Models keep changing very fast, as is
envisioned by the rapid introduction of new models of mobile phones, TV and
computers. The design engineers keep changing the designs and building in new
parts in their prototypes. Some of these prototypes successfully reach the
stages of commercial production and the designed parts then undergo major surge
in their demand. It is because now these parts (samples) form part of the Bill
of materials of the production run.
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| electronic product designer |
Typically, the design engineers
procure the design parts (samples) on their own and do not involve the purchase
departments. The vendors of electronic parts usually follow up with the design
engineers and persuade them to use their products (samples) in their new
designs. The design engineers, on their part, do not know the sources of supply
of their requisite samples. And they often take the easy route of accepting
first offered parts (these broadly meet their criteria) from those vendors who
may have followed up with them during the design process. See more about: electronic product designer.
Focus of The Portal
A B2B portal was designed to meet the
aforementioned needs of the design engineers. It was positioned as one-stop-shop
for entire design engineers to get their samples and complete their design
activity.
Background To The Assignment
A software services company had been
in the business to meet the design sample requirements of the design engineers
of this industry. The company, however, had run out of funds and was not able
to sustain the desired level of service to the design engineers.
Requirements Analysis
This company was bought out and a
major product upgrade was planned. The earlier product had used java technology
so it was decided to use the same technology of higher version. The decision
was taken in view of the preferred features of programming language and the
associated operating system. Requirements to be changed were collated and
listed during the regular operations. Further, pilot surveys were undertaken to
cull out other requirement changes. The pilot surveys covered entire stake
holders viz., the customers and every members of the supply chain including
manufacturers and the dealers.
The Build Phase
The product was built in an outsourced
environment i.e., developed in India and was deployed on the high-speed servers
in the US. It was targeted to service, for the most part, the needs of the US
based design engineers. A transition phase was meticulously planned and the
existing data was migrated to the new system.
The Development Environment
The development environment consisted
of two levels of servers - the development servers and the test servers. After
the product was successfully tested, it was deployed on the pilot server where
it was made open to testing by the sales staff and also by the manufacturer
organization staff, especially those manufacturers whose change request would
have been built into the product release. After the product passed through the
pilot phase, it was deployed on the production servers and all the stakeholders
(other than that of the design engineers) were sent the release notes.
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