How do you align with engineering standards and policies?

In my work combining development and consulting, I've observed businesses adopting mismatched standards. Before prescribing practices, it's crucial to understand the company's context. For instance, a Fortune 500 firm like Company 1 has an established presence, prioritizing sustainability and quality. Their engineering emphasizes security and reliability. Conversely, an SMB fintech like Company 2, ever-responsive to market changes and regulations, emphasizes speed and adaptability in their practices. However, outliers exist, as seen when Google's Bard had to innovate rapidly in response to Open.AI's market influence. In essence, always assess the operational context before deciding on standards and practices.

standards and policies are established with reference to what was known at the time. today with AI much standards and policies can be changed and even when established with the aid of AI still has room for improvement. Change is an essential element of success and the discriminator between excellence and routine Zia

The use of code and standards really depend on the law and contract requirement where the projects executed. In Indonesia, you may find national standards (SNI) used as well as the international standards for each discipline. However, American and European standards are widely acceptable for industrial projects in Indonesia.

Any engineering, procurement and construction(EPC) project, big or small, has to follow local or/and international standards agreed in the job award contract.For almost every EPC project the Prime Contract will enlist the various engineering, safety , environment related standards to be followed. These agreement between EPC consultant and owner/client is sacrosanct and must be adhered to. Any experienced engineering manager or group supervisor in design and construction know what are the standards applicable for specific task/design/construction.There are standards for all engineering disciplnes like , Mechanical, Electrical,Civil,Electronics & Instrumentation, Fire Protection, Environment Protection and so forth.

As an example I can say from my experience from power distribution ( Electrical) Industry, it pays to know the codes and standards pertaining to the product you are designing. More than Compliance and certification, it help to bring in the tribal knowledge of the design best practices, safety measures and helps engineers to go at their job with confidence, especially in industries regulated for Health, Safety, Hazardous environments etc. Understanding the purpose, scope and applicability of each testing/certification standard for their particular product for every engineer is in itself a gold mine of product and use-case understandings as well.

The engineering Manager(EM), group leader(GL) must read the contract to get a list of standards agreed.They may make a list, make it available to the team . Any specific deviation that owner/client ,consultatnt agreed must be highlighted in general and emphasized in toolbox meetings. The standards are usually available in library or in softform in documentum system. Team must be made aware what edition of standard is applicable in general or any specific task.One hass to select appropriate versions of such standards in commercial softwares used for design and construction. For new joinees/freshers, a refresher presentation on this is a good way to get them oriented. EM,GL must ensure adoption of standards as agreed in contract.

We have our Quality and Compliance Manager introduces company policies and regulations to every employees since day-1 joining the company. While Engineering Manager in our company will provide the guidelines to all technical staffs on how the execute the design related works to International standards. Engineering Manager will review continuously the works done by each discipline prior to release for construction.

The term align is appropriate, because management is often more than just communication; it's connection. If a team member disagrees with a policy, you can just demand it, or you can connect the policy to their own goals, values and perspectives. It also helps to illustrate how these policies connect the team with the rest of the organization, the customers, and the strategy laid out by leadership. Connect them with the big picture.

All the decided engineering standards and policies which the company want to follow are applicable to all employees and projects. This needs to be published and communicated clearly. It's everyone's responsibility to follow. When it comes to projects, additional standards and policies need to be applied as explained in the previous section. It is normally decided by the engineering lead and the project manager of that project.

In engaging with self-organised teams we aim to trust, imposing our views can be counterproductive and reflective of a “red management style.” A collaborative approach in establishing standards, where teams are involved, and certain constraints are communicated, is more effective. People are more inclined to adhere to practices they've contributed to, valuing the acknowledgment of their insights and choices.

A pretty obvious point, but monitoring and enforcement of adherence to any applied industry standard requires a strict internal process/procedure that references and leverages guidance set by those industry standards. The simplest set of metrics for those internal procedures usually involves, then, some sort of checklist that calls out minimum tasks oriented around the level of effort intended by the industry standard for the output of a process it is being applied towards. Take for instance design for manufacturability - a checklist for designers to guarantee adherence to ASME Y14.5 would help for manufacturing accuracy and uniformity.

Monitor and enforce is included in our internal Quality Assurance Quality Control manual. QAQC manual has been saved into our internal website and everyone can access it. We also include our QAQC program in every proposal which we submit to Clients. As a reputable consultant we are very agile in doing this monitor and enforce aspects included into our QAQAC program.

Monitoring and enforcement mechanisms are the most challenging in my practice. Educating the teams continuously is necessary and the Engineering Manager has a crucial role in these processes. However, without the usage of proper tools, it's almost impossible to ensure that engineers are following the standards and these are not just documents that gather dust on the shelves.

This check & balance is a continuous process thru education, reminder to the team and finally while checking and approving the deliverables like , design calculation, Issued for design/construction drawings. Any deviation from standard has to be agreed based on merit and an alternate standard contractually accepted by the client/owner.This kind of deviation permit has to be communicated to the client, to the entire project team for future followup / adhereance. There must be periodic internal audits by EM /GL /their rep. Based on the findings corrective action to be taken or issue raised with client for deviation permit. External audits like ISO audits do often check about standards followed, any deviation taken and documentaion thereof.

Successful implementation of standards mostly depends on how well the company developed its processes, how well it is communicated to people and most importantly people's behaviour and commitment.

