Design for manufacturing (DFM) is one of the most important engineering activity that is driven toward simplifying and optimizing design of products for easy way to be manufactured. The main purpose of DFM is to minimizing the cost of production, improving product quality and shortening the time to market through taking into account manufacturing constraints and capabilities in the product design. This system allows the connection of design to production, resulting in a product which is not only aesthetically beautiful and functional but also easy and cost effective to produce.
At a basic level, DFM entails creating product designs that are easy to manufacture. Excellent points, and it takes many factors such as materials, process capabilities, tolerances, how it is assembled, etc., into consideration. These components in several examples may be incorporated early in the design processes thereby avoiding costly redesign, reducing waste and resulting in efficient production procedures.
Standardization is one of fundamental principles of DFM. When parts are designed that can be manufactured with standard sizes, materials and tools, production time and cost are minimized. Common parts could be easily found and usually at a lower cost than custom components. For instance, one can often save in lead time and cost by employing a standard fastener in lieu of a special.
Reducing the number of parts is also a key DFM principle. The fewer the number of parts in the product, the less number of opportunities there are for failure, the easier the assembly, and the lower the inventory and logistics costs. This also increases the reliability of the product and makes maintenance more practical.
Material is very important in DFM. You need to think about how different materials behave in manufacturing operations such as machining, or moulding, or casting. Selecting a material that is not easy to carry out processing may lead to high production costs and low yield rates. Accordingly, it is of primary importance to take the compatibility between materials and manufacturing technology into consideration.
Tolerancing and geometric design play a significant role as well. Excessive tight tolerances will just drive up production costs, requiring the use of precision tooling or an extra layer of quality checks. Designers have to define functional rather than overly accurate tolerances, trading off performance and manufacturability.
DFM (design for manufacturability) also promotes early partnership between designers and manufacturers. When the production engineers get involved with the design early the practical manufacturing feedback which mitigates the risk for expensive design change later.
DFM has been fueled by current tools like cad, cam, and simulation, which have made DFM exceedingly easier and impactful. These instruments enable design testing virtually under factory conditions enabling designers to discover and resolve issues before production.
To learn more design for manufacturability is a methodology which enables organizations to deliver innovative while manufactural products. By integrating manufacturing capabilities into design considerations early in the product development cycle, DFM enables companies to attain cost-effectiveness, better quality, and shorter time-to-market all critical elements in an increasingly competitive and crowded space.
Daniel Lio is an author of this article.To know more about Design for manufacturing please visit our website.
