General Information

Consultants, by their very nature, experience a diverse sampling of engineering and product development cultures. The terms "CONSULTANT" and "CONTRACT ENGINEER" are often used interchangeably and the perception of the difference between the two varies from person to person. They are sometimes expected to be independent problem solvers (consultants) bringing new skills, experience, or ideas into an organization; other times they are expected simply to implement a well defined idea (contract engineers) performing the detailed design implementation function that would otherwise be performed by directly employed personnel under the direction and guidance of engineering or project managers. Quite often the same person finds themselves filling either or both role as the situation requires; flexibility is key. I offer these two definition suggestions so we can easily come to an understanding of our mutual roles.

Being able to work in either environment requires confidence and flexibility. Most of all it requires experience in dealing with all sorts of situations and working in a wide variety of organizational structures.

The reasons for engaging a consultant or contract engineer are as varied as the organizations that hire them. Whether it is to fill a temporary staffing shortage, or to acquire skills/experience not currently existing in-house, consultants can be the answer to your temporary staffing needs.

The best time to bring a consultant into a project depends on the nature of the project. If you are simply filling a temporary staffing shortage the timing is usually a matter of your project schedule and how the availability of the additional resource fits into the overall scheme. If you are expecting to gain new skills or experience through the use of consultants they should be engaged as early in the project as possible; during product conceptualization is not too early. The impact of new skills acquired late in a project may ripple back through work that has already been completed. If a consultant is brought in toward the end of a project and their suggestions aren't implemented because it would be too costly to revisit completed work you have wasted your money and the benefit of hiring a consultant.

This is seldom more true than in the case of EMC compliance. Bringing a consultant or contract engineer in at the beginning of a project can help gain appropriate early focus on EMC issues when everyone else is naturally focused on what appear to be more pressing issues.