Design for Manufacturing,

Assembly, and Reliability

Module 3D Design for Manufacturing and Assembly
Motivation
Why is this module important?

 Design for manufacturing and assembly (DFMA) can determine

how much you pay for production tooling and how much it costs
to assemble your product
 DFMA can affect:
—Manufacturing cost and quality
—Production cycle time-and-fixture costs
—Production and supply-chain complexity
—Production personnel morale

 Design your product using DFMA guidelines, or you will have to

make costly changes later and/or deal with the implications of
negative quality

2
Module Outline

 Learning objectives
 Design for manufacturing (DFM)
—Casting and molding
—Machining
—General rules

 Design for assembly (DFA)

—Role of assembly in manufacturing
—General assembly guidelines
—Boothroyd and Dewhurst methods
—Design implications of assembly decisions

3
Learning Objectives

 LO1. Understand general design for manufacturing guidelines for

various processes
 LO2. Compare alternative designs to assess the manufacturing
cost and complexity
 LO3. Identify opportunities to reduce assembly cost and
complexity

4
What This Module Addresses

 Key DFM considerations to keep in mind for various

manufacturing processes
 Key considerations for DFA
 An example of how to assess an assembly to see if assembly cost
and complexity can be reduced

5
 Design For Manufacturing
Where does this fit into the development cycle?

Product and
PHASES

Concept and Implement and Production Launch and

Definition
Feasibility Process Design Validate and Stock Closure

Pre-alpha Alpha Beta Pilot Ramp Scale

BUILDS

Concept Engineering Design Process

Validation Validation Validation
Validation

 DFMA is part of the detailed design process

 Ensuring that your parts can be manufactured and assembled at
high quality and low cost may require some iterative design
 How you assembly your parts and the designs used to assembly
them will affect your bill of materials (BOM) and bill of process
(BOP)

6
 Design For Manufacturing
Where does this fit into the development cycle?

Product and
PHASES

Concept and Implement and Production Launch and

Definition
Feasibility Process Design Validate and Stock Closure

Pre-alpha Alpha Beta Pilot Ramp Scale

BUILDS

Concept Engineering Design Process

Validation Validation Validation
Validation
PRODUCT DESIGN OBJECTIVES
Market Research
Design Research
Feasibility
Development
Qualification
Field Readiness
Launch
MANUFACTURING READINESS LEVELS
Levels: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Manufacturing Research
Mfg Development
Mfg Capability
Manufacturing Capacity
Production
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Design For Manufacturing
Basics

 Design for manufacturing (DFM) can be used to increase

product quality, increase production volumes, and/or decrease
costs
—This is accomplished through the use of design best practices
(i.e., designing parts to work well for the intended process)
 Once a material and manufacturing process are selected, apply
the appropriate best practices
—Best practices may be in conflict with design requirements
—Best practices may be in conflict with other DFM practices
—When there are conflicts, it is important to look at what is the
most pressing customer or market requirement

8
 Casting And Molding
What is is and when to use it

 Casting is a process in which a liquid metal is delivered into

a hollow cavity mold. This is used for making complex shapes
that would be difficult or uneconomical to make by other
methods.
 Traditional techniques include lost-wax casting (which may be
further divided into centrifuge casting and vacuum assist direct
pour casting), plaster mold casting and sand casting
The casting process is subdivided into two main categories:
 Expendable involves the use of temporary, non-reusable molds.
and non-expendable casting.
 Non-expendable mold need not be reformed after each
production cycle. This technique includes at least four different
methods: permanent, die, centrifugal, and continuous casting.
Source: Wikipedia
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 Casting And Molding
What is is and when to use it (cont.)

