Projects

How Projects are Formed

Identifying Topics

During the roadmapping process the Technology Working Groups (TWGs) analyze the future technology requirements defined by the product emulators against the predicted technology advancements as forecasted. The differences between product needs and technology trends are identified as gaps – both business and technical – that need to be filled if the global supply network is to maintain world class manufacturing capabilities.  
 
Potential initiatives are also identified through an annual survey of our member companies, plus from input from industry workshops and technology-specific surveys.
 

New Project Development

The Technology Integration Groups (TIGs) identify projects to be undertaken by member companies in order to fill these gaps, and then recruit one or more project champions to initiate the project process.  Representatives from member companies and the industry at large meet to define the new project. This process generally starts with a Definition of Requirements from companies that will be the end users of the project deliverables (generally OEMs and/or EMS providers).
  
Two documents are developed by the organizing team to govern project activities: (1) the Statement of Work (SOW), which sets out project scope, background, purpose, benefits, and outlines required resources, materials, processes, project schedule, etc.; and (2) the Project Statement (PS), which is signed by participating companies to secure commitment on resource and time contributions. 
 
The SOW is submitted to the iNEMI Technical Committee for review and approval, after which it is forwarded to the key technical contact in each member company, and company participation is solicited.  The project can proceed if at least two member companies commit to the program, although a larger participation is preferred to help ensure broad industry support.  iNEMI projects are funded primarily through the use of in-kind resources from project participants.
 

Implementation

The actual work on the project is carried out by the member companies participating in the project.  The responsibilities of each participant are defined at the beginning of the project.  Each company commits the necessary resources to carry out its assigned responsibilities.  Provisions are made for each member company to protect its intellectual property, which is also clearly delineated at the beginning of the project. 
 
Upon completion of the project, all team members share in the results.  Project results may or may not be shared with all iNEMI members and/or the industry in general, as determined by the members of the project team at the beginning of the project.  
 

Project Output

Project output can include a whitepaper, industry survey report, presentation or paper at a conference, a project report or webinar, or a common specification/recommendation on a standard.
 
It may be necessary to develop new standards as a result of the iNEMI project work.  In such cases, iNEMI works with existing standards bodies to accept, release, and maintain the new standard.  Where appropriate, iNEMI will help the standards body develop and get approval for such standards.