4/10/23

1. CONCURRENT ENGINEERING

 Introduction
 Product development steps
 Cost of engineering changes
 Concurrent Engineering

CONCURRENT ENGINEERING
Meaning of Concurrent Engineering: design at the same time the product and the process; while
designing the product at the same time you analyze how the product performs and works during
the manufactural process and during the stages of its life cycle.
During the process of manufacturing of a product an engineer must always consider that early
changes are cheaper and later changes are expensive.

MANUFACTURING
In manufacturing a final product is made up of a series of products that are made of single parts,
we will refer to companies that fabricate parts and assemble them together.
There are two phases that take part in manufacturing:
 Parts fabrication.
 Assembly.
Some companies outsource the first part. Assembly is the most expensive and labor-intensive step
of the process.
In literature, 3 ways can be distinguished to reduce the cost of labor:
 Automate,
 Move to another country,
 Exit the market, (non-sense),
A fourth way, probably the most efficient one, is to redesign the product in order to reduce the
number of parts, this permits to reduce the cost of the assembly and also the cost of labor. This
method is called Design for Assembly. Design for Assembly means to reduce the number of parts
that a final product is made of.
Tesla, the electric vehicle (EV) and clean energy company, has been a prominent example of
implementing Design for Assembly (DFA) principles to reduce the cost of labor and improve the
efficiency of its manufacturing processes. For instance, Tesla uses a modular approach in its
vehicle design. By dividing the vehicle into fewer, larger modules, assembly becomes more
straightforward. For example, the Model 3 uses significantly fewer components than traditional
internal combustion engine vehicles, reducing the time and labor required for assembly.

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MATERIALS SELECTION
Most of production processes can deal with no more than one
material at the time (for example die casting or injection
molding) so parts are nearly always composed by a single
material. Material selection is the most important decision to
take when defining a part, because the material defines the
characteristics of the piece. Most of the requirements of the
part we need to create are satisfied just by deciding the right
material. Shape and geometry are decisions that come later.
Simultaneously to the design, drafting of the component, there
is the decision of the material of the product. Every family of
material have different properties.
 Metals and Alloys: Typically strong, malleable, and conductive. Can be shaped and used in a
wide range of applications. Alloys are combinations of metals with tailored properties.
 Polymers: Lightweight and versatile, often plastic or rubber-like in nature. They can be molded
into various shapes and have excellent insulating properties.
 Ceramics: Hard, brittle materials with high-temperature resistance and excellent electrical
insulation. Commonly used in pottery, tiles, and electronic components. Very difficult to
manufacture.
 Elastomer: Highly elastic and flexible materials, often rubber-like. They can recover their shape
after deformation and are used in seals, gaskets, and shock absorbers.
 Glasses: Transparent and brittle materials, often amorphous in structure, resistant to high
temperature. Used for windows, lenses, and as a material for containers like bottles.
 Hybrids (Composites): These materials combine two or more material types to take advantage
of the strengths of each component. Common examples include carbon fiber composites and
fiberglass.
These material families exhibit various properties that make them suitable for a wide range of
manufacturing applications, depending on the specific requirements of the products being
produced.
Having an idea of the functions and the characteristics of the product then you can decide what
material to use.

PROCESSES SELECTION
After the material is chosen, we need to define a shape and the production process. It the case of
materials we need to balance properties and costs, while in deciding the process we need to
balance capabilities and cost.
By process we mean the method of shaping, joining, or surface-treating a material. By process
selection we mean the choice of the best process to fabricate a part of a product, mainly in terms
of cost.
Every process is selected considering the compatibility and workability of the material already
chosen for the product. Not all productive processes are compatible with all materials. Processes
are also really constrained by the size, shape and tolerances we want to make. For example, in
extrusion the section of the part must be uniform, the cross section of the product is always the
same. The aim is to solve a compatibility problem: at the end the product must be compatible
with the material and with the process used to manufacture the product.
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The other important key aspect to take into account is the process capability, the ability of the
process to fulfill some requirements; in other words, what the specific process is capable of
producing, each process has limits and points of strength.
To validate decisions, we need prototypes, that can be both physical and virtual.
The final choice of the selected process is based on the cheapest process, among the available
ones. This unless there is a process that gives to the product special properties.
To sum up, the criteria used for Processes selection are:
 Material workability.
 Size, shape, and tolerances.
 Surface finish.
 Production volume.
 Production cost.
 Secondary operations (Some processes require a secondary process in order to finish the
part and get a better polished part. In additive manufacturing only net-shape processes are
used. Net-shape processes create a piece which doesn’t need more processes because it is
already finished).

