ENGINEERING DATA CONTROL FOR BID AND ORDER HANDLING IN THE CAPITAL PLANT INDUSTRY

In the international capital plant market, bid preparation and respons e time to customer enquiry is a major factor in securing orders. Engin eering decisions taken at the proposal stage are crucial for a success ful project and subsequent sales. This paper describes research being carried out into 'engineering data control' for capital plant manufact ure to reduce response time and integrate bid and order handling. The work is introduced with a description of information flow in a typical capital plant bid and order handling process. The project cycle and d ata structure underlying the system architecture of the proposed engin eering data control (EDC) system is explained showing how the bid and order handling system can be integrated. An implementation of a protot ype system at a case study site is described and the benefits of using the approach in the context of faster response to enquiries, shorter manufacturing lead times and error reduction in engineering data manag ement is discussed. The paper concludes by outlining the potential for application in a wide range of complex capital plant applications.