A Seven Step Procedure for Design for Manufacture

Abstract

Design for Manufacture (DFM) is design procedure which aims at assisting the developing of a new generation of industrial products, in order to improve their manufacturability. DFM can lead to significant gains in productivity (often several hundred per cent). Unlike automation, DFM requires little or no extra investment compared with traditional product development. DfM can be applied in both high‐volume production and in small‐scale production. DFM addresses the product on several levels, including: the corporate level, the family level, the structural level and the component level. One of the main attributes of DFM is to avoid the untimely focus on detailed design and increase the attention on conceptual design of the product.