1. Complex User Interface especially for infrequent users
2. Cumbersome Navigation
3. Slow Performance & Speed
4. Customization Limitations
5. Limited Task Support & Access for departments outside of Engineering
6. Lack of Workflow Synergy between multiple departments

• Run pre-configured reports and saved reports
• Save new reports
• Access pre-built report dashboards that utilize the Windchill search engine

JR Automation, a Hitachi Group Company, leveraged EAC Productivity Apps to solve Windchill PLM frustrations, scale their business operations and improve the shop floor experiences of their engineers. Discover how JR Automation implemented PLM Apps to gain ROI, bring efficiency and clarity for builders on the manufacturing floor, and achieved scalable digital transformation.

Business Initiatives

JR Automation knew the company needed to update operational processes in order to meet and exceed customer expectations. Their goal was to reduce the time it was taking builders and engineers to manage print packages by 80%. 

Additionally, they wanted to increase efficiency by 5% or more during the assembly phase. Including enhanced communication on the shop floor. As well as saving time on machine assembly and tactical coordination. As such, was estimated to be taking up 30% of a builder’s day.

Business Challenges

With an increase of workers on the shop floor, builders had no choice but to walk back and forth to shared kiosks in order to visualize and assemble designs. These complications only intensified as products became more complex. With manual error-prone operations, redline quality, and accuracy were at stake.

Similar to many other manufacturing organizations, challenges arose when it came to searching for the correct prints, managing paper booklets, and updating print designs. 

Rework stemming from incorrect designs, and file management complications were growing. Also, misplaced product information (needed for closed-loop change processes) had never been greater. JR Automation was seeking a simple way for low-tech machine builders to get last-minute design changes to engineering. Ross Walters, Director of Engineering, knew that builders required a solution that was highly intuitive.

The Solution: EAC Apps

JR Automation looked at PTC ThingWorx Navigate. ThingWorx Navigate does offer a single view to multiple enterprise systems like ALM, MRP, ERP, SLM, CRM, Accounting, and PLM (Windchill). It also gives users universal access to the latest most accurate product information when they need it. 

However, it was clear to JR Automation that what they really needed was a customized app that made things easier. EAC’s experts knew the solution and streamlined processes that allow builders to get drawings, CAD files, and other related documents in a single portal. With EAC Apps they could also see role-based reports and make redlines. 

By providing all the information needed on a single screen, with user-friendly workflows and easy-to-submit redlines, EAC apps improved operational efficiency as well as customer satisfaction.

A Custom Solution with Major Impact

After evaluating cost, functionality, implementation time, training, and other considerations, JR Automation unveiled they would gain an ROI of $1.4 million from EAC Productivity Apps.

EAC Apps benefited JR Automation with:

• 80% efficiency increase in print management for mechanical engineers
• 60% efficiency increase in builder print management
• 60% increase in digital efficiency gains

In conclusion, JR Automation’s builders no longer need to share a kiosk. Working with EAC enabled efficiencies for more than 200 workers who use Redline Apps today. They have eliminated the need for paper, print supplies, and additional booklets saving them additional costs. EAC Apps have continued to provide benefits such as improved accuracy with customer shipment orders, product designs, onboarding, and training efficiencies.

Learn more about EAC Productivity Apps here.

EAC Product Development Solutions is passionate about transforming our client’s ideas, needs and challenges into innovative, marketable products that support successful brands — That’s why we created our EAC Design & Engineering Services Team.
Our team consistently works with manufacturers, academic institutions, and engineering and design organizations throughout North America to solve all kinds of engineering challenges.

Finding, selecting, and trusting an outside engineering group is a tall order. We get it. There are a lot of questions people have as they vet potential partners. Here are answers to the top 10 questions people ask about our engineering services. We hope this helps.

1. What engineering services does EAC offer?

Our engineering services team provides mechanical engineering, product design, industrial design, proof of concept, IoT / Smart-Connected design & development, and analysis (FEA) services to help individuals and organizations realize their product ideas and get to market faster.

