"The best design is the simplest one that works" - Albert Einstein
When considering the design of a new product, the initial focus often centers on developing an exceptional device or process to captivate potential users.
However, considering how the product will be manufactured is just as critical. This aspect is known in product design as design for manufacturing, or DFM.
So, why is DFM so important?
Effective DFM can prevent quality issues, eliminate manufacturing waste, and reduce risks in new product development. It helps avoid costly situations where manufacturability problems arise just before launch.
DFM is about designing product components for efficient manufacturing, with the ultimate goal of creating the most robust product. A look at any successful, long-standing product reveals considerable thought about its production early in the design process.
Both designers and engineers share responsibility for DFM. From our experience, designers may need some time to adjust to this approach. Thus, we've compiled some key insights to help product designers optimize for DFM.
1. Sketch Early and Often
Sketching might naturally come to mind as an initial step in the product design process. However, it is encouraged to broaden your understanding of what constitutes a sketch and the mediums at your disposal.
Beyond the traditional pen and paper, why not consider options like whiteboards, tablets, preliminary CAD mockups, or even tactile materials like foam, or clay. The essential goal is to convey your design visually, presenting ideas, concepts, and challenges to clients, stakeholders, suppliers and team members.
Starting early is highly recommended. It's understood that two individuals might envision different results, leading to possible misunderstandings.
Preliminary sketches and basic models can provide an estimate of the necessary components. This can guide the design of your CAD master model, or skeleton model, resulting in time efficiency as the project progresses.
2. Tackle Challenges First
It's quite common to begin with familiar tasks or those that are easy to check off your list. However, there are several reasons why it's beneficial to first target the most intricate DFM challenges.
At the onset of the product design process, your team is likely brimming with energy and creativity. Communication is probably at its peak. This makes it an ideal time to address the most difficult challenges.
Early in the process, you're less likely to encounter artificial or self-imposed constraints that often accumulate over time. After spending weeks or months developing a model and presenting it to clients or stakeholders, making major revisions becomes less attractive. So, it's advantageous to address and resolve complex challenges early and integrate the solutions into your initial prototypes.
Addressing significant design for manufacturing challenges at the beginning can also highlight potential issues sooner, affording you more time to devise solutions. For example, you might discover that you require 9 weeks of lead time for tooling instead of 5 weeks. It's best to make such discoveries while you're still in the planning stage, allowing you to accommodate these additional weeks.
Finally, by taking on these larger challenges early, you boost your team's confidence. It's reassuring to know that the most difficult parts of the project are handled, paving the way for a smoother journey ahead.
Here are some key questions to consider for identifying the trickiest design elements:
What's the product’s main purpose?
What are your non-negotiable requirements?
Where do you anticipate the greatest constraints in your design?
Where's your lengthiest tolerance stack up loop?
3. Involve your manufacturing partner
Identifying the right individuals for DFMA can be challenging, given the breadth of knowledge required in materials, processes, quantities, and techniques. It's not easy to find industrial professionals who are well-versed across multiple areas.
However, a practical solution is to engage your parts manufacturers at the early stages of design, as they can offer valuable insights and guidance.
Early involvement allows them to provide valuable feedback regarding feasibility, cost-efficiency, and potential problems. This collaboration can lead to innovative solutions and improvements in the design that may not have been considered otherwise. Additionally, it helps to avoid costly and time-consuming revisions later in the process, ensuring the product is designed for efficient manufacturing from the start.
4. Embrace Novel Processes
Working with a production expert or manufacturing partner can also help you select the most suitable process for your product and objectives, instead of only relying on familiar ones. Take Metal Injection MIM process for metal hardware as an example. It's a viable production-level process, yet its application in manufacturing is still fresh enough that it's often overlooked.
However, it's important to balance the potential advantages and the risks associated with a new process. Typically, unfamiliar processes carry more risk. Hence, it's essential to look at the bigger picture and consider the entire product life cycle.
The volume you need can also affect your final decision.
For smaller quantities, sticking to a familiar process such as Plastic CNC might be sensible. But as production scales up, a new or innovative process such as Plastic Injection could become more attractive.
5. Foster Strong Partnerships
While DFM does entrust some manufacturing efficiency tasks to the design team, the manufacturing team's role is still vital. Building robust, enduring relationships with your manufacturing partners is key for a seamless design process.
Trusting your vendors opens up opportunities for new and creative processes. A solid level of trust lets you leverage their expertise to the fullest. You can then have faith in your trusted vendor's suggestions and their capacity to deliver.
This partnership is a two-way street. From the design perspective, honesty is essential. Don't promise 10 million units when you anticipate only 10,000. And always be receptive to your manufacturing partners' feedback.
6. Mitigate Risk
Product development inherently involves risk reduction, but Design for Manufacturability (DFM) allows for this reduction early on. This is crucial as making changes close to launch becomes more challenging and costly.
We suggest dividing your risk into manageable segments—evaluate the risk of each design, component, and process. In doing so, avoid relying on tight tolerances. Designing with the assumption that parts may not be within tolerance contributes to a more resilient design.
Pose "what if" scenarios, such as if a component is a half-inch shorter or longer. If any of these scenarios lead to a disastrous outcome, it's time to revise your design.
The result will be a robust design that can handle the uncertainties of the manufacturing process, as well as withstand general wear and tear once it's produced and in use.
7. Go Standard
Designing a product with standard components offers many benefits.
Think about utilizing standard components. They're easily accessible, simple to install, and cost-friendly because they're mass-produced. This approach means faster sourcing, reduced labor costs, and fair pricing.
On the flip side, custom components hike up costs and complexity - they need special production and can make assembly trickier. Using standard components is a smart way to cut costs and simplify processes, without sacrificing quality or functionality.
8. Verification through Testing
While it's encouraging to have a model that looks good on the computer, the real test lies in creating and evaluating a prototype.
Your approach should include developing a succession of prototypes and gradually enhancing the fidelity as you progress from one stage of prototyping to the next. Although this might seem time consuming initially, it allows you to gain confidence in the design and guarantees that everything will function as planned later in the process.
Allocate sufficient time for prototype iterations. Establish a strategy for how you'll create and assess each element, and think about how this will influence your final design.
Incorporate These Essentials Into Your Daily Routine
Thankfully, most of this advice is relatively straightforward. The real challenge lies in integrating them into your routine product development process.
How do you plan to weave these design for manufacturing fundamentals into your process?
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