FIXED COST AND VARIABLE COST

Fixed cost refers to the investment early on, in order to spread the cost and divide the cost for
high production volumes, it remains the same regardless of production output. Variable costs
change based on the amount of output produced, it may include labor, commissions, and raw
materials.
Fixed cost is independent form the amount of parts that are made, instead Variable cost depends
on the amount of parts that are made. We have to ask ourselves: Does the cost varies with the
amount of parts that I’m making?
The trade-off between fixed initial costs and variable costs is a fundamental consideration in
decision-making, particularly in manufacturing operations; this decision is based on the production
volume.
Example:
For Injection molding the Initial fixed costs is high due to mold and machine setup, but the per-unit
cost decreases with higher production volumes as fixed costs are spread across more units.
Instead, the variable cost is generally low. Instead, in Machining or Additive manufacturing we
have a relatively low fixed cost and an high variable cost.

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PRODUCT CYCLE (DESIGN AND
MANUFACTURING)

 Costumers and market: a product is an answer to a need of costumers, an answer to the

market demand.
 Product concept: the product concept should satisfy the customer needs; CAD is used, or
some drawings are used, to visualize the basic idea of shape and technology (engine used,
something that you drive or something automatic), but not the exact size and materials
yet.
 Design engineering, industrialization phase: detail every part, decide size, materials and
processes and optimize it for every part. The CAD system is used in this phase. The CAD
model is fundamental for all the successive phases, it contains all the information of the
parts. With CAD comparison you can compare the model with the final product. In the
engineering phase there are different activities, that in the past were done one after
another, in a linear way:

Conventional product development employs

a design-build-test philosophy. The
sequentially executed development process
often results in prolonged lead times and
elevated product costs.

Product performance and reliability assessments depend heavily on physical tests, which involve
fabricating functional prototypes of the product and usually lengthy and expensive physical tests.
The process can be expensive and lengthy, especially when a design change is requested to correct
problems found in physical tests.
In conventional product development, design and manufacturing tend to be disjoint. Often,
manufacturability of a product is not considered in design. Manufacturing issues usually appear
when the design is finalized, and tests are completed. Design defects related to manufacturing in
process planning or production are usually found too late to be corrected. Consequently, more
manufacturing procedures are necessary for production, resulting in elevated product cost.
With this highly structured and sequential process, the product development cycle tends to be
extended, cost is elevated, and product quality is often compromised to avoid further delay. Costs
and the number of engineering change requests (ECRs) throughout the product development cycle
are often proportional.

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A big problem for many companies is time to market; for instance, in some industries the
conventional product development is not suitable (es.: clothes companies, sky boots companies),
so these industries have to rely on a different method.
THE DESIGN PARADOX

A conventional product development process that is usually conducted sequentially suffers the
problem of the design paradox. This refers to the dichotomy or mismatch between the design
engineer’s knowledge about the product and the number of decisions to be made (flexibility)
throughout the product development cycle. Major design decisions are usually made in the early
design stage when the product is not very well understood. Consequently, engineering changes
are frequently requested in later product development stages, when product design evolves and
is better understood, to correct decisions made earlier.
At the beginning of the product design the knowledge of the products is very low, because we
never tested it. By testing it we get feedback, and step by step we gain information about the
product and the way it behaves and works. We get the most information with the customer
feedback.
On the other hand, at the beginning we experience the highest flexibility, we have a lot of freedom
in size, process, shape, materials. The more we proceed along the product development the more
constrained we are. The process will depend on the decisions made step by step, subsequent
decisions in time affect all the previous decisions, we are constrained by what we decided before.
The paradox reflects it the fact that, the more you learn the more you would like to change and
redesign the product, the more you are constrained by previous decision.
The ability to anticipate the product knowledge is the right thing to do, because at the beginning
we are more flexible. This can be done by early simulations.

