Overview of

Design for Manufacturing (DFM)

 A few quotes
Just because you can make something doesnt
mean you can manufacture it.
Its very hard to make cheap stuff - you get
buried by your mistakes.
I dont understand why it wont assemble. It
passed inspection.
World without DFM
Before DFM, the motto was "I designed it; you build it!"
Designers throw designs over the wall
Manufacturing people struggle with the design to make it
manufacturable
The end result: Reworks, rejection, high production
costs, increased time to market.
Significance of manufacturability
The design determines the manufacturability which in turn
determines 80% of the production cost.
Once this cost is locked in, it is difficult for manufacturing
to remove it.
The concept or architecture alone determines 60% of the
cost
 Typical cost breakdown
R&D
5% Engineering
14%
Manufacturing R&D
38% Engineering
Admin, Sales
Admin, Sales Profit
24% Manufacturing

Profit
19%

Direct labor
12%

Parts, material
Indirect labor Parts, material Plant& machinery
26% 50% Indirect labor
Direct labor

Plant&
machinery
12%
 What is DFM?
DFM is product design considering manufacturing
requirements
DFM is the first step in which a team approach is
taken to develop the product
DFM is an umbrella which covers a variety of tools
and techniques to accomplish a manufacturable
product
 Why is DFM important?
For every product part, there are about 1000
manufacturing equipment parts*
Or, for every toleranced dimension or feature on
a product part, there are about 1000 toleranced
dimensions or features on manufacturing
equipment
Such equipment includes fixtures, transporters,
dies, clamps, robots, machine tool elements, etc

*Note: Fords estimate is 1000, GMs is 1800. Both are informal estimates.
 Goals of DFM/DFA
Conventionally
Reduce costs, simplify processes
Improve awareness of manufacturing issues during
design
More broadly
Align fabrication and assembly methods to larger
goals
Ability to automate, systematize, raise quality, be
flexible
 Benefits of DFM
DFM can reduce many costs.
Parts are designed for ease of fabrication, assembly,
processing etc.
DFM encourages use of off the shelf parts.
DFM results in standardization of parts, use of common
bought outs (Eg. Use of same size fasteners) etc.
 Concurrent Engineering
Concurrent Engineering is the practice of concurrently
developing products and processes.
Product development becomes a collaborative effort of
designers, manufacturing engineers, maintenance
engineers etc.
 DFM in industry
DFM in industry is typically divided into 2 main activities:
A team which will be responsible for the product
development and delivery. (cross functional team: ME,
EE, MFG., CE, PE, Quality)
The tools and methods to enable DFM that ensure the
design meets the objectives.
 DFM tools
DFM ACTIVITY

DFM TOOLS PRODUCT SIMPLIFY PROCESS FUNCTIONAL

CONCEPT CONCEPT NEEDS NEEDS

DESIGN GUIDELINES X X
DESIGN FOR ASSEMBLY X
TAGUCHI X X
CUMPUTER AIDED DFM X X X X
FMEA X X
VALUE ANALYSIS X
 General Design Guidelines
Reduce total number of parts
Use standard components
Design for ease of fabrication
Avoid separate fasteners
Develop modular design
Design parts for multi use
Design for Machining

Best Practices for machining

Drilling / Reaming

A long drill is needed even if the hole

itself is not deep. Tool might interfere
with the work piece.
 Threaded holes
Design for full thread
depth. 1.5 x major
diameter provides
adequate strength
Drilled hole depth to be
full thread plus major
diameter
When material thickness
allows, through holes are
preferred
 Turning / Boring
L/D < 3 for boring for
D>30mm
Drilling by turning 0.5 to
40mm. For more than
40mm use boring
Cut off width W
determined by tool tip
width
Limits:
W > 2.5mm, D < 20mm
For boring, minimum
D > 6mm
Turning
Turning
Milling / Slotting

End mill dia > 2 mm

Flute height < 4 X End mill dia

Slotting cutter L/D <3

Chamfer / Fillet

In the figure, corner

radius is made smaller
than the chamfer. Other
wise end faces do not
contact

This is critical for leak

free joints, locating
features etc.
Design for Extrusion
Best Practices for Extrusion
Typical extruded sections
 General design guidelines
Thin-walled extrusions are more difficult to
produce than extrusions with heavy walls
Wall thickness for aluminum ranges from 1.0
mm (0.040 in) upward
For carbon steel, the minimum is 3.2 mm (0.125 in)
For stainless alloys, 4.8 mm (0.187 in).
A prime advantage of the extrusion process is
the low cost of tooling
Extrusion dies for the simpler shapes are low in cost
This is in contrast to rolling tooling, which
usually involves a significant investment
 Design guidelines contd
Although extrusion is particularly advantageous
when complicated shapes are required, it is still
desirable to limit irregularities of shape as much
as the function of the part permits
Metal flows less readily into narrow and irregular
die sections, and distortion and other quality
problems are more likely
 Advantages of Extrusion
The major benefit of extrusion is the fact that
machining work is often eliminated because
irregular cross-sectional shapes can be
incorporated in the extrusion dies
When applicable, this factor can outweigh other
costs even for short runs
A second factor of importance is the materials
savings that can result, since no material is lost
in the form of chips, as would be the case if the
part were made by machining
Design Rules
Design Rules contd

With steel extrusions there

are limitations on the cross
sectional length of any thin
walled segment
L / t > 14:1 (See
Fig.3.1.10)
For Mg L / t > 20:1
Thank You