By Salman Ahmed Khan, Assistant Manager Spares & Planning, Amreli Steels
I was attending Engineers day celebration at NED University by Institute of Engineers, Pakistan on date 25 /June /19, where professionals and student were invited. During the opening of the program , NED Vice Chancellor came to address the audience and he said a line that Engineers can drive the economy of the country in a better way than the other professionals , which was absolutely true because the economy of country is mostly based on number of industries and off course these industries are being operational due to immense hardworking of engineers but also at the same time they have responsibility of increasing the company revenue .
In the industries , Supply chain department is the back bone ,it is all about fulfilling the customers demand ; also to reduce the cost where necessary ,if we talk about procurement , it is the duty of purchaser or departmental head to do maximum cost saving while ordering to any vendor through proper negotiations , developing alternate sources , keeping update with market developments over product.
Mostly in industries, the foremost mass of end users are engineers who have not only major responsibility of making plant operational 24/7, but at the same time they have obligation of driving the industrial economy in a better way which can only be done by the process of Value Engineering.
Value Engineering is about increasing the profitability instead of increasing the cost. There are many factors that influence the company profits which are related to technical and engineering excellence.
The cost should not only be controlled by method of negotiations only as I mentioned earlier, it is also evident from the fact that decision for e.g. in purchasing Capex, Opex spares should be taken keeping in view of research and development, technical evaluations and market research.
Value Engineering is about exploration of product in such a way that you do analysis in terms self-asking question or doing inquiry in terms of what is it? , what does that function ? , what does it cost ? , what could be the alternate of it ? , what can be its lead time ?
Hence at initial stage of planning, the value engineering should be adopted in product design and development, regular maintenance activities and spares arrangement.
To make Value Engineering successful, it is the responsibility of concern engineer particularly who is looking after spares management and planning; to collect all relevant information regarding to machine, parts and its process flow in plant operations also schematic diagrams must be gathered at first stage for appropriate technical evaluation
Later before product selection, the cost and functional analysis should be done which can further produce better results by sufficient team work, by involving engineers who are in plant operations and productions.
Similarly, by involving the commercial team as well for obtaining quotation for price comparison, market survey and alternate product testing before purchasing decision.
In value addition engineering the market intelligence also plays a vital role; for example in case of emergency you stuck up with a sensors or motor in automation process, whose ordering lead time is 4-8 weeks due to import and somehow its shipment is delayed, then it’s better to opt for sensor which is available in local with other brand by evaluating its technical specification and functions along with cost, which would be less compare to imports.
In this way; we can do lot of savings for the industries which would be further included in the overall company profits and revenues that could be later beneficiary in terms of good salaries, bonuses for employee .
After all engineers can drive the economy in a better way.
