Today’s designers and producers face the pressures of planning and creating products in increasingly short time frames.

Design for manufacturing (DFM) involves optimizing a part, part design or product to prioritize ease of production while lowering the associated expenses. When people refer to DFM, they often do so under the broader umbrella of design for manufacturing and assembly (DFMA). It’s a more holistic approach to engineering that focuses on reducing manufacturing costs while shortening the time-to-market period.

The exact DFA concepts deployed regarding a product or design vary depending on the item produced. Even so, many similarities exist concerning what product designers and others strive for in their work. Many of the principles discussed below encompass DFM and DFMA—explore why they’re collectively so important.

Parts standardization is a common element in design-for-manufacturing efforts. Achieving that aim can make components simpler and result in it costing less to make them. Many companies have increased their investments in Industry 4.0 technologies, which typically results in more standardization. For example, businesses can use robust data-analysis platforms that provide instant notifications if parts on the assembly line are out of spec.

Applying DFA principles starts before manufacturing begins, but the desire to standardize parts aligns well with leaders’ Industry 4.0 goals. Consider a collaboration with automaker Renault Group and Atos, a European multinational IT and consulting company.

People from Renault Group’s IT, digital and engineering teams collaborated on a massive effort to make the organization’s factories more high-tech and data-driven. The business standardizes the data collection and structuring of information from each facility process. This initiative resulted in more than 7,500 connected pieces of equipment and the creation of more than 50 standardized data models. Those models represent everything from aluminum injection to using screwdrivers to attach components.

As of June 2022, Renault Group had deployed this technology across 22 facilities and was already saving €80 million as a result. However, company leaders plan to expand the deployment to its 35 remaining plants, bringing the total money saved to €200 million annually.

If people are already eager to use more Industry 4.0 technologies, they should strongly consider how those changes could support design for manufacturing, too.

As design for manufacturing continues gaining traction worldwide, those teaching people enrolled in manufacturing and design degree programs must adjust their content to suit. That’s one of the most effective ways of ensuring students are well-equipped for what their future jobs will demand.

Autodesk and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers collaborated for an intensive 2022 study of the likely outlook for future engineers and related professionals. The research consisted of a literature review of sources from the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as phone interviews from people in the United States and the United Kingdom and surveys conducted with respondents in North America and the United Kingdom.

One part of the study examined the skills mechanical engineers, manufacturing engineers and CNC machinists will need to succeed in the next five to 10 years. Design for manufacturing was a significant theme in the results.

They showed 90% of survey respondents believed academics would have the biggest impact on the future manufacturing workforce by teaching students to have a deeper knowledge of DFM. Then 84% of industry experts polled thought mechanical engineers would need to more frequently apply DFM in their work, particularly to increase efficiency and increase circular manufacturing opportunities. The study pointed out that DFM also reduces the need for rework, helping people save time and be maximally productive.

Soft-skill development was another theme for DFM success, the study showed. The document clarified how people using design for manufacturing must increasingly collaborate with people from other teams. This might mean designers meet with manufacturing engineers and machinists, for example. The research indicated 90% of industry professionals thought engineers would need to develop their creative problem-solving, collaboration and communication skills.

Many educators are already changing how they teach engineering by breaking down the process into steps and creating a rough outline. This approach helps students see how everything fits together and inspires them to think about how they could make a difference at each step. However, as the above research shows, the people educating future designers and manufacturers must evolve further by focusing on DFM.

People also become more interested in design for manufacturing when they must overcome bottlenecks and become more scalable. That situation recently manifested itself through the global semiconductor shortage.

In December 2020, 18 European Union member states committed to strengthening semiconductor development. However, one argument is that people must focus on chip design as much or more than manufacturing to get the most value from their efforts. More involvement in design could be a cost-effective and relatively low-risk strategy. Using DFM principles could be instrumental in helping European countries and companies gain momentum for tackling the semiconductor shortage.

Increasing scalability also creates more freedom to experiment with options like additive manufacturing (AM), which can substantially reduce the time required to produce parts or complete products.

Consider the European Union–funded ConstructAdd project, which includes organizations like Mimete Metalpowders and ArcelorMittal, along with academic partners and metallurgy specialists. The goal is to increase the use of AM in Europe’s steel industry. Part of the project involves designing and producing large-scale steel parts while focusing on waste reduction and improved resource efficiency. These goals support DFM and help companies scale their production.

DFM also allows people to make refinements and enhancements at every stage, potentially even combining parts to save time and money while maintaining high functionality and quality. So businesses can scale their production without sacrificing other elements and losing customers.

Today’s designers and producers face the pressures of planning and creating products in increasingly short time frames. Many companies have specifically accelerated their cycles to keep pace with competitors and get their products to the market faster than others. There’s a related push to make items sleeker and smaller yet often packing them with more advanced components than ever before.

Plus, many people want to buy from businesses that aim to reduce waste and operate sustainably. These desires combine to make an extremely challenging manufacturing landscape, but one well-suited to DFM.

Even if manufacturing leaders have not historically used DFM in their operations, now is a great time to consider doing so in the near future. Then organizations could become more competitive while keeping their customers happy and meeting their needs.

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Emily Newton is a contributing writer for EE Times Europe, industrial journalist and editor-in-chief of Revolutionized.