We are proud to say our engineering team can handle just about any engineering challenge thrown our way. Our complete engineering capabilities include CAD, detailed technical specification product requirements, design validation and optimization, IoT (Internet of Things), smart connected products, manufacturing, FEA (Finite Elements Analysis), simulation, analysis and more.

You can check out our Engineering Services Brochure for specifics on our design and engineering principles, services, manufacturing competencies, and our software competencies.

Still have questions about our engineering services and competencies? You can always send us a message here, and we will be more than happy to personally answer any inquiries you might have.

2. What is the EAC engineering services background?

This is a question we get asked a lot.

We have offered our engineering services for over 21 years and counting. Throughout the course of these years, we have completed over 400 engineering service projects on time and under budget!

It is important to us that you know our engineering services team leverages years of experience and extensive knowledge of industry standards and tools to deliver manufacturable, innovative designs. This is a distinguishing and highly valued characteristic of our company. 

3. What is the EAC engineering services project process?

If you have an idea or a project request, our engineering services team will work with you initially at no cost to further scope out your vision. We do this to ensure we have all your proper project requirements and to figure out two things: 1) What you are looking to do and 2) If we are a good fit.

Once we fully understand your engineering project we build out a statement of work. Our statement of work outlines our plan and what we are going to do.

After our statement of work is defined, the team carries out the project delivery under the watchful eye of your dedicated project manager.

Throughout the duration of the project, our team will keep you updated with the daily or weekly status updates. The frequency of the updates is entirely up to you.

No matter the size and the duration of your project, we still use the same project management process for every engineering service project we complete.

4. What are the professional engineering costs?

Our professional engineering costs generally do not vary, but the amount of work we do for customers varies according to the goal. (Keep an eye out for another blog that will dive into this with more detail)

Our engineering team considers the type of project you are looking to complete, the work you need to be done, your project size, your project timeline, and much more.

Because our fees and rates fluctuate due to so many factors, we offer a Free Project Scope to address your specific engineering needs and requirements. This way you can be assured you will get the most accurate engineering project quote. We’re not trying to play our cards close to our chest. We’d legitimately like to talk through your project and provide the best, most accurate quote possible. No strings attached.

5. What similar engineering projects has EAC worked on in the past?

With over 400 engineering projects completed on time and under budget, we have a plethora of project examples to demonstrate our expertise. We’ve worked on everything from consumer products to industrial equipment. We’ve optimized designs for traditional manufacturing, various molding methods, and IoT requirements.

For example, see how our Engineering Services team helped Condux International (Case Study) and Core Distribution (Case Study).

You might also check out how our engineering services team helped Milestone AV Technologies complete a critical project 40% faster.

6. What happens to the intellectual property of my engineering project?

The intellectual property of the engineering services project EAC completes for you is entirely yours. We call this out in our statement of work.

You can think of our engineering services team as your contracted in-house engineers. The rights to everything we do are completely owned by you. If we create something for you, it is entirely owned by you.

At the end of your engineering project we gladly turn over anything and everything we used to create and solve your engineering needs.

7. Can EAC help with fabrication or fabrication partners?

Although we don’t have specific fabrication partners, we are able to help you find companies that can fabricate and produce products for you. Over the years we’ve built a long list of trusted manufacturers.

Whether you are looking for an initial prototype run, a full production run, building only a few products, or you need help transitioning and optimizing your current design for full production—we can help.

Our engineering services team is more than happy to assist you in the process, as well as guide any conversation with the production facility. If you would like our expertise, we’re happy to help.

8. Can the EAC engineers work on-site with our engineering staff?

Our EAC engineering services team can work on-site, but we do have some geographical limitations. Contact us to see if having our EAC engineering services onsite could be an option for you.

9. How many resources can EAC devote to my engineering project?

We have a staff of highly trained and educated engineers, but we are not limited to just that. The resources assigned to any specific project depend on the timelines and tasks defined in the statement of work.

If your engineering project requires additional resources and contractors our team is well equipped (and networked) to work with and manage additional help to complete your project.

