Engineering Efficiency: 5 Levers for Better R&D Performance

What Is Engineering Efficiency?

Engineering efficiency is the ability of an organisation to transform ideas into finished products and get them to market within a set timeframe. However, efficiency alone doesn’t guarantee success if the end product doesn’t meet market needs. That’s where R&D performance comes in. It ensures you’re developing the right products that customers actually want. Long-term success lies in balancing both engineering efficiency and R&D performance.

The drive towards greater efficiency comes from:

• Cost pressure from Commoditisation: Companies are under pressure to reduce costs and improve margins to stay competitive. Particularly in industries like machinery and automotive, highly-engineered European products are facing increasing competition from lower-cost alternatives. When products offer 80-90% of the performance at a much lower price, many customers are willing to make the switch.

• Speed: The pace of change keeps picking up. Competitors, especially from China, are quick on their feet when it comes to bringing products to market and that sets the standards for Time-to-Market (TTM) for everyone else.

   

   

Five Levers for Engineering Efficiency

When we work with organisations to improve engineering efficiency, we focus on five core levers. 

1. Requirements Engineering

During the engineering process, there is a Need to determine what the customer actually wants. There’s no sense designing a Rolls Royce when a VW Dacia will do the job. In addition, many inefficiencies stem from poor translation of customer needs into engineering terms. A request for a "more versatile interior" might mean more boot space, modular seating, or durable materials, but unless this is clarified early, engineers are left guessing. We employ a systematic requirements analysis using customer clinics, tandems between engineers and buyers and consultations with expert suppliers to define precise requirements.

2. Modularisation and Platform Strategies 

Customers want variety, but development teams can’t start from scratch every time. Modular product architecture allows companies to manage external complexity with a limited set of internal solutions. By building a “bookshelf” of ideas, such as standard components and design rules, organisations can boost engineering efficiency across product lines.

3. Design-to-Cost and Design-to-Profitability 

Cost and margin targets must be part of the design phase, not an afterthought. By aligning early on what the customer values, what they are willing to pay, and what competitors offer, companies can make informed trade-offs between performance and cost earlier on in the design phase rather than just prior to production. If done right, this can cut material costs by up to 40%.

4. Software Integration and Agile Structures 

As products become increasingly software-defined, hardware-driven organisations need to rethink how software development is integrated. Engineering efficiency comes from creating agile structures and aligning development cycles so hardware and software teams move in sync. Think of a medical imaging station and its imaging software: both need to be developed together to maximise their full potential.

5. Digital Development Processes and Simulation

Physical prototyping and testing are time- and capital-intensive. Today, much of this can be done digitally. Shifting from physical to digital testing is a powerful lever for engineering efficiency. Digital validation significantly reduces development time and cost, while improving accuracy. AI can help in this process by processing large data sets, and this can support in the production of service manuals, for example. 
 

H&Z Perspective: Engineering Efficiency a Prerequisite for Innovation

At H&Z, we see engineering efficiency as far more than a cost-cutting exercise. It is a key driver of innovation, helping organisations focus their efforts on bringing the right products to market quickly, at the right time and at the right cost. These are the products customers genuinely want. Efficiency is not the opposite of innovation, rather it’s what makes it possible.