Design for Manufacturing

Product Development Process

Concept System-Level Detail Testing and Production

Planning Development Design Design Refinement Ramp-Up

How can we emphasize manufacturing issues

throughout the development process?
Design for Manufacturing Example:
GM 3.8-liter V6 Engine
Understanding Manufacturing Costs

• Manufacturing cost is a key determinant

of the economic success of a product.
• Economically successful design: Design
which is ensuring high product quality
while minimizing manufacturing cost.
• DFM is one method for achieving this goal;
effective DFM practice leads to low
manufacturing costs without sacrificing
product quality.
 Definition
• Design for manufacturing (DFM) is a development practice
that emphasizes manufacturing issues throughout the
product development process.
• Successful DFM results in lower production costs without
sacrificing product quality.
 Introduction
• DFM is part of DFX
[X may correspond to one of the dozens of quality criteria such as reliability, robustness, serviceability,
environmental impact, or manufacturability. design for manufacturing (DFM), which is of universal
importance because it directly addresses manufacturing costs]
• DFM often requires a cross-function team.
DFM utilizes information of several types, including
(1) sketches, drawings, product specifications, and design alternatives;
(2) a detailed understanding of production and assembly processes;
(3) estimates of manufacturing costs, production volumes, and ramp-up timing.

DFM, therefore, requires the contributions of most members of the development team as well as
outside experts. DFM efforts commonly draw upon expertise from manufacturing engineers, cost
accountants, and production personnel, in addition to product designers
• DFM is performed through the development process

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 Major DFM objectives
• Reduce component costs
• Reduce assembly cost
• Reduce production support costs

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 The DFM Process (5 steps)
1) Estimate the mfg. costs
2) Reduce the costs of components
3) Reduce the costs of assembly
4) Reduce the costs of supporting
production
5) Consider the impact of DFM decisions
on other factors.

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 Step1:Estimate mfg. costs
• Cost categories
– Component vs. assembly vs. overhead
– Fixed vs. variable
– Material vs. labor
• Estimate costs for standard parts
– Compare to similar part in use
– Get a quote from vendors
• Estimate costs of custom made parts
– Consider material costs, labor costs, and tooling costs
– Depend on the production volume as well
• Estimate costs of assembly
– Summing up all assembly operations (time by rate)
• Estimate the overhead costs
– A % of the cost drives(Cost drivers are parameters of the product that
are directly measurable.)

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 Step2:Reduce the costs of components
The cost of purchased components is the most significant element of the manufacturing
cost.
• Identify process constraints and cost drivers
– Some component parts may be costly simply because the designers
did not understand the capabilities, cost drivers, and constraints of the
production process.
– A designer may specify dimensions with excessively tight tolerances,
without understanding the difficulty of achieving such accuracy in
production, which are not even necessary for the component’s intended
function.
– It is often possible to redesign the part to achieve the same
performance while avoiding costly manufacturing steps; however, to do
this the design engineer needs to know what types of operations are
difficult in production and what drives their costs
• Redesign components to eliminate processing steps
• Choose the appropriate economic scale for the part process
• Standardize components and their processes
• Adhere the black-box component
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 Step2:Reduce the costs of components
• Identify process constraints and cost drivers
• Redesign components to eliminate processing steps
– Careful scrutiny of the proposed design may lead to suggestions for reducing
the number of steps in the part fabrication process generally results in reduced
costs as well.
• For example, aluminum parts may not need to be painted, especially if
they will not be visible to the user of the product.
– In some cases, several steps may be eliminated through the substitution of an
alternative process step.
net-shape” fabrication. A net-shape process is one that produces a
part with the final intended geometry in a single manufacturing
step. Typical examples include molding, casting, forging, and
extrusion.
• Choose the appropriate economic scale for the part
process
• Standardize components and their processes
•3/25/2023
Adhere the black-box component 13
 Step2:Reduce the costs of components
• Identify process constraints and cost drivers
• Redesign components to eliminate processing steps
• Choose the appropriate economic scale for the part
process

• Standardize components and their processes

• Adhere the black-box component
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 Step2:Reduce the costs of components
• Identify process constraints and cost drivers
• Redesign components to eliminate processing steps
• Choose the appropriate economic scale for the part
process
• Standardize components and their processes
– Standard components are those common to more than one product.
– For example, the use of the 3.8-liter V6 engine in several GM cars is an
example of internal standardization. The use of a common 10-millimeter
socket head cap screw across several auto manufacturers is an example
of external standardization.
– In either case, all other things being equal, the component unit cost is
lower than if the component were used in only a single product.

