Manufacturing in bits and pieces: Be a short distance runner with the increasingly popular just-in-time technique

Know thy product. As a design engineer, you should know: who the product's consumers are; who its competitors are; how it will be marketed; and how it will be manufactured. Since the manufacturing process is greatly affected by the product's design, a good design engineer will know his or her company's manufacturing capabilities thoroughly in order simultaneously to increase quality consistency, decrease defects, and keep costs down.