Design engineers are playing a more active role throughout the value engineering process than ever before. No longer do they simply oversee the conceptual aesthetic and ergonomic aspects of a new product design, they are increasingly accountable for the cost of producing a product in the most effective and efficient way possible. As a result, there is an industry-wide drive to engineer more functional products and systems at a lower cost, while continuing to deliver on quality. In this article, Marcus Schneck, CEO at leading standard component manufacturer norelem, explores some of the simple, yet often overlooked, strategies that design engineers can adopt to realise time and cost savings, ensure predictive availability of components, and manufacture more effective products.

A must-have resource for engineers has been updated to include up to 38,000 standard components, useful for machine building, toolmaking, mechanical engineering, and automation applications.