Special Characteristics

Objectives and intended outcomes: Upon successful completion of the course participants will be able to:

• Define a Special Characteristic

• Define a Key Characteristic

• Define a Design Special Characteristic

• Define a Process Special Characteristic

• Define Preliminary Special Characteristic

• Define Nominated Special Characteristic

• Define Confirmed Special Characteristic

• Understand where Special Characteristics come from and how they are handled

• Understand how Special Characteristics are related to Design and Process Risk

• Be able to convert specification limits into process language

• Be able to convert process language into specification limits

• Be able to tell if a special characteristic is critical to your quote and contract

Intended Audience: This course is intended for all product designers and New Product Introduction coordinators who lead design teams, as well as manufacturing engineers, quality engineers and continuous improvement engineers.

Prerequisites: This workshop focuses on the skills development and assumes those attending possess experience and understanding of design review and New Product Introduction processes, or experience and understanding of manufacturing processes, and have participated in continuous improvement teamwork. In lieu of direct experience, it is strongly recommended that learners have a degree in a higher education such as an engineering degree, and some leadership skills in team dynamics.

Instructor: The class is taught by a Quality expert with over 20 years of experience. The instructor is engaging and passionate about all aspects of quality and has traveled the world teaching and showing practitioners how to find value by increasing product or service quality to the customer. Special Characteristics is one of his favorite subjects to teach because it can have such a profound impact on the design and customer experience. Helping designers and manufacturing engineers understand the true nature of SC, and how to communicate in common language opens the door to some of the best collaboration among the two groups. This is a must have course. If taken as part of one of our 10 day training packages it entitles you to 1/2 hour of free consulting*. Taking this course is an important step in qualifying the practitioner to be certified** as a DFMEA or PFMEA Practitioner.

DESCRIPTION:

Special Characteristics: This class is a one day practitioner’s course. You will receive all of the practical ins and outs of Special Characteristics, learn how they are defined and where they are found. You will learn how to convert specification limits into process language or process language into specification limits. You will be able to communicate design and process needs before the design ever hits the manufacturing line. This class is fun and engaging and so informative many people take it yearly. It is a privilege to now offer it in the Seattle area.  

What is a Special Characteristic? There are two main types of Special Characteristics that we will define. Design Special Characteristics and Process Characteristics.

The Design Special Characteristic is a characteristic of a feature on the design that requires special attention when it is manufactured. For example a feature might be a hole in the design and the characteristic of the hole would be the roundness of the hole. If the roundness of the hole was considered a Special Design Characteristic we would mark that on the part print to signal to manufacturing this feature “the hole” has a characteristic “the roundness of the hole” which design believes will need special attention when it is created in the manufacturing process. Manufacturing in turn would be required to have a plan to deal with this “special” design need.

A Special Process Characteristic is a characteristic of a process that requires special attention when the process is executed. For example a heat treating process may have a characteristic like percent carbon atmosphere that requires special attention in order for the process to properly produce the heat treated part. If the percent carbon atmosphere was considered a Special Process Characteristic it would be identified in the PFMEA, Control Plan and the process operator Work Instructions.

Naturally if design and manufacturing do not have the same understanding of what is meant by Special characteristic there could be disagreement that would create delays in the production of the design. For this reason alone it is important to have common ground when dealing with Special Characteristics. This course offers a clear and unambiguous explanation of what a Special Characteristic is.

When and where do we identify Special Characteristics? Special Characteristics are identified in the design and process FMEAs. Typically Design Special Characteristics are identified and communicated on the engineering drawings, and Process Characteristics are communicated on manufacturing drawings. Both Design and Process Special Characteristics are communicated on the process Control Plan and in the process Work Instructions.

Generally speaking every company may have their own specification on how Special Characteristics are defined, categorized and labeled on a drawing. Some companies put them to groups or categories that initiate or relate them like safety, regulatory, key, design and process. However they all have something in common that makes them a Special Characteristic. Another generality regarding Special Characteristics is that they are not wanted and add expense to the product because they require special attention and processing. They should be designed out when possible, and if they can’t be designed out they must be appropriately controlled.

It is important to recognize that even though Special Characteristics are unwanted, they should not be ignored or avoided. Avoiding the process of finding Special Characteristics will only limit your ability to get ahead of them and control them. Allowing them to surprise you and your customers in the form of failures will cost your company far more.

A supplier which does not have a clear understanding of what a Special Characteristic is and has several customers with their own special characteristic specifications, will be forced into expensive process controls and reaction plans without any means of defending the excellence of their process. Understanding the essence of what makes a characteristic special is an essential part of offering a competitive quote and contract negotiation.