Specialist Services

• Facility / Factory Design 

When designing a manufacturing / production facility it is extremely important that the facility is designed to:

 - Complement the manufacturing process it contains.

 - Utilise the most efficient use of available space.

GEng - Consulting will combine the internal (client), external (regulatory), best practice (cGMP/Lean) requirements to develop a facility/ manufacturing process.  This will facilitate a factory design which will be optimized for space, capacity, material and people flow.

• Utilities & Pipework Design

Factory layouts, production lines and finished products change and evolve over time. As a result, the supporting services and utility pipework should change to suit the new factory requirements. 

Our utilities and pipework design offering is focused on developing solutions that reduce energy usage, reduce waste, improve cleanability, allow optimal maintainability of the system and maximise all the benefits, you as a client should be able to achieve.

• Equipment Specification & Sourcing

Our thorough knowledge of the industry as well as processes allow us to effectively specify, identify and source the optimal equipment for the client application. We are also able to assist the client in identifying any gaps in the services and equipment supplied. In doing so we provide the client with sound impartial technical advice to ensure that expectations are fully met when the equipment is installed and commissioned.  

• Design Reviews

Whether we are responsible for the design or the design is a service supplied by others, we offer a suite of design reviews developed in order to optimise plant productivity while reducing project and manufacturing risk. We can provide services to review:

• Suitability to local conditions
• Constructability
• Maintainability 
• Operability

• Quality Assurance 

During implementation it is important to ensure that the design is being implemented in accordance with the Engineer’s intent and specification. Part of our service offering is monitoring the design / fabrication / construction / installation / commissioning and validation process. This includes: 

• Review of the contractor’s Quality Control Plans (QCP’s)
• Review of the contractor’s design 
• Supervision of Factory Acceptance Tests (FAT’s)
• Supervision of Site Acceptance Tests (SAT’s)
• Managing the Commissioning / Validation Process
• Snagging of the final installation
• Issue of completion certificates

• Financial Analysis & Business Case Development

One of the key metrics in assessing project success is the return on capital investment of a project. We provide a full suite of project life cycle costing and analysis tools, which allow the client to rapidly determine the project’s financial viability at any time during the project life cycle. If the project at the outset is deemed feasible we also offer a service in developing a project business case, both for projects that will be funded internally and for projects that are funded by a 3rd party. 

• Project Management

Our Project Management skill set is based on a detailed understanding of a manufacturing environment and the challenges of keeping a site operational in order to maintain predefined outputs and meet production targets whilst effectively expediting the project. Our implementation methodologies are based on the specific drivers of the project, in order to achieve the most value-added outcome for our clients. 

• Retrospective Project Management services

We offer unique services to support small to medium businesses to review and enhance their existing project team to identify and backfill documentation or process gaps across a range of regulated industries such as:

 - Medical Device product development phases.

 - Defense Industry processes for FAI approval.

 - FMCG equipment FAT, SAT, commissioning.

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• NPI/Manufacturing Process Design and Development

The manufacturing process is the heart of any manufacturing facility. It is important that the process is designed effectively to ensure efficiency, quality and cost are optimal, at all times. GEng-Consulting specializes in the detailed design of processes that provide the client with the optimal blend of flexibly, product quality, reduced conversion costs and manufacturing repeatability. Linked to product development project phases, we will develop and test, a right sized process to facilitate feedback from a DFM/ DFA, manufacturability, project risk, MRL (Manufacturing Readiness Level), CoGs point of view for each product design iteration. Our process designs apply lean manufacturing principles as well as international current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP),and optimize the operability and maintainability of the process as a whole. 

• Cost of Goods Analysis (CoGs)

The product conversion cost and raw material cost are instrumental in the product’s market competitiveness.  Understanding the CoGs of manufacture and the effect of any process / facility improvement on it, provides a powerful tool for the client to quickly decide on the viability of the project. GEng-Consulting provides the capability to derive, understand and analyse the current CoGs of products as well as predict the effect of a given input on the product CoGs. 

• Make / Buy Business Analysis

One of the most important decisions a client needs to make is whether to make a product in-house or to buy it externally. We can provide analysis of the variable data from a business portfolio, technology capability, financial, core competency and others point of view and provide a comparison which will contribute to this decision,

• Identification of Project Incentive Mechanisms

Based on the nature of a project there are a variety of project incentive mechanisms available. We have a sound knowledge of these mechanisms and are available to identify and advise on mechanisms that might be suitable to the client’s application. 

• Validation Strategy development

What do you validate and what do you verify? These questions are generally answered by knowing and understanding documents such as your functional specification, regulatory requirements, business requirements among others. Our value add comes from years of NPI product and process development, a deep understanding of validation requirements and how to make the decision wether to verify or validate a process.

• Validation Protocols

We will liaise with your design engineers and stakeholders to combine the required inputs to develop DQ, IQ OQ and PQ protocols, including test plan, sampling plans and acceptability criteria for your process. Our service offering also includes auditable technical review process for each protocol we provide. This can be a stand alone offering or ideally linked to a process development activity.

• Validation Reporting

We can aid with the execution of validation protocols and generate the necessary validation reports as required.

• Engineering Consultation - Startup Companies.

We understand that hiring full time team members can be a challenge for new or recently started enterprises. We can offer our full suite of specialist services on a negotiated scope, time or fee basis to ensure your business requirements are not compromised.

• Part Time project secondment

We can post a specific team member to your project at your facility so you can utilize the full range of technical skills as you require.

Projects such as:

 - Initial manufacturing process development.

 - Manufacturing cost estimates

 - Process improvement

 - Equipment specification / sourcing

 - Process reliability

 - CoGs analysis

 - Capacity planning

 - Resource Planning

 - Project Planning

 - Retrospective Project Management services (See project management)

• Continuous Improvement Projects

Manufacturing Processes need to be maintained and or optimised throughout a products lifecycle to ensure production costs are a low as possible while also maintaining the required product quality and throughput. Production Floor space, labour and overhead cost increases, material cost increases will always change relative to the initial production launch costs. GEng - Consulting will work the client to utilise potential continuous improvement projects such as:

 - material sourcing strategies 

 - sub assembly review (Internal and or 3rd Party)

 - Production process review and optimisation

 - Product test / inspection strategy

 - Energy efficiency review.

• Security cleared Personnel.

GEng - Consulting are qualified and have the necessary experience to work within the regulations of the defence industry guidelines and clients' individual internal needs.

• DFM / DFA Review.  

Defence projects can take a long time to transition from initial design through to a working prototype / proof of concept. This is one of the reasons why a DFM/DFA review should be carried out before a product data pack is sent to a Contract Manufacturer (CM). GEng - Consulting have extensive experience in handling secure data and providing comprehensive DFM/DFA review and report to highlight potential concerns or risks to the product design or functionality such that these can be addressed as timeously as possible to minimise potential impacts on product quality, functionality and project timelines.

• Manufacturing Cost analysis.

Costs for defence products are often an unknown variable until a data pack is sent out to a CM. This can often take weeks to review and interpret. GEng - Consulting can generate high level contract manufacturing cost estimates, in parallel with the client project team, as a reference to ensure project budgets and development costs are clear and meet expectations.

• Process Development and documentation.

Develop robust, reliable and repeatable manufacturing processes to support defense client's product needs. This includes documentation from early prototypes through to FAI, and approved production processes aligned with the clients or CM's QMS system.