10. Does the EAC engineering services team have any references?

Of course. Here are just a few examples of what our customers have had to say about our engineering services:

“EAC was able to decrease the overall weight by nearly half. They did a nice job coming up with innovative solutions to reduce the amount of machining required by the hanging fixture.” 

• -Josh Siebert, Engineering Manager, Condux International

“We needed 3D modeling expertise and experience in getting a design to manufacture stage. EAC looked at the mechanics of our product in detail and produced a well-optimized design and high quality drawings.” 

• – Eric Wahl, Owner, Colorado Solar Inc. 

“The most valuable part of partnering with EAC goes back to having faith very early on that the technical rigor and detail was being addressed. I was assured that the EAC team was going to do the diligence necessary to create a good design because of this.”

– Mike Ardito, Director of Product Development, Milestone AV Technologies

To view other EAC customer testimonials you can always scroll to the bottom of our Design & Engineering Page.

Beyond the typical questions we get asked about our engineering services, we thought it might be beneficial for you to learn the benefits of out outsourcing your projects and how hiring outside engineering help can shorten your time-to-market and give you a competitive edge.

Furthermore, don’t hesitate to contact us about Design & Engineering Services questions.

There are a lot of things in life we as humans seem to put on autopilot. We seem to do things the same way, around the same time, even sometimes in the same place. Despite our best efforts to be different, we find ourselves thinking, behaving, and feeling the same way we did yesterday and the even days, months, and years before that. It’s time to challenge your ways.

Look at the way you do things for instance.

If you’re anything like me, you have routines for almost everything you do, from the time you wake up to the time you go to work. We often get so accustomed to how we do things, finding the reasons why we do them becomes a challenge. It is easy to overlook our other options if we fail to recognize the benefits of change. It is this very mindset that holds us, and the rest of the world from reaching our full potential.

Aside from personally challenging our ways, we should also be challenging our business processes.

It is my belief that companies, more than individuals, tend to do what they’ve always done. We become comfortable in the systems we know, the methods we have created, and the processes we have established. This is when we fail to recognize opportunity in organizational change.

Although the concept of change can be frightening for some the reality is, success doesn’t originate within our comfort zones.

If we never reevaluate or challenge the way we do things, how would we ever get better? I believe the answer is, we wouldn’t. As the quote often attributed to Albert Einstein states, “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

We must acknowledge our propensity to build repetitive cycles in order to successfully grow our businesses, change and be different. After all, change is the vital element for both success and survival.

With the rapid advancement of technology our world is changing more than ever.

This means our organizations must quickly change, too. It is crucial that we optimize our business practices by looking at our operations and leveraging the resources we use to get things done. In order to grow and prosper, we must recognize our patterns and learn how to change them.

Taking an engineering department for example, your in-house staff may know your business or a particular CAD (Computer Aided Design) package, but are they experts at prototyping, simulation, electronics, and new materials? This is example is where utilizing a fresh perspective could more than benefit your company.

Now look at the systems your company currently depends on.

The methods by which you currently transfer documents, communicate through departments, and transmit information. These are the systems we ultimately forget to challenge. As we become comfortable in our ways, we forget our competitors might be challenging theirs. You might think to yourself.., ‘So what if our department communication may not be the most efficient process’ , but what if speeding up communication would bring your cost down by up to 10 percent! What if your communication systems boosted your competitive advantage, and ultimately accelerated your time to market? These everyday, repetitive processes are what I am challenging you to re-think.

Organizations benefit from change.

A change within an organization results in new ways of looking at customer needs, new ways of delivering customer service, new ways of strengthening customer interactions and new products that might attract new markets. But what many fail to realize is that many of these are driven from internal practices.

If you can imagine the kind of businesses that will all be able to help you improve the products you’re making, then you can see a world where people are able to find a lot more success.

Change is what allows us to explore new opportunities, learn new skills and exercise our creativity.

If nothing else, I challenge you to be fearless in the pursuit of what sets you and your solutions apart. I challenge you to re-think your ways and become the best you can be.

First things first, lets address the elephant in the room. Any engineer or designer reading this article, at some level, is having the same thought.. “Why would I hire an engineering design firm to assist with an engineering project? I don’t want to replace myself.”

