DFM and DFA
In order to link ‘customer needs’ and ‘product specifications’ in the context
of specific design issues, many teams practice ‘design for X’ (DFX)
methodologies, where X may correspond to a number of quality criteria
such as:
• Reliability
• Robustness
• Serviceability
• Environment Impact
• Manufacturability
The most common of these methodologies is design for manufacturing
(DFM) because it directly addresses manufacturing costs.
Effective DFM practice leads to low manufacturing costs without
sacrificing product quality.
• DFM requires a cross-functional team
DFM is one of the most integrative practices involved in product
development. 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, product volumes, and ramp-up timing.
DFM efforts draw upon expertise from manufacturing engineers, cost
accountants and product personnel, in addition to product designers.
DFM is applied throughout the development process
DFM begins during the concept development phase, when product’s
functions and specifications are being determined. Although cost estimates
at the concept development phase are highly subjective and approximate,
Trade-offs between costs and desired performance characteristics are
made when product specifications are finalized (example : weight
reduction may increase manufacturing costs). At this point, the team may
have an approximate bill of materials along with cost estimates.
During the system level design phase, decisions are made on how to break
the product into individual components.
Accurate cost estimates finally become available during the detail design
phase.
OVERVIEW OF THE DFM PROCESS
The methods consists of five steps
1. Estimates the manufacturing 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.
The ‘Design for manufacturing (DFM)’ method
Proposed design
Estimate the Manufacturing costs Step 1
Reduce the costs of
Reduce the costs of Reduce the costs of
ASSEMBLY
COMPONENTS Step 3 SUPPORTING PRODUCTION
Step 2 Step 4
Consider the impact of
DFM Decisions on Step 5
other factors
Recompute the manufacturing costs
N Good
Enough
?
Y
Acceptable design
Element of the manufacturing cost of a product
Step-1 ) Estimate the manufacturing Cost (Step-1 of DFM)
Assembly
Components (parts) Overhead
Labour Tooling Equipment
Standard Custom
(supplier/in-house) Support Costs Indirect
(Associated With Allocation
•Material handling (Not
•Q.A. relevant to
Raw Processing Tooling •Purchasing DFM; Not
Material (Machine •Shipping Specifically
+ Labour) •Receiving linked to the
•Facilities design of
•Maintenance the product)
etc.
Step 3: Reduce the cost of Assembly
Design for Assembly (DFA) is a subset of DFM which involves minimising the cost of
assembly. 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.
DFA Index
Boothroyd and Dewhurst (1989) advocate maintaining an ongoing cost of assembly.
They propose the concept of assembly efficiency. This concept is useful in
developing an intuition for what drives the cost of assembly. The expression for the
DFA index is
To determine the theoretical minimum number of parts, the
following questions regarding each part must be raised. Only
parts satisfying one or more of these conditions must
“theoretically” be separate.
1. Does the part need to move relative to the rest of the
assembly?
2. Must the part be made of a different material from the rest
of the assembly for fundamental physical reasons?
3. Does the part have to be separated from the assembly for
assembly access, replacement or repair?
The “3 seconds” in the numerator reflects the theoretical minimum time
required to handle and insert a part that is perfectly suited for assembly. –
Average time required to assemble a small part that is easy to grasp,
requires no particular orientation, and demands no special insertion effort.
(Example : Placing a ball into a circular hole with adequate clearance)
Intergrate Parts
If a part does not qualify as one of those theoretically necessary, then it is a
candidate for physical integration with one or more other parts.
Maximize Ease of Assembly
• Part is inserted from the top of the assembly (Z-axis assembly and not
inverted)
• Part is self-aligning (provide chamfer)
• Part does not need to be oriented (Example: Sphere Vs Cylinder)
• Part requires only one hand for assembly (takes less time than using both
hands)
• Parts require no tools
• Part is assembled in a single linear motion (Pushing a pin Vs driving a
screw)
• Part is secured immediately upon insertion (without a subsequent securing
option such as tightening or the addition of extra part etc.)
Consider Customer Assembly
Customers may tolerate completing source of the product assembly
themselves, especially if doing so provides other benefits, such as making
the purchase and handling of the packaged product easier.
