{"id":13676,"date":"2022-04-11T16:52:16","date_gmt":"2022-04-11T13:52:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fractory.com\/?p=13676"},"modified":"2024-01-26T13:50:10","modified_gmt":"2024-01-26T11:50:10","slug":"design-for-manufacturing-and-assembly-dfma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fractory.com\/design-for-manufacturing-and-assembly-dfma\/","title":{"rendered":"Design for Manufacturing and Assembly"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the past few decades, research into design thinking has engendered a new wave of methodologies in product design and manufacturing processes. These methodologies have saved billions in product development and ensured lower cost, higher competition and greater product reliability.<\/p>\n

Among these methodologies, one of the most prominent ones, Design for Excellence (DFX)<\/a>, has since fragmented into smaller focus areas such as Design for Manufacturing (DFM), Design for Assembly (DFA), Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DFMA), Design for Supply Chain (DFSC)<\/a> and so on. In DFX, a focus such as cost, quality or ease of manufacturing is chosen and the product’s design is improved in regards to that aspect.<\/p>\n

This article will explore the role of Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DFMA or DFM\/A) in product design. DFMA represents a harmonious combination of Design for Manufacturing (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA)<\/strong>, both of which we have discussed in separate articles previously.<\/p>\n

What Is Design for Manufacturing and Assembly?<\/h2>\n

DFMA stands for Design for Manufacturing and Assembly. It is an engineering methodology that focuses on optimising the manufacturing and assembly aspects of a product. Both of these aspects have a high impact on the final product’s quality and cost.<\/p>\n

Factors such as raw materials, manufacturing processes, volume, machinery, tooling, precision, number of parts and their complexity, labour and skills, automation potential, etc, are all very influential in product development. By optimising these factors alone, companies can drop the initial cost estimates by over 50%. This is the main intention of implementing DFMA principles.<\/p>\n

In DFMA, the product design is continuously modified while keeping certain end goals in mind to arrive at a product that requires less time, money and effort to produce.<\/p>\n

The Need for DFMA Methodology<\/h2>\n

Why do we need DFMA when we already have DFM and DFA? Let us start by reviewing our understanding of each.<\/p>\n

Design for Manufacturing<\/a> is concerned with maximising the manufacturing ease of a product. It employs techniques that make manufacturing faster, cheaper, and easier by improving the design and the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Design for Assembly<\/a> works to simplify, shorten and mistake-proof the assembly process. Principles such as poka-yoke, combining and standardising parts are all examples of DFA application.<\/p>\n

Both DFM and DFA have similar objectives. They both aim to reduce material requirements, cost and time-to-market. But there are times when the two may work against each other. A net gain from DFM could lead to a net loss in DFA, essentially making the gain worthless.<\/p>\n

Let’s take the example of combining parts from DFA “guidebook”. If fewer individual parts lead to a part that is expensive or difficult to manufacture, we gain little benefit from this DFA technique as DFM is affected negatively. Similarly, many DFM guidelines can reduce the effectiveness of a DFA technique.<\/p>\n

To avoid such occurrences, it was prudent to look at the two methodologies of DFM and DFA together. This is how DFMA came to be. It uses DFA and DFM in tandem to arrive at an optimum product design. DFMA can help us leverage the advantages of both these methodologies without the disadvantages of either.<\/p>\n

Benefits of DFMA<\/h2>\n

A well-structured DFMA application provides both short-term and long-term advantages. These advantages are indispensable to the creation of a sound product that can beat modern-day competitors. Some of the amazing benefits of DFMA are:<\/p>\n

Shorter time to market<\/h3>\n

Time to market is defined as the duration between the idea generation phase and the introduction of a product to the market. Ideally, you’d want this time to be as short as possible. DFMA significantly reduces the time to market by simplifying the manufacturing processes and the assembly steps.<\/p>\n

Lower product development cost<\/h3>\n

An efficient DFMA at the initial phase reduces the development costs by thinking ahead of time and resolving possible issues that may crop up later.<\/p>\n

One of the leading experts on concurrent engineering<\/a> and Design for Manufacturing, Dr. David Anderson explains that in DFM there is a “Rule of 10” which states that it costs 10 times more to fix defects at every successive stage of assembly. Thus, if rectifying a part defect costs x prior to assembly, it will cost 10x at sub-assembly, 100x at final assembly, 1000x at the distributor stage and 10.000x if the part has reached the customer.<\/p>\n

DFMA removes the need for downstream design changes. It also recommends adding provisions for features that the manufacturer may want to add to a product at a later point in time.<\/p>\n

Reduced wastage<\/h3>\n

DFMA aims to eliminate waste from the product and assembly design. It reduces the wastage of materials, motion, inventory and overprocessing. It also minimises defect risks and wait time by eliminating redundant manufacturing and assembly steps and unnecessary features.<\/p>\n

Greater product reliability<\/h3>\n

Due to the high focus on preventing defects and increasing the benefit-cost ratio (BCR)<\/a>, DFMA products naturally become highly reliable and durable. The fewer number of parts in a DFMA-conscious product also helps to reduce the failure rate.<\/p>\n

Quality control<\/h3>\n

DFMA improves communication and teamwork between different teams in a manufacturing setup. A well-coordinated product development effort between designers and manufacturing engineers, for instance, informs both teams about the best practices of each department to reach a certain end goal. This ensures a higher quality product within the allotted budget.<\/p>\n

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\n Scale Your Manufacturing from Prototyping to Series<\/span>\n\n