CONVENTIONAL PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT THE OVER-THE-WALL APPROACH

In many industrial companies, there is a “physical wall” between design and manufacturing, the
information flow is not direct, and this affects the product knowledge.
Often new parts are designed in a way that makes them very difficult and expensive to be
manufactured. That’s why designers should know how the process of manufacturing works.
When the design is completed and established, the cost is then allocated to the manufacturing
department. That is why simulations must be anticipated to the design phase and there should be
a direct contact between manufacturing and design. Avoiding paying the cost of problems can be
achieved by predicting that something can go wrong as soon as possible.

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Example 1 – RICOH
According to President Hiroshi Hamada, Ricoh did not detect a problem with one of its copiers
until the machines were shipped to customers. Had the problem been corrected earlier, before
the start of production, he estimated the cost of correcting the problem at various stages as
follows:
 At the design phase: $ 35
 Before procuring parts: $ 177
 Before start of production: $ 368
Instead, the cost of correcting this problem was: $ 590 000

Example 2 – SAMSUNG: Samsung Blames Battery and Design Flaws for Galaxy Note 7 Fires.
Samsung and outside experts said batteries made by two suppliers contained flaws that allowed
the phones to overheat and in several cases catch fire.
In the case of batteries sourced from Samsung SDI, there wasn’t enough room between the heat-
sealed protective pouch around the battery and its internals. Because the phone was so slim, tight
quarters placed stress on the upper right corner of each battery. In the worst scenarios, that
caused electrodes inside each battery to crimp and come into contact, leading to thermal runaway
and short circuiting.
In the case of batteries sourced from Amperex Technology Limited, some cells were missing
insulation tape, and some batteries had sharp protrusions inside the cell that led to damage to the
separator between the anode and cathode. The batteries also had thin separators in general,
which increased the risks of separator damage and short circuiting.
The cancellation of the Galaxy Note 7 has been an unprecedented public relations disaster for
Samsung, the world’s largest maker of smartphones. It has also cost the company billions of
dollars.

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COST OF ENGINEERING CHANGES
Cost of engineering changes in the early stages of design
is usually just the direct labor costs for the few people
involved.
Cost of engineering changes made late in the design
project and especially after release to production or after
sales are high and include:
 Direct costs due to time delays and the large
amount of personnel involved.
 Indirect costs due to sub-optimal solutions, scrap
parts, wasted material, idle machinery and work
force, warranty and service.
 Invisible costs for loss of reputation.
The cost of change increases exponentially with the flowing of the engineering process.
Engineering changes should be done at the beginning of the process of creating a new product
because at the initial stage when have more freedom and the costs are way lower. The initial stage
is the best phase were to make changes because there are only people to be paid for the changes.
After I choose the material, the cost of an eventual change increases a lot. After you buy materials,
you committed yourself and can’t go back.

CUMULATIVE PRODUCT LIFE-CYCLE COSTS

Percentage committed: the decision I take at the beginning are committing the company to pay in
the future the majority of the total cost. This because at the beginning decisions on size, shape
and processes are made.

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That’s why it is important to make changes at the beginning of the process, to anticipate changes.
The two plots (percentage committed and percentage expended) refer to the same “company”,
they represent the same costs, the difference stays in the moment the cost is used and the
moment in which the company has decided to undergo the cost.
The point is that when you design the product, you take decisions that will affect the cost later.
The committed costs are anticipated at the moment you decide how the product is and how it will
be manufactured.
In the initial phase of product design, costs are relatively low, accounting for only 15-25% of the
total. However, decisions made during this phase significantly impact future costs, determining
materials, production processes, and consequently, 75% of overall costs. Even though actual
payments occur in later stages, designers' decisions directly influence future expenses.
Recognizing this relationship between design decisions and costs allows for anticipating the cost
curve to the moment these decisions are made, enhancing the effectiveness of cost monitoring
throughout the entire production cycle.
Actual cost are lower than the committed cost that are higher in the design phase. The x axis is
time of the product development, the y axis is total cost of the product expressed in percentage.
Cost percentage is divided in decision that sum up and contribute to the total cost.