 Sand Casting allows for smaller batches than permanent mold

casting and at a very reasonable cost and is unsurpassed for
large-part production.
 Shell Molding is a form of sandcasting using a finer mixed with a
resin so that it can be heated and hardened into pattern. This
process is ideal for complex items that are small to medium-
sized.
 Investment Casting (known as lost wax-casting) can be an
expensive process, however, may produce intricate contours,
and near net shape, requiring little or no rework once cast.
 Plaster Mold Casting generally takes less than a week to
prepare, after which a production rate of 1–10 units/hr mold is
achieved. The biggest disadvantage is that it can only be used
with low melting point non-ferrous materials 10
Source: modified from Wikipedia
 Casting And Molding
Most common defect

When two or more sections conjoin, mechanical weakness is

induced at the junction interrupting free cooling
 Replace sharp edges with radii & minimize heat and stress
concentration
 In cored parts avoid designs without cooling surfaces
 A rounded junction offers more uniform distribution of strength

Source: Design for Cast and Molded Parts: Bertcher, Brod, Lee, Wehr
http://slideplayer.com/slide/3368211/
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 Casting And Molding
Process design guidelines

Basic Design Guidelines:

 Visualize the Casting
 Deign for Soundness
 Avoid Sharp Angles & Corners
 Employ Uniform Sections
 Correctly Proportion Inner Walls
 Fillet All Sharp Angles
 Avoid Abrupt Section Changes
 Maximize Design of Ribs and Brackets

Source: Design for Cast and Molded Parts: Bertcher, Brod, Lee, Wehr
http://slideplayer.com/slide/3368211/
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Casting And Molding
Process design guidelines (cont.)

 Casting and molding processes depend on the flow and

solidification characteristics of various material in their molten
states
 Use uniform wall thicknesses whenever possible
—This allows for uniform cooling of the part
—In some casting operations, thinner part walls for interior
features are preferable
 Where possible, make parts thinner and use ribs for rigidity
—This will not only make the part lighter but also helps minimize
part shrinkage (see example percentages)

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Casting And Molding
Process design guidelines (cont.)

 Material will shrink as it cools (account for this change during the
design phase)
Metal Shrinkage (%)
Aluminum 6.6
Copper 4.9
Magnesium 4.0 or 4.2
Zinc 3.7 or 6.5
Low carbon steel 2.5 - 3.0
High carbon steel 4.0
White cast iron 4.0 – 5.5
Gray cast iron -2.5 - 1.6
Ductile cast iron -4.5 - 2.7
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Casting And Molding
Process design guidelines (cont.)

 Use inserts for a family of parts (i.e., parts with similar shapes)
—An insert can be used to change specific features of a part; the
whole tool does not need to be altered
 Use a simple parting line
—Where two mold sides come together is the parting line
—Simple parting lines reduce tool cost/time and increase quality

15
Casting And Molding
Process design guidelines (cont.)

 Tapering parts allows them to be easily removed from mold

 Surface quality has significant cost implications
—Leave ample room for machining operations
—Choose the roughest possible surface finish to reduce cost

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Forming And Shaping
Basics
Not Nested
 Most forming processes start with a
sheet of material
—Minimize scrap by nesting Nested

components on the sheet’s surface

 Part complexity, material strength,
and thickness determine the amount
of force necessary for forming and
shaping
—Complex parts requiring a lot of
material separation require a lot of
pressure
—Complex parts may also require a
lot of steps or progressive forming Video: Forming metal stock and sheet metal on
operations hydraulic press (mouse-over image to view)
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Forming And Shaping
Process design guidelines

 Sheet metal forming and shaping

operations
—Avoid closely spaced features
—Configure wide tolerances for side
features
 Springback and bend radii are key
considerations for forming and shaping
operations
—Highly material dependent
—Aluminum can have a near-zero
bend radius
—Hardened steel requires several times
the material thickness for bend radii
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Forming And Shaping
Roll-to-roll

 Roll-to-roll processes are used to make

continuous products
 These products can be films, textiles,
or other materials
 Keep tolerances as wide as possible
(Tight tolerances on large rolls can
be expensive)
 Try to combine functions and processes
for efficiency (This enables minimized
roll and unroll processes)

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Forming And Shaping
Example - Roll-to-roll

 Roll-to-roll production of graphene films for transparent

electrodes

20
Machining
Casting and machining versus machining

 Near-net-shape material reduces costs

 Casting may be more expensive initially, but can reduce overall
cost
 Forged components can also be produced near the net
necessary shape

Note: Casting does not allow for tight tolerances/detail so you cast
extra material and then machine out the detail. The trade-off is
that casting is usually a separate company with margin needs then
marked up by machining company along with time in transit and
coordination.

