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Materials Strategy - Critical Issues
The materials lifecycle
Engineering enterprises make things from materials. Historically, the primary criteria for selecting materials related to their function and how easily they could be processed. Now, ever-increasing environmental and cost pressures are requiring companies to consider each stage of the 'lifecycle' (see diagram below) for the materials that they specify. They need to account for the processes involved in producing the raw materials, and to plan for their ultimate disposal.
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Manufacturing organizations, and the materials producers that support them, may need strategies to support their decisions affecting one, more than one, or all of these lifecycle stages – and in defining and implementing these strategies, they need to marshal and apply the right materials information. This is where Granta's materials strategy solutions come in. Our software can deliver a systematic approach, and the supporting data, for strategic decisions at any stage in the materials lifecycle. We can help you whether you need a specific solution for one of these issues, or a more all-encompassing system.
Critical issues where Granta helps
Examples for users of materials
Materials user scenarios |
Strategies must address these questions |
Material cost is a high proportion of our product
cost and markets are volatile and inflationary. This threatens
our profitability. |
How do we assess material and process alternatives?
How do we ensure we use the most profitable? How do we track trends? How do we know when to switch? |
We are experiencing materials failures in our
products. |
How do we determine what other material(s) we can substitute with minimal
changes? How do we find grades that offer similar characteristics without
failure? How do we assess their impact? |
We manufacture in different countries. |
How do we find local substitute materials? How do we determine ‘equivalence’ to the existing material? How do we evaluate the impact
on quality, cost, consumer experience, or regulatory compliance? |
A vendor has offered us a new material option. |
How do we evaluate it systematically against
existing options? How do we determine which products will gain if we switch? |
We use many different material suppliers and
grades. |
Can we optimize to a list of preferred suppliers
and materials? Can we apply more objective criteria to these
decisions, taking into account both technical and economic factors? |
Environmental legislation is imposing new requirements
on us. |
How can we minimize the cost of compliance, and
maximize the benefits from any required changes - in terms of
product marketing, cost, and performance? |
Example for producers of materials
Material producer scenarios |
Strategies must address these questions |
Our customer is making a new component. |
How can we help them? How do we determine which is our best
material for the customer’s application, and then demonstrate this to them? |
Our customer uses a competitor’s material. |
How do we pick the best alternative from our portfolio
of grades? Can we offer a unique benefit with one of our
grades? |
We need to retain customers who already use our
materials. |
How do we check that our customers use the right materials to
maximize both their profitability and ours? How can we
help them get more value from our materials? |
Our R&D organization is developing a new
material. |
How do we position this new material relative
to existing ones? How do we determine the best application areas? How do we assess its value/market potential? |
We need to improve a current material. |
How do we pinpoint where the material is
deficient? How do we develop an improvement plan? |
Environmental legislation is imposing new requirements
on us. |
How can we best position the products in our
portfolio relative to our customer’s eco-compliance needs? How
do we minimize the cost of doing this? What new product
opportunities arise from eco-legislation? |
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