DISTRIBUTION OF ENGINEERING CHANGES

When you change something later on the cost is really higher.

The earlier you make the changes; the best is for the overall cost of the product.

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CONCURRENT ENGINEERING
How to anticipate the changes? With a Concurrent Engineering approach.

Design alternatives – Example

Two different designs for a piece. In the first we
have different components brought together by
screws, whereas the second design is made by
much less components, held together by parts
that are part of the original piece, resulting in a
solution that is easier to manufacture and less
expensive.
The Aims of Concurrent Engineering are:
 Reducing costs: cost reduction, es.: reduce the number of parts, predict how the single
manufacturing process will take place, design parts in a way that are easier to assemble
and fix in advance the problems with virtual simulations.
 Compressing cycle times (Compression of the time to market): anticipate the
modifications when they can be done and verified virtually, without waiting for the physical
tests. There is no need to redesign the product many times. Compression of the time to
market is effective when a company is robust in concurrent engineering, at the beginning is
not so easy.
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  Improving quality, in the initial stages the product can be designed with a higher quality in
the better way possible.
The used Approaches are:
 Perform task in parallel that were serial, may involve early access to or creation of data.
 Early analysis of all design-to-processes fit, focused on improving the total design
performance.
 Development of required new processes in parallel with the product design.
TIME COMPRESSION

The overall design process is shorter when using Concurrent Engineering. This happens because
often designers, in the conventional design process, want to deliver the project as soon as
possible, even if this means having to re-design the product later. In CE the initial phase of
concept design takes longer so the knowledge of the product is higher, and this makes eventual
future changes easier and faster. This happens thanks to the use of parametric design by the
designer.
Parametric design is slower than a fixed design to be created, but it is very useful when changes
must be made. In fact, parametric design consists in writing relations between the different parts
of the piece so that when a change is applied to a small part all other parts automatically are able
to modify themselves in order to adapt.
In the conventional design process, changes are reached because they are postponed during the
previous phases, so every change has to be made in this phase and it takes a long time. Instead, in
Concurrent Engineering, changes are all prepared since the initial stages.
In order to apply Concurrent Engineering, the implementation of CAD, CAE, CAM are needed. This
takes time and skilled people.

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TOOLS FOR EFFECTIVE CE IMPLEMENTATION
 The use of cooperative teamwork, (cross-functional team) between multiple disciplinary
functions to consider all interacting issues in designing products, processes and systems from
conception through production to retirement. Skilled people coming from different
departments, forcing people from design and people form manufacturing and production to
work together; the aim is to bring together different knowledges and functions.
Also marketing is fundamental in the decision process of the manufacturing of a product,
because they know what the costumer, the final user of the product wants, expects from the
product.
 Design for X (DFX). In practice, DFX techniques are used to encourage designers and
manufacturing engineers to work together, thus fulfilling the premises of Concurrent
Engineering. Analytical tools, as an input sizes and geometrical values are provided and as a
result an estimation of the cost of the product is given.
 Computer Aided Tools (CAX). CAX technologies are concerned with the use of computer
systems to assist in the creation, modification, analysis and optimization of a design.
With these three tools the design paradox is solved, in fact we can anticipate knowledge thanks to
the use of computers and virtual simulations. Design for X allow us to foresee costs, avoiding the
possibilities to find unexpected costs during the production process. This is also possible thanks to
the knowledge shared by working with interdisciplinary people.
Finally, the big goal of an organization is to become more efficient; this means a reduction on the
cost of product development.

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