21
Machining Process Guidelines
Process design guidelines

Use the softest material that will meet your needs:

 This allows for increased material removal and reduces tool wear
 Important to ensure that the material is rigid enough to
withstand machining forces
Example: Tools must be replaced more often when machining
stainless steel than when machining aluminum

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Machining Process Guidelines
Subtractive processes

 Minimize machine and tool changes

—Reduces fixturing and decreases process time

 Reduce the number of setups (re-orienting or re-fixturing a part,

and re-locating tooling costs time and money)

Video: Machining a brass part on a milling machine

(mouse-over image to view)
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Machining Process Guidelines
Subtractive processes (cont.)

For rotational components:

 Ensure that cylindrical surfaces are concentric
 Diameters of external features increase
from exposed face
 Diameters of internal features decrease from
exposed face
For non-rotational components:
 Provide a base and try to ensure that all surfaces are parallel or
perpendicular to the base
 Restrict plane-surface machining (i.e., slots and grooves) to one
surface

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Machining Process Guidelines
Subtractive processes (cont.)

For internal corners:

 Use a radius equal to that of a standard tool corner
 Sharp corners require small tools; either tool changes or slower
material removal
 It might be necessary to check with the design team to see if
these are critical

25
Design For Assembly
Basics

 Design for assembly (DFA) is the method of designing a product

for ease of assembly
—Components can be stand-alone or subassemblies
—Assembly operations can be manual or automated
—Assembly costs can be significant
—Assembly costs reduction can lower overall manufacturing
costs

Video: Automated
printed
circuit assembly

26
Design For Assembly
Assembly efficiency

 Provides motivation for better design or redesign of assembly

 Dr. GeoffreyBoothroyd and Dr. Peter Dewhurst provide a widely
used quantitative, software-based method of DFA for
determining assembly efficiency of a given assembly
 Design has to be altered to improve assembly (this is not
prescribed)

27
Design For Assembly
Key results

 Product contains few parts, which reduces assembly time and

cost (this can also reduce the need for a large inventory and the
associated tracking costs)
 Simplification and ease of assembly (manual or automated)
 Easy orientation and insertion of parts(the simpler the
assembly, the quicker it can be assembled)

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Design For Assembly Benefits
Example

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Design For Assembly Benefits
Parts reduction and consolidation

Reduced design costs:

 Fewer
parts need to be designed;
however, the remaining parts may
be more complex
Reduced inventory costs:
 Fewerstock keeping units (SKU)
have to be maintained and tracked
Reduced handling costs:
 Fewer parts need to be sited for assembly
 Lower complexity operation and administration
 Fewer SKUs results in lower tracking and maintenance costs
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Design For Assembly
General guidelines

 Avoid mechanical fasteners

—Screwing or riveting parts together takes time and can lead to
mistakes
—Snapfits allow for joining with mechanical fasteners

 Standardize whenever possible

—Using the same component
(even if not optimized)
can reduce cost
and assembly
complexity

31
Design For Assembly
General guidelines (cont.)

 Parts should be easily grasped and oriented

 Reduce awkwardly shaped or sized parts
 Unidirectional assembly is preferred (top-down is best)
 Provide features to reduce resistance to insertion, such as
chamfered holes and parts
Part symmetry should be promoted, or asymmetry exaggerated:
 A part should be able to be assembled either anyway or only one
way
 If a part has to be inserted with a specific orientation, ensure
that it doesn’t fit any other way
 Assembled parts should have self-locating features (it should be
easy to “feel” where something should go)
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Design For Assembly
General guidelines (cont.)

