A manufacturer of pleasure boats was on track to miss the introduction of a new product line at an annual boat show. To do so would be disastrous to the company’s reputation and dealer relations.

When the company called OME, the request was for a large group of on-site engineers to help meet the upcoming deadline. Before agreeing to this solution, OME arranged a conference call between the company’s manufacturing, engineering and design teams to better understand what needed to be accomplished.

From this collaborative assessment, a different plan emerged and was agreed to by everyone involved.

• A small group of OME engineers was assigned to work at the boat company’s site and in less than a week, they were on the job.
• A larger group of engineers based in India was quickly assembled.

A schedule was developed that accelerated the engineering process. At the end of each day at the company’s U.S. location, the small team handed off their work to the group in India who were just starting their workday.

This cycle continued throughout the project. What allowed this to work smoothly was the twice-a-day “warm” or verbal hand off between the two groups that raised issues and answered questions. It was as if the two groups were working in the same facility.

At first the company was somewhat skeptical. “Will this really work the way you say it will?” After being reassured, it was agreed. When the project was completed, the OME process had reduced development time by 58%.

The project was completed one week early, not weeks late. It was accomplished within the manufacturer’s budget.

With its famous Sleep Number Bed Mattresses, Select Comfort Corporation of Minneapolis, never rests when it comes to finding ways to improve its products and satisfy its millions of customers.

One of the key components of the Sleep Number system is the pump for changing the Sleep Number settings. When the company wanted to replace its two models of pumps with a single one, the company’s Vice President / Research & Development, Doug Scites, turned to OME.

“We were committed to a new product launch date,” reports Scites. “And our engineering team decided that outsourcing the pump design would give them the time required to complete their other work for the launch.”

The task involved working closely with Select Comfort’s engineers to develop a pump that met the company’s strict aesthetic, performance, size and cost guidelines. Specifically, they wanted a high performance pump that was smaller, operated faster, costs less and was lighter to reduce shipping costs.

“Partnering with OME worked beautifully,” say Doug Scites. “We had the product knowledge and they were the technology experts. OME established a time line that met our requirements, managed the program and delivered the new pump on time. We were pleased how they grasped the task so quickly and knew exactly what to do to meet our expectations.”

Scites also points out that there was an innovation benefit to working with the OME team. “We value new ideas and perspectives to improve our products and that is what OME brought us.”

While the time line was short and the cost requirements were demanding, OME met the challenge with a 24/7 schedule that utilized a combination of two engineering groups, one based in the USA and the other overseas.