This document discusses design for manufacturing and assembly (DFMA). It provides definitions and principles for design for manufacturing (DFM) and design for assembly (DFA). DFM aims to reduce production costs by simplifying manufacturing, while DFA aims to reduce assembly costs by making the product easier to assemble. The key is balancing DFM and DFA according to the DFMA approach. Guidelines are provided for both DFM and DFA, focusing on issues like part count, joining, tolerances, symmetry, and self-locating features. Metrics like design efficiency are also discussed for evaluating assembly difficulty and time.

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EML 4550: Engineering Design Methods
Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DFMA)
(Examples)

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Design For X (DFX)
 A successful design must consider all relevant
considerations throughout the life cycle of a product by
analyzing the causes and effects of the product.
 A common set of design guidelines for X includes:
 Assembly
 Environment
 Manufacturing
 Quality
 Reliability
 Safety
 Serviceability

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Definitions
 Design for Manufacturing (DFM)
 Concerned with reducing overall part production cost
 Minimize complexity of manufacturing
 Use common axes and common processes
 Design for Assembly (DFA)
 Concerned with reducing product assembly cost
 Minimize number and complexity of assembly operations
 Individual parts may be more complex in design
 Trade-off between DFM and DFA ===> DFMA
 Why?

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Principles of DFM (DFM Guidelines)
 Simplify and reduce the number of manufacturing
operations
 Standardize materials and use common parts
 Design for efficient joining
 Open tolerance as much as possible
 Allow over-travel in part design
 Avoid special tooling and frequent tool changes
 Select materials for best manufacturability
 Specify ‘acceptable’ surface finish for functionality
 Machine for one primary axis whenever possible

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Grooves
 Consider degree of difficulty in cutting grooves
 Use as big a radius as possible in corners (sharp edges are difficult to
cut and keep uniform)

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Holes
 Keep L/D < 3 whenever possible
 Do not specify holes that ‘turn corners’

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Plastic injection molding
 Minimize wall thickness variations to allow for uniform
cooling rate (warped parts)
 Features should be on top or sides of part to allow for ease
of forming
 Consider molding + machining as an option

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Principles of DFA (Guidelines for Assembly)
 Minimize part count
 Design parts with self-locating features
 Design parts with self-fastening features
 Minimize reorientation of parts during assembly
 Emphasize ‘top-down’ assemblies
 Standardize parts
 Encourage modular design

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Symmetry
Illustration of principle: Which part can be ‘aligned’ with minimum rotation?
How many axes of symmetry?

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Self-locating parts

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Self-locating parts

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Top-down assembly

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Fastening
 Consider the least expensive fastening method that meets the
requirements

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Design efficiency
 A quantitative measure of time and cost required to
assemble a product
 A rating which can be used to judge the effectiveness of a
current design (a benchmark for future improvements)
 Design efficiency is the end result measure as calculated by
the Boothroyd-Dewhurst process
 Symmetry of parts (repeatability for orientation)
 Size and thickness
 Handling time
 Insertion time
Boothroyd & Dewhurst complexity factor

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Handling
Handling Time
 How many hands required?
 Any grasping assistance needed?
 Effect of part symmetry on
assembly
 Is part easy to align/position?
Insertion time
 Is part self-securing?
 Need to hold down?
 What fastening process?
 Easy to align/position?
Handling difficulty
 Size
 Thickness
 Weight
 Fragility
 Flexibility
 Slipperiness
 Stickiness
 Necessity for using:
 Both hands
 Optical magnification
 Mechanical assistance

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BDI criteria for part minimization (Column 9)
 If the answer to ALL THREE of these questions is NO, then
the part is a candidate for elimination (“0” in column 9)
 During operation of the product does the part move relative to all
other parts already assembled? Only gross motion should be
considered (small motions that can be accommodated by elastic
hinges, for instance, should not count as positive answer)
 Must the part be of a different material than all other parts already
assembled? Only fundamental reasons concerned with material
properties are acceptable
 Must the part be separate from all other parts already assembled
because otherwise necessary assembly or disassembly of other
separate parts would be impossible?

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BDI Example