The best way to describe the relationship between the design and manufacturing departments at Waverly Prestressed Concrete (WPC) is warfare . A typical conversation between the vice president for design and the vice president for manufacturing goes like this: “If you knew anything about manufacturing, you might design a product we can actually make every once in a while,” says the vice president for manufacturing.

“If you knew my job better, you could manufacture anything we design,” responds the vice president for design. They are actually both right. The design and manufacturing departments need to work together closely and cooperatively as partners. The designers need to apply the principles of design for manufacturing (DFM) so that the product is not just functional but also can be produced economically. Manufacturing personnel need to be a part of the design team so that their input is part of the process from the outset. Unfortunately, both departments have built invisible walls around their domains and adopted attitudes toward each other that clearly say “Keep off my turf!”

QUESTIONS

1. What, if anything, should be done to improve relations at WPC?

2. How can the invisible walls be pulled down?