According to the product life cycle theory proposed by Harvard University professor Raymond Vernon, products, like human life, go through cycles of formation, growth, maturity, and decline. As for machine tool products, they also need to go through a process of introduction, growth, maturity and decline. With the advancement of times, the situation where companies worked on a few machine tools for many years has disappeared forever. Regularly launching new products and withdrawing old products has become the norm in the development of the industry.
1. The importance of offline product
The introduction of new products and the regular removal of certain existing products from the production chain promote the continuous innovation of companies. No matter how good the product is, it has its own life cycle. Businesses can never rely on a single product to survive. Market competition is always the law of the fast fish. It’s not that the big fish eats the small fish, but that the fast fish eats the slow fish. For business management, more is worse than less, and less is worse than accuracy. Companies should create several leading products among market-oriented products, with large quantities and wide range, and allocate limited resources to those with large sales, high profits and. good quality. Customer needs of the product and service segment.
The offline mode of business products is as important as the online mode. Online production of machine tool products usually requires strict management processes and specifications, including market analysis, project establishing, engineering research and development, prototype manufacturing, inspection and testing, industrialization and continuous improvement. . And offline products cannot be interrupted in a hurry. Taking most products offline is not a transfer of business or discontinuation of products, but a strategic choice for companies to surpass themselves, pursue excellence and provide users with products and products high end. services.
Whether it is a well-established blockbuster product or an unprofitable testing machine that goes offline, a comprehensive analysis and review of its strengths and weaknesses has specific meaning to guide companies in iterative product development. Experiences, successful practices and excellent results can both be the legacy of R&D and manufacturing culture; it is more valuable to share lessons from failure. After all, any technological innovation requires countless trials and errors, as well as comprehensive analysis and analysis. the review can serve as a basis for iterative products. Accumulate valuable R&D and launch experience.
2. Determination of offline products
The prerequisite for taking the product offline is that the company has developed iterative products and completed preliminary preparations such as inspection and testing, industrialization configuration, etc. Taking Mazak machine tools as an example, before launching its new products, it will organize trial production and accumulation in its own workshop Experience and processing data on site. It involves blindly launching new products, treating the customer’s workshop as an assembly site, and treating departments as firefighters.
It is recommended that the marketing department take the lead and rely on the annual sales plan to sort out existing products every year (semi-annual), analyze market conditions, trends and marketing and manufacturing realities. company, and combine product sales, company profits. levels, technical levels and stability in recent years. Based on comprehensive factors such as gender, we adjust the product sales structure, reduce product categories, redefine existing product sales series, and formulate sales direction suggestions to submit to the company for decision. -manufacturing.
For example, most domestic core enterprises have gradually removed ordinary machine tools from the production line and reiterated them into mid-to-high-end CNC products. The reason is the inevitable historical trend of the market. Western developed countries completed the upgrade from ordinary machine tools to CNC machine tools between the late 1970s and early 1980s, while China basically completed this process after 2013. The technical transformation of users and the bulk purchase of ordinary equipment is already minimal. The application of ordinary machine tools has gradually transformed from industrial mass production to the workshop supporting auxiliary equipment and spare parts maintenance tools.
3. Offline Product Activities
Offline products involve all links of the enterprise’s industrial chain and supply chain, affecting the whole body during the industrial adjustment period, it is necessary to ensure “continuous business and stable team headquarters”. It not only tests the company’s management level, such as planning, streamlining and execution, but also tests the company’s ability to integrate upstream and downstream resources.
–The strategy department is responsible for formulating the overall plan for offline products, carrying out risk assessments for offline products, calculating relevant cost input and output, clarifying work functions and the objectives of each department, plan and organize time points, task diagrams. and milestones to ensure the next smooth transfer of product activities online works.
–The marketing department is responsible for the promotion, sales and customer explanation of offline products, the introduction of iterative products, the initiation of finished product inventory elimination, and the provision of service after -sale ;
–The purchasing department stops the procurement and outsourcing of offline product parts and outsourced parts, retrieves supplier drawings, processes and other controlled documents, and is responsible for the final purchase of spare parts after-sales during the three-warranty period for offline products;
–Technical department stops technical and process research on products offline, seals supporting technical drawings, processes and bills of materials, etc., to facilitate subsequent product traceability and investigation, comprehensively carries out research and development and continuous improvement of iterative products;
–The production department is responsible for arranging the reuse of production capacity of offline products, locating all units to stop manufacturing, and is responsible for the disposal and revitalization of products being manufactured , parts and special tooling for offline products. products online and comprehensively realize the “man-machine” iterative product The planning and layout of each production factor and the ability of “Material method and environmental testing”.
–The human resources department is responsible for the deployment of human resources for offline products. Based on the principle of “people follow the business”, it is responsible for the transfer and acceptance of all relevant personnel, and is responsible for training personnel in the iterative product. technology, process, manufacturing and other aspects. After all, talent is the most valuable resource for a company’s success and the company’s main productive force. The human resources department is responsible for the stability of the workforce and the completion of a series of tasks such as petitions and receptions.
Daguang focuses on providing solutions such as precision CNC machining services (3-axis, 4-axis, 5-axis machining), CNC milling, 3D printing and rapid prototyping services.
