- Balancing Engineering Resource with Demand
- Buying Engineering Services
- Where to Find Engineers When You Need Them
- How to Meet Automotive, Military and Aerospace Specifications
Buying Engineering Services
Selecting suppliers for engineering services is significantly different than that for parts manufacture. As a buyer you select a parts manufacturer on the basis of price, quality and delivery. In contrast, the overriding basis for the selection of an engineering services provider is TRUST. Engineering outsourcing typically requires allowing an outside firm access to competition sensitive information. In addition, deliverables from an engineering project are typically drawings or a report. These deliverables are much more difficult to inspect for quality than a manufactured part. Often, the quality of the engineering service is not shown until components are built and tested. This can be months after receiving the deliverable.
Given that trust is so important when selecting an engineering services firm, you will typically need help from your in-house engineering staff in making a selection. Your engineers can size up the outsource firm to ensure expertise and demeanor is a good match. Unlike parts manufacturers, the outsource engineering firm will become essentially an extension of your in-house engineering department. Giving the engineers a say in the selection is critical. Ultimately, it is the in-house engineers who will judge the engineering services, so they should participate in the selection process.
Once a firm, has passed muster with your in-house engineers, you need to ask the following questions:
- Who has intellectual property ownership of any innovations? The only acceptable answer is your firm.
- Does the engineering outsource firm currently provide services to a competitor?
- Will the firm sign a nondisclosure agreement? (2 page two way agreement is usually sufficient).
- Is the firm insured? This is not usually necessary for mechanical engineering services, where the OEM generally carries the responsibility.
- Is the same CAD and or analysis software used? (Converting drawings or analysis files between software is not desired)
If the answers to these questions are all acceptable, then requests for proposals should be issued. The received proposals must be evaluated in the basis of price, methodology, deliverable and terms. There are many ways to design components. A firm that offers to design a component using 1970's methods should not be considered no matter how low the price. Every OEM develops proven methods in the design of components. The in-house engineering staff should review the proposed methodology to ensure acceptability. Billing arrangements are typically net 30 days upon the reception of all or a portion of the deliverables. Up front payments are not typical.
Buying engineering services takes a little more effort than purchasing parts. However, the benefits of having flexible engineering resources far outweigh the difficulty.
Michael K. Costen
Principal Engineer ASR Corporation