 When use of springs is unavoidable Leaf Springs

—Leaf springs: can be placed and loaded

—Extension springs: require force to be loaded
—Compression springs: have to be held down
for assembly
 When use of mechanical fasteners is unavoidable
—Snapfits: parts “snap” together easily
—Bending of plastic: parts come
together
—Rivets: require quick forming
—Screws: require correct
alignment and insertion
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DFA Methodology
Boothroyd and Dewhurst

 Dr. GeoffreyBoothroyd and Dr. Peter Dewhurst provide a widely

used quantitative, software-based method of DFA for
determining assembly efficiency of a given assembly
 This software-based methodology uses rules to determine an
ideal assembly time based on the necessary parts
 It then compares this ideal assembly time to the projected
assembly time based on parts attributes and assembly processes
 This produces a DFA index score; the higher
the score, the more efficient the design

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Assembly
Example – Original design

The original design has six distinct

parts:
 A piston and piston stop to be
inserted in the main block
 A compression spring
 A cover that must be oriented
correctly and held down during
assembly
 Two screws that need to be
inserted simultaneously
 Takes 37 seconds to assemble

35
Designed For Assembly
Example – Altered design

 Altering the design by removing

the unnecessary piston stop
simplifies the assembly process
 Replacing the fasteners and screw-
on cover with a snapfit cover
simplifies the design
 This reduces the need to orient
the cover by promoting symmetry
 Eliminates the need to hold down
the cover during assembly
 Takes 15 seconds to assemble

36
 Design For Assembly
Calculating DFM Index

 DFM-index is indicates how easy it is to assembler a component

and can be expressed as:
DFA = 100 Nm tm / ta
 Where:
DFA = Design for Assembly Index
Nm = theoretical minimum number of parts
tm = minimum assembly time per part (s)
ta = estimated total assembly time (s)

Source: www.EngineeringToolBox.com
37
 Design For Assembly
Examples - calculating DFM Index

Assembling Components with Ideal Design:

 With an ideal design there is a minimum of parts and no
assembly difficulties. The ideal DFA-index for assembling one
component in one second can be calculated as
DFA = 100 (1) (1 s) / (1 s) = 100

Assembling a Component from Parts:

 A component requires 200 seconds in total to assemble. The
are 6 parts and the minimum assembly time per part
is 3 seconds. The DFA-index for this component can be
calculated as:
DFA = 100 (6) (3 s) / (200 s) = 9

Source: www.EngineeringToolBox.com
38
Design For Assembly
Example – Altered design

 Employing the Boothroyd and Dewhurst DFA methodology

reduces the assembly time from 37 seconds to 15 seconds
 The DFA index increases from 32 to 79
 This is in addition to not having to track the extra parts
(the screws and the cover)
 The simplified assembly reduces costs and improves product
quality
 Fewer parts and a simplified
assembly process means fewer
opportunities for errors and Simplify
assembly problems to occur

39
Parts Consolidation
Design and cost implications

To realize the numerous benefits associated with parts

consolidation, several factors must be taken into consideration:
 Product architecture
—Is this part used by other products?
—Is this part cost-off-the-shelf? (i.e., is it readymade?)
 Cost implications
—Consolidation may require the use of different materials and
manufacturing processes (i.e., steel stamping versus die
casting)
 Design and manufacturing process complexity

40
Disassembly
Maintenance and recycling

While parts consolidation and simpler component fastening

guidelines are beneficial for assembly, disassembly for recycling
and maintenance also need to be considered:
 Maintenance considerations
—Are consumable components easy to access and disassemble?
—Can the product be easily disassembled to maintain different
systems and reassembled using common tools?
 Recycling implications
—Are dissimilar materials being joined together in ways that are
difficult to separate? (i.e., steel rivets in aluminum
components)
—Does the disassembly time (cost) outweigh the value of the
potentially reclaimed materials?
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Design For Mfg And Assembly
DFMA basics

