From Engineering Change to Enterprise Change Management: An empirical study on CM2 processes in the automotive industry

Abstract

Companies need to respond to changing market requirements with product and process improvements. In order to better meet the needs of consumers, technical changes must be made within the product lifecycle of products. This can, for example, change the product's shape, ft or function. Engineering Change Management (ECM) processes are an elementary part of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and support handling these changes. ECM ensures that changes are assessed, communicated, coordinated, and implemented in time. The present research is based on a case study in an automotive company analysing the way of working within current ECM implementations against the CM2 framework proposed by Wu et al. [1]. Based on the comparison of qualitative interviews and company documents, the analysis shows deviations in the ECM process, especially regarding the implementation of changes in the plants. We suggest expanding the ECM process framework towards an Enterprise Change Management, including master data change in the IT systems and involving all relevant departments to implement the change successfully in the plant(s). Thus, we propose expanding the existing CM2 framework to inform ECM middle-range theory. In addition, recommendations for a successful ECM implementation are deduced from the comparison.