ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Engineering change order

Hello there! So, an Engineering Change Order is like when you're playing with your toys and you realize that something is not working properly or that you want to do something different with it. For example, let's say you have a toy car that you want to add more wheels to make it go faster.

Similarly, in engineering, when a product is being designed and created, the engineers might realize that there is something that needs to be changed or improved. This could be because of a mistake, a new technology that can be used, or just making something work better. When this happens, they use a document called an Engineering Change Order (ECO) to request and track the changes that they want to make.

The ECO includes all the details of the change, such as what needs to be changed, why it needs to be changed, and how it should be changed. The engineers will also need to make sure that the change doesn't affect any other parts of the product, and that the new product will still work the way it is supposed to.

Once the ECO is accepted, it gets passed along to different people to make the changes, like the people making the physical product or the software developers coding the new feature. Everyone involved will need to keep track of the ECO and make sure they are making the correct changes.

Once the changes are made, the product will need to be tested again to make sure everything works properly. And then, voila! You have a product that works even better than before thanks to the Engineering Change Order!