Inside the Overnight Workflow: A US OEM Case Study

When a major USA based OEM approached Kadence for support on multiple key design programmes, the brief was ambitious: deliver OEM-grade A-Class surfacing at speed, without sacrificing precision or design intent.

To make it happen, Michael, Kadence’s Surface Design Liaison, relocated from the UK to Detroit, embedding himself directly with the OEM’s design and engineering teams.

The Challenge

The OEM’s design teams needed rapid surfacing iterations to keep pace with creative developments. Traditional surfacing cycles couldn’t move fast enough, risking delays in concept evaluation and design sign-off.

“In automotive OEM’s we all know change is constant,” says Michael.
“Our job was to utilise a workflow that could keep pace, turning feedback into production-ready surfaces almost in real time.”

The Kadence Solution

Kadence deployed its 24-hour surfacing workflow, enabling Detroit’s daytime design updates to be actioned overnight by our global surfacing team.
By morning, the US OEM had fresh digital surfaces ready for review. Transforming multi-day loops into overnight turnarounds.

Work-In-Progress Reviews

To ensure alignment between design and engineering requirements and the Kadence Surfacing Team, Kadence liaisons delivered live surfacing updates that gave our client early visibility of work as it evolved.
This built confidence, caught issues sooner, and ensured the surfacing direction stayed perfectly on brief.

“The WIP approach built a huge amount of trust,” Michael explains.
“It made (our client) feel like we were part of their internal team, not an external supplier.”

Results

Overnight turnaround on surfacing requests.

Faster design loops and improved agility.

Seamless communication between design, engineering and digital modelling.

OEM-grade quality — right first time.

The Kadence Way

By combining embedded expertise on site with global digital capability, Kadence enables clients like this OEM to move faster, smarter, and with uncompromising quality.

“What makes this partnership work is trust, speed, and shared ambition,” says Michael.
“That’s the Kadence way.”

If you think your team can benefit from embedded partnerships to ensure protection of design intent contact us today for a No Cost 100-hour Pilot Study.

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