• Adhere the black-box component

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 Step2:Reduce the costs of components
• Identify process constraints and cost drivers
• Redesign components to eliminate processing steps
• Choose the appropriate economic scale for the part
process
• Standardize components and their processes
• Adhere the black-box component
o A component cost reduction strategy used effectively in the
Japanese auto industry is called black-box supplier design. Under
this approach, the team provides a supplier with only a black-box
description of the component—a description of what the component
has to do, not how to achieve it.
o Successful black box development efforts require careful system-
level design and extremely clear definitions of the functions,
interfaces, and interactions of each component.
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 Step3: Reduce the costs of
assembly
• Integrate parts (using the Boothroyd
method)
• Maximize ease of assembly
• Consider customer assembly (do-it-
yourself) technology driven products

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 Step3: Reduce the costs of assembly

Design for assembly (DFA) is a fairly well-established subset of DFM that involves
minimizing the cost of assembly. For most products, assembly contributes a
relatively
small fraction of the total cost. Nevertheless, focusing attention on assembly costs
yields
strong indirect benefits. Often as a result of emphasis on DFA, the overall parts
count,
manufacturing complexity and support costs are all reduced along with the
assembly
cost
Keeping Score
Boothroyd and Dewhurst (1989) advocate maintaining an ongoing estimate
of the cost of assembly. In addition to this absolute score, they propose the
concept of assembly efficiency is measured as an index that is useful in
developing an intuition for what drives the cost of assembly.
The expression for
the DFA index is
The “3 seconds” in the numerator reflects the theoretical minimum time required to
handle and insert a part that is perfectly suited for assembly. One can think of this
as the
average time
 Step4: Reduce the costs of
supporting production
• Minimize systematic complexity (such as
plastic injection modeling for one step of
making a complex product)
• Error proofing (anticipate possible failure
modes in the production system and take
appropriate corrective actions early in the
development process)

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 Step5:Consider the Impact of DFM Decisions
on Other Factors
• Development time
– time may be worth as much as several hundred thousand
dollars per day. For this reason, DFM decisions must be
evaluated for their impact on development time as well as for
their impact on manufacturing cost. While saving $1 in cost on
each manifold would be worth perhaps $1 million in annual cost
savings, it would almost certainly not be worth causing a six-
month delay in an automobile program.
– The cost benefits of the DFM decision may not be worth the
delay in
project duration, particularly true for products competing in
dynamic markets.
• Development cost
• Product quality
• External factors such as
– component reuse and
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 Design for Manufacturing Example:
1993 GM 3800cc V6 Engine Design

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 DFM example
• Unit cost saving of 45%
• Mass saving of 66% (33 Kg.)
• Simplified assembly and service
procedures.
• Improved emissions performance
• Improved engine performance
• Reduce shipping costs (due to lighter
components)
• Increased standardization across vehicle
programs.

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 Cost Appendices
• Materials costs
– Exhibit 13-17 on page 279
• Component mfg. costs
– Exhibits 13/18-21 on pages 280-283
• Assembly costs
– Page 286 for common products
– Page 287 for part handling and insertion times on
Ex. 13-23
– Cost structures for firms on Ex 13-24.
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 Design for X
– Design principles
• Part shape strategies:
– adhere to specific process design guidelines
– if part symmetry is not possible, make parts very
asymmetrical
– design "paired" parts instead of right and left hand parts.
– design parts with symmetry.
– use chamfers and tapers to help parts engage.
– provide registration and fixturing locations.
– avoid overuse of tolerances.

