RESULT: Failed – Budget and Scope
OVERVIEW: Bloom Energy wanted weldments for their giant power bricks and gas lines to help them build up new stations in South Korea. Our company was tasked with manufacturing these weldments.
ROLE: The scope crept out of control, and I was brought in as a consultant to help direct and guide the process through the last few stages before it left to the customer.
CHALLENGES: The gold plating the company did for the customer caused an amazing amount of delay, including overpolishing the entire weldment when it was not called for.
Part of the FAI process included CMM measurements, which pushed the project well past the allotted budget and ate into the profit. Even after the measurements, the parts failed.
The failed parts were then mixed in with good parts, making it difficult to identify what we could do to salvage the situation. Fortunately, the customer was accepting and understanding of the situation as long as it was rectified in the future.
OUTCOMES: The customer received the parts on time and were very happy with the product, but the company lost a lot of money and time making them. As of this writing, the customer has not come back for more parts for purchase or design.
REFERENCES: (attach all docs from Notion here)