ME3101 / ME3102

Mechanical Systems Design

Chapter 5
Basic Design for Manufacturing
 DFM - Design for Manufacturing?
While product specifications and customer’s
wants are important, there are other design
issues to consider. DFM decisions are
applied throughout the design process and
it affects all aspects from the design phase
to the production phase

Consider:
•Costs control

•Methods of production

•Time required to production

•Production process impact on performance

•Availability of raw materials

DFM - Design for Manufacturing?

Ask the following questions:

•Can the same demands be met with a

cheaper material?

•Is it possible to use lesser material?

•What kind of materials are available? And

in what specifications?

•How many units do I have to make?

 Estimating Manufacturing Costs
Estimate manufacturing
Costs of Proposed
Design

Reduce costs of Reduce costs of Reduce costs of

components assembly Supporting Production

Consider DFM impact

on other factors

Recompute
Manufacturing Costs

N Y
Good Enough? Accepted Design

Extracted from: Karl T. Ulrich, Steven D.Eppinger (2008) Product Design and Development McGraw Hill International
 Breakdown of component costs

Components of a product may be:

•Standard parts. Available for purchase

from vendors.

•Custom parts that require modifications

by vendor. (Different
sizes/dimensions/finish etc.)
 Comparing costs of standard components

Do:
•Compare costs of different suitable
materials to explore alternatives

•Obtain quotations from several

vendors to make comparisons

•Some vendors offers a discount if

multiple purchases are made or
when purchase quantity is high.

Students can find a list of useful vendor contacts on the website. The
link is under the resources tab  Sample Vendors
 Costs of custom components

On top of the base Material

Costs, custom made components
costs more due to:

1. Additional processing steps

required (Eg. Machining)

2. Additional overhead costs for

processing
 Reducing Component Costs

Reductions of component costs requires the following:

•Understand process constraints and related costs

•Eliminate processing steps through smart design

•Selection of production methods w.r.t. scale of production

•Standardization of components
 Process Constraints
•Understanding process constraints
are important as designers might
create features that are difficult to
achieve in manufacturing

•Examples:
•Delicate internal features are
difficult to manufacture using
standard processes. EDM might
achieve a small internal corner
radius, but the process is costly

•Tight tolerances are difficult to

attain
 Eliminating Process Steps

Complicated Design Simpler Design

 Eliminating Process Steps
While most real life examples will not be as simple as the comparison made
between the bikes, some general guidelines can be followed to reduce
processing steps:

•Reducing number of components. Make it as one whole piece rather

than many small pieces fixed together.

•Eliminate redundant steps. For example, painting internal components

that are not visible.

•Wherever possible, avoid using complex shapes.

 Economies of scale
Hypothetical costs vs number
of units When considering the number of
units to be made, take into
consideration:

1. Initial start up costs

Costs

Machining
Injection Molding
2. Incremental costs per unit

There will be a point of

Number of units
An example to show that at certain production
volumes, alternative production methods becomes
increasing viable
production volume whereby
another production method will
be more economically viable.
Standardization of Parts
During the design process, it will be good
for the designer to try to use the same
components as much as possible.

For example:

1. Using the same drill sizes and screws

2. Using the same length of materials

This reduces the types of tools required and

minimizes processing time.
 In conclusion…
Take into consideration the ease of manufacturing during the design process!

While the design can be spectacular, it means nothing if it cannot be made!