Industrial Equipment Cost Optimization
Offshore Engineering Team for a US-Based Industrial Equipment Manufacturer
🏢 Client Profile
Our client is a reputed North American manufacturer in the industrial equipment sector, offering products such as pressure washers, air compressors, and other commercial-grade machinery. To remain competitive in a price-sensitive market, the client partnered with Cognition IES to establish a dedicated offshore engineering and cost optimization team under a Build & Operate model.
🎯 Project Overview
The engagement aimed at driving a complete transformation in product cost, design efficiency, and manufacturability of selected equipment lines. Through our Build & Operate approach, Cognition IES established and managed a specialized engineering team to support design improvements, benchmarking, and cost control initiatives for the client’s offshore operations.
🎯 Client Objectives
🔧 Manufacturing Cost Reduction
💸 Improve Margins up to 50%
📉 Move Down the Price Ladder
🛠 Re-imagine Product Architecture
🆚 Benchmarking with Market Leaders
🔍 Reverse Engineering of Competitor Models
📈 Process Quality Enhancement
🧮 Factor of Safety Validation on Reengineered Parts
👥 Roles Built
⦿Product Designer
⦿Costing Engineer
⦿Manufacturing Engineer
⦿Hydraulic – SME
⦿FEA Engineer
⦿Sourcing Engineer
Build & Operate Execution Strategy
1. Team Setup & Onboarding
Recruited, trained, and deployed a cross-functional engineering team aligned to client goals.
Enabled seamless integration with client’s internal teams via virtual and physical collaboration hubs.
2. Cost Benchmarking & Value Engineering (VAVE)
Reverse-engineered competitors’ products for cost-performance insights.
Conducted deep-dive analysis of existing product families to identify material and design inefficiencies.
Applied VAVE and should-costing techniques to optimize part and assembly-level costs.
3. Modular Design & SKU Rationalization
Simplified and standardized SKUs across product families.
Identified over-engineered components and proposed modular redesigns to reduce tooling, inventory, and fabrication costs.
4. Cross-functional Collaboration & Knowledge Transfer
Conducted design workshops with sourcing and manufacturing teams.
Delivered training and documentation for long-term internal use and continuous improvement.
Business Impact
| Business Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing Cost per Unit | 100% | 65% |
| Gross Profit Margin | Approx. 30% | 45-50% |
| Component Count (Avg.) | High | Reduced |
| Part Standardization | Fragmented | Streamlined |
| Engineering Complexity | High | Optimized |
| Time-to-Market (Future SKUs) | 100% | ~70% of baseline |