All of us are grappling with the new world order of empty streets, empty grocery shelves, standing in line an hour before store opening, not for that 85” TV, but for a pack of toilet paper, a house full of noisy kids since school’s out, every person, besides the bored house pet, trying to vie for every byte of the bandwidth at home! Some of us are actually doing important stuff catching up on old episodes of Ozark, before binging on Season 3, while others are doing seemingly less important work attending endless conference calls with co-workers. Oh well, such is life
But in the midst of all this chaos, while it’s normal to think that COVID-19 has brought our lives to a screeching halt, there’s one thing that’s chugging along quite nicely. Innovation.
Yes, our customers continue to work on design variations of their material handling equipment, or brainstorming on new window design ideas, a newer update of a kitchen appliance or a new technology to mass produce patterns on silicon through lithography. They are being able to do all this engineering innovation regardless of #remotework, #WFH and every other trending hashtag today.
So, you have to ask yourself – what is the secret behind all these companies, large and small, being able to sustain successful engineering product development projects with remote resources? And that’s right about when, we at CCE pat ourselves on the back, even if for a brief moment. Because it’s our robust processes, and a reliable communication infrastructure, in the form of our proprietary web-based Work Order Management system, PowerLink that keeps the machine of innovation running smoothly. Allow me to explain.
The need for a reliable communication infrastructure in new product development
Any collaborative endeavor needs a good communication framework so that all stakeholders are on the same page and there is no miscommunication. Every small “misunderstanding” in a collaborative engineering project can prove to be costly in terms of time and resources. And for any new product development effort, those two things are already pretty scarce to begin with.
Reliable, unambiguous communications are a critical aspect of any business that is transacted across remote offices; this is especially true when collaborating on engineering tasks across continents and multiple time zones. Emails and FTPs do not suffice. There is no guarantee that emails have arrived or that FTPs are in sync with the work.
At CCE, we understand the importance of communication between collaborators working on new product development, especially when using remote teams. CCE has developed a reliable communication system that holds everyone accountable at each stage of development.
CCE's proprietary and secured web-based Work Order Management System, PowerLink, provides total visibility and accountability of your new product development initiatives by facilitating reliable and secure communications, with a single set of documents available to all stakeholders, worldwide. Using PowerLink, you can securely initiate, organize, prioritize, and execute engineering projects globally, 24/7. PowerLink provides control, visibility, traceability, and accountability, mitigating the risk associated with working remotely.
New Product Development (NPD) is hard. Finding the right set of tools that facilitate NPD, harder. With CCE’s robust processes, and proprietary tool like PowerLink, whether you’re sketching an initial concept during ideation, collaborating on engineering design changes or discussing feedback on a manufactured part, location is no longer an issue and communication no longer a barrier!
While all of us at CCE ride out this tumultuous period, it offers us some solace knowing that the work we do, is meaningful and in many ways keeps the world going. We work with great customers, who are not stopping innovation, even when times are as challenging as they are today. And when they tell us that we have been a key part of that process, it makes all this so worth it!
So, stay healthy. Stay safe. And above all – keep innovating.