discussions and legal disputes between the contractual partners. The danger is constantly increasing today, since on the one hand the international standards are developing rapidly and on the other hand an increasing division of labor combined with a continuous reduction in vertical integration, which makes bilateral coordination increasingly difficult.

We not only support you in the analysis and risk assessment of existing product specifications (own design drawings and customer drawings) and processes, but also in identifying and eliminating sources of risk, such as a lack of (normative) expertise, insufficient time budget, competing interests, inadequate internal and external communication, availability of suitable test equipment or insufficient human resources.

A reduction in risk is usually associated with an initially increased effort, among other things, for the creation of product specifications. Here it is important to find a balance - here too we support you with our many years of experience.

Did you know ...

  • that construction drawings, if they are accepted by the customer or passed on to suppliers, are legally binding contractual documents in terms of product liability. If defects in the product that can be proven to be due to the design drawing lead to personal injury, then the specification can also have criminal relevance,
  • that far more than half of all construction drawings show considerable deficiencies with regard to a functional and cost-oriented tolerance management, this concerns in particular the causality between specified tolerance and function, the unambiguousness of the interpretation as well as the conformity to the requirements of ISO 9001,
  • that most product specifications with regard to tolerance management are at best at the normative level of the 1980s, while today's standards are increasingly geared towards the possibilities of CAD and modern manufacturing and digital metrology,
  • that often far too narrow and functionally mostly unnecessary "fear" tolerances are specified, with significant effects on the production and especially the test costs due to the unavoidable measurement uncertainty of the test equipment used,
  • that national standards, e.g. in the fields of construction and materials no longer have any relevance worth mentioning, on the other hand European and international standards develop very quickly and the interpretation of symbols as well as fundamental default rules are subject to constant change.

For more information please contact us.