How We Work With Clients

Our process for working with clients is shown in the flow chart.  Each of these steps is discussed in more detail below.

1. Sign confidentiality agreement. We can use your company’s agreement or ours.
   
2. Initial meeting with engineering team to discuss goals and problems. This is typically about 1 hour long.  We’ll review the product or manufacturing process in question.  We will need a sample of the product and to review the manufacturing process.  The more information you can provide at this initial meeting, the better.  There’s no charge for this step.
   
3. Work with client to frame problem/decision. Identifying the correct problem to solve or decision to address is one of the most important parts of a project.  It’s not fun to work on a project and discover that the information obtained won’t help address the issue.
   
4. Determine whether Industrial Metallurgists, LLC can help. At this point we’ll know if we can help or if a different approach is needed.  We’ll recommend the proper resource if a different approach is required.
   
5. Identify project scope, goals, and deliverables. Once these have been determined we will be able to provide a project proposal.  The proposal will list the project scope, goals, and deliverables.
   
6. Provide proposal. The proposal contains the project scope, goals, deliverables, steps, and fees.  Some projects are divided into two or more phases, with the intent of reviewing the project after each phase.  Projects are typically fixed fee.  In some cases a few hours of upfront engineering time is required because there’s too much missing information.
   
7. Perform work. Regardless of the type of project we ultimately help you get the information needed to answer questions. We obtain the information using the following resources:
   
   • Our knowledge and experience
   • Materials analysis techniques to evaluate the properties and performance of materials, components, and joints
   • Tests to evaluate the reliability of materials, components, and joints
   • Technical publications (e.g., textbooks, technical journals, industry standards)
   • Discussions with your engineers and suppliers
   • Our network of materials engineers
   • Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA)

Depending on the type of project we may need input from you and your team regarding the information we obtain and the direction we take based on the information.  After all, you are the product experts.

8. Final report. Our final report will include the findings, conclusions, and steps to consider for future work.  We’ll review the report with you, answer any questions you have, and get your feedback.
   
9. Identify next steps.