Log onto your favorite music streaming service and search change. You will likely see a long list of song titles containing the word change. Everyone from David Bowe, Tupac, Taylor Swift, and Deftones to Carrie Underwood and many, many more have made songs about change. This isn’t surprising when you consider how prevalent change is in every aspect of our lives.

At United Equipment Accessories (UEA), we manage changes daily to components of our products. Changes can range in complexity from dimensional modifications and performance characteristics to complete redesigns.  These changes can involve many different departments of UEA.

A typical change involves the customer contacting the sales team or the engineering team.  UEA prides itself on making it a priority to accomplish a requested change.  Once engineering is made aware of the change, our blueprints need to be revised.  The engineering team then needs to notify the functional groups that might be affected by the change.  Quality, purchasing, machine shop, assembly, shipping, and accounting: some or all these groups need to work in conjunction to manage a change.  

There can be risks in changing a production item.  One risk can be that multiple parts need to be changed at the same time.  Trying to coordinate the changes so that they all happen at once can be a juggling act.  Another risky change can be using up enough of the old inventory in conjunction with revising a manufactured part. It can be a complex decision to decide when the cut-in date of the new part will be.

Even after nine years of working at UEA, I am still in awe of how this company has created a culture equipped to handle customer changes.  We truly are here to build the product, whether it be a slip ring, rotary union, shift controls, or cable reels, that the customer needs.  Our tagline “solving challenges from the inside out” encompasses not only the upfront design consultation but also ongoing communication with the customer to ensure that the product meets and exceeds the customer's expectation.

Contact the team at UEA to manage your next slip ring, rotary union, or cable reel project!