Truly agree that the engineering standards and policies are living documents and can be updated to the latest engineering technology. I worked for several engineering companies, and they keep updating their policy and manuals in order to be adaptable to changing of work environment as well as to improve their agility and quality to serve their clients.

When I was a new hire SWE at a mental health company, I adapted my workflow and expectations based on company policies. When launching a new product, issues emerged as it became available in two continents outside the home country. This led to quick feedback from engineers when dealing with privacy and data issues based on regulations, resulting in reviewing and adapting standards and policies. Adaptability is crucial in nature and being a productive professional.

All the engineering standards and policies are always monitored and reviewed. It will be adapted, improved and evolved over a period of time based on need and change in circumstances.

Several times the standards are behind the last technology improvements. It is fundamental that the developers have available channels to get contact with the with the Standard's committees so that they can solve ambiguities and updated limits, test measurement techniques, etc.

Local statutory or international standards or not so easy to change as these are governed by the respective bodies. However, the EM/GL must raise any issue to the owner/client with standards agreed vs the most optimum that should be followed.This happens in reality that wahtever was agreed in contract may not be applicable since say the standard itself has been revised or a different standard is better for cost and time efficiency without sacrificing quality. Sometimes this deviation permit takes time in educating the client or agreeing for extra cost for a higher standard adoption.Internal standards/specifications are easy to revise based on discussions/feedback/approval.However, such specs can't violate the contractually binding standard.

It is important to Develop Consensus: Engage stakeholders in discussions to establish consensus on the need for alignment and the desired outcomes. Ensure that all relevant parties are involved in the decision-making process.

Right, there has to be a consistent and well established policies regarding what standards are to be followed and how changes to internal or external standards are to be communicated and resources made available to the project or the entire organization. Many engg companies do have a standard implementaion committee who issues communique to the entore org from time to time. Any specific project may share their observation with this committee or any other concurrent or past project to get any lesson learnt on such implementation issues. Such sharing of knowlwdge with others not only alerts other projects or disciplines about common impending changes but also enhances knowledge about currency of any standard or the way deviation is permitted.

Collaboration and coordination stand as pivotal elements in aligning with engineering standards and policies. Effective communication and information sharing are foundational to ensuring synergy among varied teams and organizations. In my view, the mutual exchange of support, leveraging collective expertise, and harmonizing standards is instrumental in not only avoiding conflicts but fostering an environment of innovation and shared goals. This approach underscores the importance of unity in diversity, where varied perspectives and skills converge to elevate the application and evolution of engineering standards and policies.

In my experience, this works best when done in conjunction with the first step or second step. If something you're doing may contradict another department's work, you need to know before starting, not after implementing. In Quality, the best idea is to build quality into the process, not to try to inspect it out. A process's defect is usually found after it's made because the process was designed such that it could be made. Rather, design the process so defects cannot occur. Considering alignment of standards and policies, which is a process and involves other processes, waiting until the "product" is made - i.e., the alignment is done - is too late. If there are potential failures lying within other departments, understand that early.

Take time to reflect on your work and projects. Analyze what worked, what didn't, and why. Use this information to refine your strategies. It's very important to document the reflections and analysis.

Many deviation permit on standard sometimes become tricky, expensive and may cause dely in release of final design.Either client is not knowledgeable about the alternative proposed or is not agreeable to deviate from the standard they follow. The other scenraio is that agreed contractual standard is bit new to the team and there is a potential cost impact. Either way, discussion, deliberation and presentation of design analysis with new proposed standard is the way. This may cause delay hence is to be treated with all seriousness and punctuality. Communication with higher ups in clinet by PM or director may be required to sort out the commercial/schedule impact. This Lesson Learnt is valuable and to be documented properly for future jobs.

A great place to institutionalize what you learned for something like this would be in your Change Management process/procedures. If you rely on people to remember, the same mistakes will continue to occur. If you make it so the company remembers (by codifying it in processes and procedures), your improvements and learnings will sustain for your next change project.

Ultimately, people make businesses work, and people want to feel like they are contributing, involved, and engaged. When it comes to things like aligning standards and policies, it's easy for a business to focus on the business side and forget the people executing those policies. Engage the people early and often and it'll go smoother long-term. Also, very few people in most companies want to be concerned with standards AND policies, so make sure the policy is a layman's term version of the standard's requirements, and compliance will follow. That being said, creating a matrix of how your policy is compliant with the standard can help come audit time.

Project sometimes throw great surprises. 1. Be aware that violation of standards may lead to over/under design and cause reputational harm and safety failure,litigation and loss of revenue/job. So, sensitize the team about this. 2. During contract formation, the list of stndards to be proposed / agreed must be evaluated by thecompetent subject matter experts in the team/company and onlymost optimum level/version of standards be included in the agrement. 3. Flush out all obsolete standards,get in place the new applicable ones with team/companywise communication. 4. Don't delay on issues for standard deviation permit. It may have expensive time and cost impact on the project. 5. Share Lesson Learnt about standard deviation,how it was tackled.

Change management is usually something that is brought up after a change fails to take hold, but that failure is nearly guaranteed unless you consider the changes being made, and create a plan to transition. Remember to treat your people as people and not robots. Habits are hard to change. People need focus, and can be overwhelmed with too many new procedures and goals all at once. Every change will upset the system and have downstream effects, so your plan will need to adapt as you implement the transition. Setting these expectations properly will help your team not only meet it's alignment goals, but it will keep the team trust and morale high through the whole process.