Tracking supplier downloads
A tooling deadline leaves little time to chase a drawing across time zones.
For Eaton, the sender’s job continues after release. Someone must be able to confirm which supplier received the design, even if the engineer who issued it is away.
Programme engineers handle routine transfers themselves. A specialist can still step in when an OEM has specific technical requirements.
01Engineers issue their own files
When Eaton sends files to its own suppliers, it uses MX to make the transfer and audit the movement of data in and out of the company. “We need to know that suppliers have definitely received data and MX enables us to track this,” says Ian Blundell.
Eaton can set up programme engineers without a desktop installation or formal training. The engineer who issues the data checks the download, freeing CAD specialists to concentrate on design work.
02Covering releases when a colleague is away
Administrator Ian Blundell can review incoming and outgoing files and cover notifications for absent colleagues. Automatic messages flag files that suppliers have yet to download.
The download history gives Eaton a way to resolve a delivery query without first contacting the toolmaker. Explore a controlled B2B exchange process for a similar supplier workflow.
MX makes life much easier. With a range of toolmakers in China and sometimes language difficulties, it can be an obstacle given very tight turnaround times. We might, for example, have just 16 weeks for a large tool, with two of those weeks taken up by transportation.
How Eaton follows up
Engineers take responsibility for delivery, with an administrator available to check outstanding files.
Eaton divides the work according to who needs to act. The programme engineer follows the drawing; the CAD team deals with technical questions.
Check whether a supplier downloaded the release
Check the download record before calling a supplier for confirmation.
Let the issuing engineer follow up
Let the programme engineer follow the file they issued rather than asking CAD to track it.
Keep a record for colleagues
When a colleague is away, the administrator can look up the exchange and follow outstanding notifications.
Support for Ford’s C3P requirements
Some OEM projects require help with the engineering data itself.
Eaton first approached Majenta for a Ford contract under the C3P programme, covering CAD, CAM, CAE and PIM. The team needed to meet Ford’s technical data requirements as well as deliver the files.
Majenta’s role as a Certified Data Services Provider gives Eaton access to specialists familiar with OEM data requirements.
The specialists help the team work through legacy CAD issues and customer requests that need engineering knowledge.
Eaton can raise a technical query through the same working relationship it uses to exchange data.
The technical guys at Majenta Solutions have become our user-friendly interface; they really understand both Jaguar, our major client, and Ford.
Working with Majenta specialists
Eaton’s engineers can speak directly to the specialists supporting the exchange.
Ian Blundell describes regular contact with Majenta as part of the working day, alongside the transfers his team handles in MX.
“We are in constant daily communication, mostly through the MX platform; occasionally we speak on the phone. Majenta Solutions team members are unfailingly helpful. They provide direct and timely advice, a consistently excellent service and we know that we can rely on them completely.”