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Ian Quest, Director, Quick Release

Ian Quest is a director at Quick Release. Based in London, Ian operates internationally as he leads QR_’s growing consultancy arm. His focus is on unlocking competitive advantage by bringing products to market faster and more efficiently. An early career in aerospace engineering led to senior leadership roles with several prominent manufacturing consultancies, culminating in directorship of Newton Europe’s Air, Land & Sea business. Ian joined QR_ full time in 2017, having previously provided non-executive advisory services to its founders.

From CAD to Kit: The Product Data Management Journey of an e-Mobility Start-up from Virtual Concept to Production Reality

Established manufacturers have been honing PLM workflows, systems, and processes for three decades or more. Despite inevitable challenges associated with deeply integrated, often proprietary legacy systems serving robust if occasionally labyrinthine and lethargic release processes, they are at least a known entity.

But about a new start-up with a blank page; how would they design and implement those same PLM workflows, systems, and processes that larger, more experienced competitors have been refining for decades? Does a blank page provide liberating freedom to implement best practice unimpeded, or does lack of institutional precedent increase risk of missteps eroding program margins, increasing time-to-market and reducing competitive advantage?

This presentation will cover how an electromobility start-up might conduct initial process design, set up appropriate PDM, and navigate the unknown unknowns before scaling and enabling a growing team to be effective across multiple programs. QR_ provides ‘go to’ advisory in this space, reducing program risk and in one instance increasing output by 21 percent while simultaneously reducing headcount by 25 percent.

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