Rapid Prototype Blog

Posts Tagged ‘plan’

The benefits of attending a regional AmCon show are significant. The Grand Rapids, Michigan event will be held at DeVos Place on September 17-18, 2008.

According to Kati Olson, President, “We are excited to be returning to the Michigan market for this show in the fall of 2008. AmCon is the only show in Michigan specifically targeting OEM engineering and purchasing professionals who are looking for job shop and contract manufacturing services. Highly qualified prospects, often with blueprints in hand, will come from throughout Michigan, and northern Indiana.”

Top manufacturers from Michigan and Indiana sent engineers and buyers to the 2007 show. Below is just a sample of some of the firms that attended last year:

AAR Mobility Systems, Access Business Group, ADAC Automotive, Altocor, American Axle & Mfg., Amway, American Seating, Behr Industries Corp., Bosch Rexroth, Brunswick Bowling, Cascade Engineering, Caterpillar, Chrysler, Cummins Bridgeway, Dart Container, Delphi Automotive, Dematic, Denso Mfg. MI, Dover Corp., Eaton Corp.,  Flexfab LLC, Ford Motor Company, GE Aviation, GM Design PPO, General Motors, Gentex Corp., Gill Industries, Harbor Industries, Hart & Cooley, Haworth, Herman Miller, Hitachi Automotive, Holland Group, Howard Miller, Howmet, Johnson Controls, Johnson Technology, L-3 Communications, LuK USA LLC, Lacks Enterprises,  Magna Donnelly, Mahle Powertrain, Newmar Corp., ODL, Inc., Parker Aerospace, Parker Hannifin, Paulstra, CRC, Pridgeon & Clay, Royal Plastics, Shape Corp., Siemans OGS, Steelcase NA, Steelcase Wood, Stryker Instruments, Stryker Medical, Symmetry Medical, TAC Manufacturing, Trane, Unisys,  and Viking Corp.

Engineers and buyers attending an AmCon Contract Manufacturing Expo can find one or multiple sources to take a project from concept or prototype to finished product quickly and at competitive prices. OEMs can find sources for engineering, design, prototypes, forming, fabricating, machining, finishing, assembly and electronic manufacturing services all under one roof. Whether looking for one part or production runs, attendees find multiple sources from which to choose.  AmCon offers attendees a unique opportunity to investigate a variety of manufacturing options, both new and traditional, and find the best processes and materials for specific applications. Attendees view actual samples of products that have been produced for other OEMs in their industry and can get quotes on current projects and compare quality, pricing, and lead times from multiple vendors all in a few hours. Only AmCon shows provide a “hands on” one-on-one education. Since the exhibits are staffed with top management and technical personnel, attendees have an in-depth discussion regarding project design, materials and production issues. AmCon shows are free, including seminars on a variety of manufacturing processes and quality issues.   Fall 2008 AmCon shows include Grand Rapids, MI – Sept. 17-18; Fort Lauderdale, FL – Sept. 23-24; Minneapolis, MN – Oct. 7-8; Phoenix, AZ – Oct. 14-15; Houston, TX – Oct. 29-30; Greensboro, NC – Nov. 18-19. 

Register today to attend any of these shows at: www.AmConshows.com.

AmCon

www.amconshows.com

Kati Olson, President

news@amconshows.com

978-744-7680

Every project plan has some elements in common. Before starting to create the prototypes, drawing wireframes or hiring coders, it’s important to:

Define what you will do Divide it in small tasks Define who’ll do each part Assign an amount of time to each one of them (start and finish dates) Create a way of measuring progress Register tasks finishing dates Tasks needed before a given task begins Create a timeline Assign someone to control and manage everyone’s activity

Avoid failing the project by careful planning

There are several reasons why projects fail, and most of them can be avoided by careful planning.

Not enough time or money: Without proper scheduling and budget control, it’s easy to have a project dismissed due to lack of resources. Besides, even when they not fail, the final project can be sloppy, with bugs or dysfunctional if this kind of planning fail. That’s why it’s very important to have everything that’s needed clear on every team member’s mind before starting.

Poor communication: A client asks for a simple website, and then wants to add functionality that’s hard to implement; the designer makes a wireframe awful to code; the coders say it’s impossible, but it isn’t. Everyone saw that situation sometime, and most of the time it’s a problem of communication. Websites and software can be pretty complex sometimes, and words aren’t very specific to describe them, or jargon can be very hard to understand for non-technical people. It’s important to always speak clearly and make sure that everyone understands what’s being expected and required from them.

Inadequate testing: Most of the time, due to problems in timing. Since launch date is so close, people decide to simply launch it, and then fix the errors. Sometimes it works (as Google Beta apps do), but others they fail miserably. Testing should be done, and it’s even more crucial for first time launches.

Lack of quality: Those come often from time management problems. Not enough time to test, to guarantee that everything is just as it should be, so we’ll correct everything as the problems come. Sometimes works, sometimes it’s a trainwreck.

All of those problems should be avoided with careful planning.