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Managing engineering change is one of the biggest headaches in all but the very smallest design offices. Doing it well requires systems. You need mechanisms that sort which proposed changes are essential, which desirable, and which trivial or unnecessary. And you need systems by which everyone who needs to be in the loop is kept in the loop – including to the extent that when something changes, where relevant, they are forced to take notice. Changes can include alterations in specification made by the customer, changes in regulations, changes in components incorporated in a design, and changes in parts that are connected to the job being worked on, or which interact with it in some way. And because of the increasing complexity of so many products, as well as the increasing pressures to get into production more quickly, the problem of managing change is growing rather than shrinking
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