 Cost: DFMA can lower product cost

and increase quality Concept Design
 Parts consolidation may increase
certain piece costs, but you will have
to evaluate overall effects DFA
 Assembly costs can be
significant
 Quality: DFMA can improve DFM
quality
—DFM ensures that the parts can be
manufactured correctly consistently
Detailed Design
—DFA ensures that there is only one
way to assemble a part: the correct
way 42
 Manufacturing Scale-Up Challenge
We got it to work, now what?

Source: Arborlight 43
 Design For Manufacturing
Case study – LED daylight emulator

 Company description
—Daylight emulator: fake skylight with color tunable LED light
that can simulate daylight (sunrise to sunset) with user-facing
mobile app or linked to outdoor daylight sensors
 Company type
√ Product
—
—Material
—Manufacturing process
—Manufacturing service
—Manufacturing operations

Source: Arborlight 44
 Technology Readiness Level
Case study – LED daylight emulator (cont.)

Basic Tech Feasibility Tech System

Tech Demonstration System Commissioning
Research Research Development Operation

System Prototype/ Full scale Actual system Actual system

Technology Proof of concept Component or
Basic principles validation, pilot system prototype complete and tested and data
concept and/or analyzed and system
observed and testing in verification in verified in functioning in collected over
application experimented validation in lab
reported operating operating operating operating lifetime of
formulated on environment
environment environment environment environment system
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

progress progress progress

Year 4 - Retreat

Source: Arborlight 45
 Manufacturing Readiness Levels
Case study – LED daylight emulator (cont.)

Engineering and Production and Operations

Material Solutions Analysis Technology Development
Manufacturing Development Deployment and Support

Capability to Capability to Capability to

Low Rate Full Rate
produce a produce a produce Pilot line
Capability to Production Production
Basic Manufacturing prototype prototype systems, capability
Manufacturin produce the demonstrated. demonstrated
manufacturing Proof of components system or subsystems or demonstrated.
g Concepts technology in a Capability in and lean
Implications
Identified
Concept
laboratory in a subsystem in a components in Ready to begin
Identified developed place to begin production
environment production production- a production- Low Rate
Full Rate practices in
relevant relevant relevant production
Production place
environment environment environment
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Pre- Beta
Alpha prototypes Pilot prototypes
alpha prototypes

46
 Design For Manufacturing
Case study – LED daylight emulator (cont.)

 Manufacturing readiness level (MRL) 4

DFM or scale-up challenges faced:
 First generation luminaire product cost too high (BOM $5,000),
traditional skylight $1,000 ($2–4K installed)
 Stamped optical mixing chambers with tooling was too
expensive $800/each
(x4 = $3,200)
 Product too big at 16” depth, needs to meet ASHRA industry
specification standards of 8” depth
 Capital cost for in-house production too expensive
 Auto headliner product required new DFM and packaging
challenge

Source: Arborlight 47
 Design For Manufacturing
Case study – LED daylight emulator (cont.)

Experience facing those challenges:

 Worked with experienced product engineering firm to redesign
chamber to optimize depth of optical mixing chamber to
maintain performance of color mixing while reducing
manufacturing cost
 DFM: switched from stamping to extrusion process with flexible
tooling to reduce cost
 DFA: eliminated parts to reduce cost/labor; limited installation
concerns
 Secured multiple contract assembly partners to reduce capital
cost; ensured inventory and product lead times
 Design for operating environment: auto headliner required
experienced tier 1 partner to support NVH; packaging demands
Source: Arborlight 48
Design For X
What are we designing for?