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 Design for X
– Design principles
• Standardization strategy
– use standard parts
– standardize design features
– minimize the number of part types
– minimize number of total parts.
– standardize on types and length of linear materials and
code them.
– consider pre-finished material (pre-painted, pre-plated,
embossed, anodized).
– combine parts and functions into a single part.

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 Design for X
– Design principles
• Assembly strategies 1
– design product so that the subsequent parts can be added to
a foundation part.
– design foundation part so that it has features that allow it to
be quickly and accurately positioned.
– Design product so parts are assembled from above or from
the minimum number of directions.
– provide unobstructed access for parts and tools
– make parts independently replaceable.
– order assembly so the most reliable goes in first; the most
likely to fail last.
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 Design for X
– Design principles
• Assembly strategies 2
– make sure options can be added easily
– ensure the product's life can be extended with
future upgrades.
– use sub-assemblies, especially if processes are
different from the main assembly.
– purchase sub-assemblies which are assembled and
tested.

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 Design for X
– Design principles
• Fastening strategies 1
– use the minimum number of total fasteners
– use fewer large fasteners rather than many small fasteners
– use the minimum number of types of fasteners
– make sure screws should have the correct geometry so that
auto-feed screwdrivers can be used.
– design screw assembly for downward motion
– minimize use of separate nuts (use threaded holes).
– consider captive fasteners when applicable (including
captive nuts if threaded holes are not available).

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 Design for X
– Design principles
• Fastening strategies 2
– avoid separate washers and lockwashers (make it be
captivated on the bolt or nut so it can still spin with respect
to the fastener)
– use self-tapping screws when applicable.
– eliminate fasteners by combining parts.
– minimize use of fasteners with snap-together features.
– consider fasteners that push or snap on.
– specify proper tolerances for press fits.

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 Design for X
– Design principles
• Assembly motion strategies
– fastened parts are located before fastener is applied.
– assembly motions are simple.
– Assembly motions can be done with one hand or robot.
– assembly motions should not require skill or judgment.
– products should not need any mechanical or electrical
adjustments unless required for customer use.
– minimize electrical cables; plug electrical sub-assemblies
directly together.
– minimize the number of types of cable.

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 Design for X
– Design principles
• Automation handling strategies 1
– design and select parts that can be oriented by automation
– design parts to easily maintain orientation
– use parts that will not tangle when handled in bulk.
– use parts what will not shingle when fed end to end (avoid
disks).
– use parts that not adhere to each other or the track.
– specify tolerances tight enough for automatic handling.
– avoid flexible parts which are hard for automation to
handle.

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Design for Assembly Rules
Example set of DFA guidelines
from a computer manufacturer.
1. Minimize parts count.
2. Encourage modular assembly.
3. Stack assemblies.
4. Eliminate adjustments.
5. Eliminate cables.
6. Use self-fastening parts.
7. Use self-locating parts.
8. Eliminate reorientation.
9. Facilitate parts handling.
10. Specify standard parts.
 Design for Assembly
• Key ideas of DFA:
–Minimize parts count
–Maximize the ease of handling parts
–Maximize the ease of inserting parts
• Benefits of DFA
–Lower labor costs
–Other indirect benefits
• Popular software developed by
Boothroyd and Dewhurst.
–http://www.dfma.com
To Compute Assembly Time

Handling Time
+ Insertion Time

Assembly Time
 Method for Part Integration
• Ask of each part in a candidate design:
1. Does the part need to move relative to the rest of
the device?
2. Does it need to be of a different material because
of fundamental physical properties?
3. Does it need to be separated from the rest of the
device to allow for assembly, access, or repair?
• If not, combine the part with another part in the
device.
 Three Methods to Implement DFM

1. Organization: Cross-Functional Teams

2. Design Rules: Specialized by Firm

3. CAD Tools: Boothroyd-Dewhurst Software

DFM Strategy is Contingent
Corporate
Strategy
Product
Strategy

Production
Strategy DFM
Strategy