It is well known that multidisciplinary teams bring products to market quicker and more efficiently. But what if the individual team members came from different countries or different backgrounds and all spoke a different language? One word comes to mind – chaos!
 The same can be said of product development teams communicating design intent. When each team member views design intent differently due to gaps in knowledge and interpretation of GD&T - chaos ensues!
Most managers at all levels have lacked a core understanding of the business implications these subjects have on product development timelines, product reliability/risk and supplier/customer interactions. The incorrect assumption by most managers is that all of their applicable employees have the necessary skill sets to adequately perform their job tasks at an adequate level.
Communicating clear design intent is an important indicator for success in product development.
All too often communication of design intent is not shared between companies and contract manufacturers. The internal knowledge of how a device should work and why it is key in the focus to start production.
By investing time into developing a design intent strategy, companies and manufacturers can ensure this critical information isn’t left out of production conversations and drive better product results.
The key question to all managers should be "where and how would their employees have acquired these fundamental skill sets?" GD&T and measurement are not subjects taught at most universities and colleges and are not focus subjects in mechanical engineering (ME) programs. At best the ME is barely introduced to GD&T and even less on measurement. If the ME is not getting adequately trained in these areas then where and how are the remaining disciplines being adequately trained (technicians, tool makers, drafters, designers, quality, statisticians, etc)?
When design intent is clearly communicated products come to market faster and more profitably. Only a cross functional training model can bridge the communication gap between management, R&D and commercialization. Once adopted and spoken by the entire organization GD&T will revolutionize how your teams communicate. Solution = Effective GD&T Training at all Levels!
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