To that I say – no one is trying to replace you. Or your job. Let’s look at it from another angle.

Engineering and design firms want to help the client in whatever capacity they need. They’re here to assist existing engineering teams, not replace them.

If you’ve been overwhelmed with the tasks on your to-do list, then it’s probably crossed your mind that you could use the help but are afraid to ask. You are already getting s#*t done but don’t want to fall behind just because you’re in your busy season and there’s a billion things to do. By convincing your boss to get assistance with an engineering project, you can free up your time to focus on major projects that you and your team have already began while giving the projects that you have put on the back burner to another team that can help you get it done in time.

Many engineering service providers want to help you. Convincing upper management to take on the task of hiring outside engineering services may be easier than you think. You just have to find the right strategy to go about it. Here are some tips to help you get what you want.

Do Your Homework

Prioritizing which projects you plan on executing in-house and which ones you want to outsource is a good place to start. You should be researching what your options are for outsourcing – most likely your company has already partnered with an engineering services team in the past that will work with you to get your projects done. If not, then you should be prepared to do a little research on who you plan on outsourcing to.

Your team is already doing an awesome job by hitting your goals and overall getting things done day to day – an engineering services provider is just an additional team to help out while your team is in a bind for time. You should always be able to have some convincing material to help you answer this question: “How is my proposal going to help my boss achieve his or her goals?”

Just remember that you’re trying to make less work for your team with your proposal – so make sure that you’re pointing out exactly how outsourcing will work for your engineering project and for your team. Your boss will be more likely to listen to you if you’ve done your homework and are willing to give him or her a few solid options.

Highlight the Benefits

Most likely your team already knows the benefits of outsourcing, especially if you’ve worked with an outsourced engineering team before. Highlighting the benefits of outsourcing is even more essential if you’ve had an outsourced project go sour in the past. Make sure you have 2-3 major advantages in mind when bringing up the proposal to management. Examples of advantages should include the cost savings that would incur (the number one factor why companies choose to outsource even when they already have an engineering team) and always make sure to focus on how outsourcing the engineering project would benefit the consumer.

To be more persuasive, make sure you bring up anticipated disadvantages as well. You wouldn’t want to leave your boss with any surprises, would you? If there ends up being any focus or major concerns about these disadvantages, then bring up preemptive solutions. A back up for your back up plan, if you will. For example, if you expose the possible risk of leaked confidential data while outsourcing, then you should also have a plan to mitigate the risk. This should help you to be more convincing in the fact that you thought this through with realistic expectations.

Propose an Un-committed Commitment

You don’t have to make it seem like it’s a die-hard commitment if you know there will be hesitance in the proposal. If you know your boss is precarious to situations that involve a little risk, then you can explain that outsourcing this project can act as an experiment going forward. You can reassure management that your team will analyze the results of outsourcing to a third party so that you can weigh out the advantages and disadvantages of working with that specific engineering team in the future. Ensuring your boss that he or she is still in control of the outcome will put their mind at ease.

The other important take-away of hiring an engineering services provider is that it can be on an as-needed project basis. If you present your proposal to your boss and emphasize the fact that it is not a permanent arrangement, then you will have more elbow room for your other points. Your boss cares about getting things done and keeping costs down – remind him or her that hiring an engineering services provider would add capabilities to your team during a busy season without adding permanent overhead. Remember you are adding the services as an extension of your team, not having the provider take over completely.

Present Proof of Success

How has success been measured with the outsourced engineering team in the past? Which types of projects does the company have the most experience in? Don’t think that your boss won’t ask these questions. Simply, point out who outsourced what and how it worked out for that company. Consider finding an outsourcing example with the company that is similar to your own project that you’d like to outsource.

If you’re looking for ideas you could show to upper management, you could show them a case study on faster time to market or a case study on keeping up with client demand.

It may even be a good idea to get a free project scope if the company offers one before you bring the proposal to your boss. If you’re confident with your proposal, then you’re ready to talk to your boss.