Supply Chain Management during Design, with Kevin Bailey (A Chat with Cross-Functional Experts)

Dianna Deeney interviews Kevin Bailey, from Design 1st, about supply chain management during design: how product design engineers and product development leadership can be affected by and affect the supply chain for their products.

This interview is part of our series, “A Chat with Cross Functional Experts". Our focus is speaking with people that are typically part of a cross-functional team within engineering projects. We discuss their viewpoints and perspectives regarding new products, the values they bring to new product development, and how they're involved and work with product design engineering teammates.

About Kevin

Kevin Bailey is the Founder and CEO of Design 1st, a leading product development consultancy. With a dedicated team specializing in various aspects of product development, including industrial design, user experience, mechanical, electrical, and software engineering, Design 1st is at the forefront of delivering top-quality product designs. Kevin is known for his expertise in integrating cost considerations early in the design process and helping clients navigate supply chain solutions, ensuring a seamless development journey for their projects.

Kevin and Dianna talk about:

• How to approach supply chain management from a risk point-of-view, including balancing risk and opportunity.
• Kevin's framework for successful supply chain management: FACT. Feasible, Available, Constraints, and Test.
• Engineers' responsibilities toward supply chain management, and Leaderships responsibilities toward enabling those activities.
• His views of the current state of supply chain management challenges.

Hear Kevin's take on why engineers need to factor in supply chain management while designing products and how crucial it is for leadership and other teammates to lend support to engineers when liaising with suppliers. We'll also talk about how the size of the project and the roles within it should influence the product engineer's approach.

Don't miss out on Kevin's thoughts on the intersection of AI and product development and a sneak peek into his company's upcoming project. Join us for this insightful episode, packed with actionable advice for product development leaders, designers, and engineers.