Manufacturing
The Significance of engineering support in innovation
Numbers show that 77% of engineers use Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) to design processes, and businesses have increased their ER&D spending by 10-20 per cent in 2024 compared to 2021.
Businesses are moving towards precision manufacturing to achieve higher quality, better efficiency, and lower costs. Global Engineering Process Outsourcing (EPO) is growing due to the availability of lucrative overseas markets and expertise in quality engineering services.
This article covers the benefits of outsourcing engineering services, industries that can benefit from it, and trends in EPO.
Benefits of outsourcing engineering services
From design and prototyping to manufacturing, testing, and maintenance, engineers work with designers throughout the lifecycle while ensuring that the product meets industry standards. The benefits of outsourcing engineering services are:
Reduce development time
By investing in engineering support, you avoid the massive expense of hiring in-house R&D teams and experts who may not be available locally. In a fast-paced market, reduce the time-to-market by letting the outsourcing team handle product development and designing. Get the products on the shelf sooner and with confidence.
Lower the development cost
With a dedicated and expert team managing the product development, you avoid costly mistakes and delays due to issues such as design flaws. This saves time and money so that you can spend it on core business activities for growth.
Remain competitive in the market
Engineering support can keep you ahead of the competition. The team of expert designers and engineers can help you create truly innovative products to differentiate your brand. This also establishes a reputation for the brand in terms of quality and innovation.
Comply with industry standards
Industry standards and compliance requirements can change fast. Not meeting them can have severe financial and legal consequences, so utilizing engineering support services provides an extra layer of security and expertise. By outsourcing engineering support, you work with a team of engineers and designers backed by legal experts who ensure that your products and services meet the current industry standards and legal requirements.
Industries that benefit from engineering support services in innovation
Businesses must have clear indicators that show the presence and effectiveness of business process innovation. Its key characteristics are:
- Automotive: Automobile manufacturers outsource designing and testing services for conventional ICE engines and electric vehicles to third parties. Outsourcing saves them up to fifty per cent of the costs while streamlining the process due to better quality and clear communication with the supplier. Furthermore, engaging with engineering support services enhances the project's efficiency.
- Consumer electronics: There is a rapid development and influx of electronic devices. Businesses can only keep up with the growing pace by outsourcing. It shortens the development lifecycle and allows access to cutting-edge technology.
- Oil and gas: Exploration and discovery of new oil and gas fields at a faster pace has led businesses to outsource services such as rig design and support, engineering integration, refinery design, program management, technical documentation, and training.
- Utilities: For services such as grid design or solar panel design, utility companies outsource engineering support. This helps them innovate and achieve the result at a lower cost.
- Construction and civil engineering: The construction of residential and commercial buildings and other structures for transport, water distribution, and the environment are outsourced to independent designers and engineers. The services include design, project management, and product lifecycle management.
Trends in engineering process outsourcing
Disruptive changes in the global market are driving the outsourcing of engineering services. Businesses seek partnerships for faster time-to-market, lower costs, and access to skilled engineers. These trends are fuelling engineering process outsourcing and increasing demand for engineering support services :
The need to reduce costs
Cost reduction is one of the main drivers of growth for engineering support. Hiring outside specialists for designing, productisation, and testing allows businesses to divert their in-house team to other critical tasks and reduce operating and hiring costs.
New-age technologies
High-tech engineering and smart products generate large amounts of data that businesses must manage and analyse to maximise productivity and innovation. Businesses can leverage the expertise of third-party engineering service providers who have already invested in technologies for data analytics, artificial intelligence, robotic process automation, machine learning, etc.
Intelligent products
In the age of smart products, businesses can either invest in embedded electronics designing and software or outsource it to an expert. Smart products give businesses a competitive advantage and place them as a market leader and innovator in the industry.
How can Infosys BPM help with engineering support services?
Infosys BPM brings together enterprise IT systems such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) through Computer-Aided Design (CAD). This helps in product designing, simulation, 3D visualisation, and analytics-based decision-making.
Read more about business process re-engineering services at Infosys BPM.
