The first step to building strong relationships between your engineering and manufacturing teams is to encourage regular interaction between these departments. There are many ways to do this. Engineers can get involved with the manufacturing process by spending time on the manufacturing line. This simple act allows engineers to get face time with line workers and leads, receive feedback and comments they can use at the design table and show their interest in the manufacturing process. In addition, by observing the day-to-day challenges of production, engineers may be able to find places to optimize their product design.
On the flip side, involving your manufacturing team in the design process early allows them to catch potential production challenges before the product reaches the assembly line. Encourage your engineers to share their prototypes with manufacturing to find out how they would build them. By soliciting the opinion of your manufacturing team before production begins, you can catch problems early—perhaps even before they impact production—and save time and money.
With solid give-and-take between manufacturing and engineering, engineering can design with manufacturing in mind, and manufacturing can be better prepared for production. This win-win situation is only possible when an open and communicative relationship is established between these teams.