Design for manufacturing (DFM):

 Reduce BOM, material trade offs, cost reductions
Design for assembly, manufacturing process (DFA, DFM process):
 Reduce BOP or process steps, reduce labor
 Reduce capital equipment, tooling costs
 Reduce scrap, improve yield
Design for durability, design for operating environment:
 Consider NVH, loading conditions, temperature operating
environment, engineer for lifetime

49
Design For X
What are we designing for? (cont.)

Design for system integration:

 Consider form/fit/function, system operating dynamics,
transient impacts on connecting components
Design for maintenance and serviceability:
 Product design to incorporate ease of service
Design for packaging and logistics:
 Consider product protection, shipping logistics, transportation
costs

50
Design For X
What are we designing for? (cont.)

Design for sustainability:

 Use of bio-based materials, allow for recyclability, biodegradable
products and packaging
 Reduce waste materials in operations, cradle to cradle waste to
input materials
Design for customer use and market acceptance:
 Customer interface, acceptance, installation
 Market regulations, certification requirements

51
DFMA
Key themes

 Customer: DFMA ensures that the assembly and manufacturing

processes meet customer requirements
 Supplier: well-designed manufacturing and assembly processes
help suppliers deliver a quality product (this reduces the amount
of iteration required during quoting and scale-up)
 Business plan: How scalable is your assembly plan? Doing things
by hand and requiring “tweaks” may work at low volume, but is
it scalable?

52
DFMA
Key themes (cont.)

 Implementing DFMA is an iterative process

—Parts need to be redesigned to ensure their manufacturability
—Parts consolidation and alteration may be required to improve
assembly processes
 Implementing DFMA can reduce risk
—Parts that are well designed for manufacturability reduce the
risk of manufacturing errors
—Fewer SKUs reduces risk of stock-out or other problems

53
Resources

 Boothroyd Dewhurst, Inc. http://www.dfma.com/

 Boothroyd, G., Dewhurst, P., and Knight, W., Product Design for
Manufacture and Assembly, 2nd Edition. Marcel Dekker, New
York, 2002
 Poli, C., Design for Manufacturing: A Structured Approach.
Boston, Butterworth-Heinemann, 2001

54
List Of Terms
In glossary

 Design for Manufacturing (DFM) is the general engineering practice of designing products in such a way that they are
easy to manufacture.
 Design for Assembly (DFA) is a process by which products are designed with ease of assembly in mind. (Repeat from
3A)
 Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRl) - is a measure developed by the United States Department of Defense (DOD) to
assess the maturity of manufacturing readiness
 Engineering Validation measures and analyzes the process, audits and calibrates equipment and creates a document
trail that shows the process leads to a consistent result to ensure the highest quality products are produced. (Repeat
from 2C)
 Design Validation is testing aimed at ensuring that a product or system fulfills the defined user needs and specified
requirements, under specified operating conditions. (Repeat from 2C)
 Development is the systematic use of scientific and technical knowledge to meet specific objectives or requirements.
(Repeat from 2C)
 Manufacturing Development or Engineering & Manufacturing and Development (EMD)phase is where a system is
developed and designed before going into production. (Repeat from 2B)
 Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow
cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify.
 Expendable component or part (such as bolt, nut, rivet) for which no authorized repair procedure exists, and/or the
cost of repair would exceed cost of its replacement.
 Non-Expendable Mold Casting in metalworking is a process in which liquid metal is poured into amold that contains a
hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to cool and solidify. Traditional techniques include lost-wax
casting, plaster mold casting and sand casting.

55
List Of Terms
In glossary (cont.)

 Sand Casting is a metal casting process characterized by using sand as the mold material.
 Plaster Mold Casting is a metalworking casting process similar to sand casting except the molding material is plaster of
Paris instead of sand.
 Shell Molding is an expendable mold casting process that uses a resin covered sand to form the mold. As compared to
sand casting, this process has better dimensional accuracy, a higher productivity rate, and lower labor requirements.
 Investment Casting is an industrial process based on lost-wax casting, one of the oldest known metal-forming
techniques.

56