Design And Manufacturing
Design And Manufacturing
Design and manufacturing always go side by side. In this article we will talk about how these two are connected? And about 6 ways to reduce manufacturing costs in product development.
What is Design for Manufacturing?
Design and manufacturing always go side by side. In this article we will talk about how these two are connected? And about 6 ways to reduce manufacturing costs in product development.
Cost Reduction
About 70% of a product’s manufacturing costs can be derived from design decisions such as materials and manufacturing methods. The remaining 30% corresponds to production decisions such as project management and tools selection. Focusing on design optimization reduces manufacturing cost.
Optimize Production Scaling
The hardware development struggle comes from when trying to scale from prototype to production. Considering design in manufacturing early in the product development cycle reduces redesign work, improves product quality, and speeds time to market.
6 Ways to Reduce Manufacturing Costs
Involve Key Suppliers From the Start
When it comes to design for manufacturing, there is no universal design that fits all. There is only one single optimization for the particular factory that is going to make your product. If you make sure early in the product design process that each specific part of your design is a good fit for the machines, capabilities, and other preferences of the factory you’re working with, you’ll save yourself a lot of trouble later on.
Find a “Right Fit” Factory
Final assembly is where it all comes together, this includes potential problems. So, it’s important for you to find a manufacturer to whom you are important enough that the factory manager shows up when you visit the facility.
Ideally, the annual payment you make to the factory should not be less than 5% of its total sales. And be realistic about forecasting your orders, a disappointed factory will soon turn disinterested. Any project will have startup problems, how quickly these will be resolved depends almost entirely on how important you are to the factory.
Do Not Expect a Factory to Prioritize Product Design Work
All factory managers have a clear priority- Keep production lines running. To begin with, most factories don’t have too many engineers, and if a large production order has even the slightest problem, engineers will be assigned to fix it.
Do The Final Assembly Near Your Suppliers
Each custom part is a new product in itself, with prototypes and deviations to be resolved. When several parts, manufactured for the first time, and coming from different suppliers have to work well together at the time of assembly, the chances of problems on the assembly line are high. If you find yourself doing assembly in Yokneam, you can immediately return a batch of defective parts to the factory and receive new or remanufactured samples the next day.
When problems in the assembly of parts arise, adjustments will have to be made to the design of each part, or some parts to fit the others.
Standardization
Standardization lowers costs by reducing inventory and expansion needs. Here are some ways to think about standardizing parts:
- Design parts that can be reused within a product or shared across product lines.
- Standardize your hardware within your products to reduce inventory needs.
- Make your designs modular to simplify product changes or redesigns.
Use off-the-shelf components instead of custom-made ones when you can.
Simplicity of Design
Simplifying your design reduces the time and inventory required to manufacture your product, which correlates with its cost.
To simplify your product, you can:
- Minimize assembly steps and inventory by making multifunctional parts.
- Use a designed alignment on the inside or quick fastening methods such as press fits. Fastening techniques, such as screwing or gluing, take more time to secure and require more inventory.
- Quickly test your improved designs with 3D printed prototypes.