The UK Automotive Industry relies on a strong eco-system of suppliers, and agility is key in driving collaboration and innovation. Change Management is one area that has traditionally restricted this agility. Changes in designs and specifications can take days, if not weeks, to filter down the supplier chain where in a digital world this should be minutes. Fragmented and manual processes make change a one directional flow which by nature fails to support collaborative design.

At Direc-Tec, we believe there is a better way. We have applied our expertise and experience in digitalising processes and making data accessible to create Direc-Tec Online Change Management (OCM) – a SaaS-based solution that digitalises the change management process, connects every part of the supply chain and accelerates innovation through effective collaboration.

Streamlining Change Management

To enable a ‘shift-to-the-left,’ manufacturers need to streamline and digitalise the change management process in order to deliver the desired savings in both time and cost, and for these savings to benefit the entire supply chain.

Direc-Tec’s Online Change Management (OCM) transforms what has been a set of fragmented and labour-intensive processes. We automate the steps of the change management process and digitalise the flow of information to drive greater agility and speed across the eco-system. 

OCM is able to detect changes in design and specifications captured in your PLM systems and automate the task of notifying relevant suppliers. Where a defined sign-off process is required, OCM is able to manage and expedite this process, ensuring that the required information and documentation flows to the right people with alerts and escalations, ensuring that nothing slows down the process.

Expedite Processes | Less Manual Effort | Remove Errors

Enabling Collaborative Design

The best design is a collaborative and iterative process. It is where ideas are shared and collective knowledge and experience across the value chain are applied to solve problems and create the best possible solution. Collaborative design requires for everyone to be working off the same page and for information to flow freely.

With Direc-Tec Online Change Management you can remove the blockers of collaborative design. We provide a single intuitive portal where the end-to-end supply chain can work together to accelerate innovation.

You are likely to use different systems from your suppliers, but we take care of that. We are able to automatically convert your source documents into multiple formats to ensure these can be read by everyone and enable comments and feedback to be captured and shared.

Remove Time Lag | No Access Barriers | Reduce Risk & Errors

Holistic View of Change

The pace of innovation is greater than ever before and as such any single component can go through tens, if not hundreds, of changes. Tracking this change is essential in order to ensure that nothing gets missed and also to truly understand what is being asked of suppliers.

When much of the change management process is manual, it can be difficult to track when changes are requested, capture feedback from suppliers and record discussions that take place on the impact of such change. This can result in mistakes, additional risk and potential fractious moments in supplier relationships.

Direc-Tec OCM enables for every change, no matter how small, to be fully captured and tracked to ensure that nothing is missed, and the end-to-end supply chain remains fully in step. By holistically capturing every change you are able to see the efficiency of your design and procurement processes, identify where changes impact production and the cause and effect of change on cost, effort and speed.

Improve Quality | Improve Efficiency | Better Supplier Relationships