In their article, Titoma describes the importance and guidelines they follow when it comes to Design for Manufacturing (DFM). DFM focuses on designing a product so that the parts are easy to manufacture. Additionally, Design for Assembly (DFA) is about designing a product so that it is easy to put together. Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DFMA) combines these two concepts.
DFM, DFA, and DFMA are important to consider and should be considered throughout the product development lifecycle. Taking these into consideration helps avoid errors and delays through your product iterations and scaling through to production. Reducing these errors will save time and resources and will provide an overall better product development experience.
Of course, to truly design with manufacturing and/or assembly in mind, it’s important to develop strong relationships with these partners, particularly early on. They are the experts of their domain and will help guide your development to get the best outcomes.
Here are Titoma’s summarized ‘9 Laws’ for DFM:- DFM is not a sauce: Consider DFM in your Architecture
- Use off-the-shelf components whenever possible
- Nobody beats China on custom parts
- Do final assembly close to your vendors
- Involve key suppliers early in the design
- Find a right-sized factory
- Don’t bank on a factory prioritizing design work
- Protect your IP, but don’t over-worry
- Ramp up carefully
Check out Titoma’s article for their in depth breakdown for each of these DFM tenets.