About $750 billion is the worth of engineering services, one of the greater contributors to industry. They cover the major portion of design and support services necessary for the operation of almost all industries, spanning the complete set of engineering. More and more outsourcing of these services is being done today, with room to grow further.
Engineering services are service functions that are involved with or bear a relation to core engineering processes. Examples are: (1) CAD / CAM (computer aided manufacturing / design), (2) Auto design, (3) Failure analysis of structural steel. There is a clear cut difference between engineering functions and engineering service functions. Auto engine manufacturing is an example of an engineering function, while a linked engineering service function is in engine design. It is a parallel to the difference between manufacturing and manufacturing support services. "
The work that goes into engineering services is a value-added service. It cannot be automated since there are multiple factors and emerging technologies. Contact is kept with the client at each step in engineering service projects. The user can also be involved in the process. The process is iterative, and requires regular reevaluation of both the process and the progress achieved which involves modifications. At completion time, engineering services may include operation, sales, or product usage instruction.
Engineering services are segmented into phases: (1) Idea Phase - Identification of a problem or an idea (new building, product) (2) Analysis of the idea or problem. Solution is designed under guiding factors listed below. (3) Test Phase - Testing is done on a model to see how the design works. This is more common with products, and less in construction.
(4) Manufacturing or Construction Phase - Engineering services cover the supervision of manufacturing processes (for electrical and mechanical engineering), construction (mainly for civil engineering), or improvements made to a plant operating system. In this process modifications are implemented. (5) Product Completion or Production-Engineering service provider or manufacturer may simply hand product over to the client (e.g. electrical device).
The product could be sold (e.g. scientific instrument), or in fact operated (power plant), or instruction on operation might be given to the user (e.g. office building). Standards are very important in engineering work since a lot of engineering results in product design. Standards promote the ease of reproduction and assure compatibility between related products. This can be as standard software formats or guidelines for fitting screws or pipes.
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