DESIGN FOR MANUFACTURING AND ASSEMBLY

Optimization of the design for manufacturing and assembly is an essential process of product development. It helps eliminate unnecessary expenses and reduce the budget allocation for the production and assembly. Therefore, addressing product potential issues and flaws in the early stages makes both manufacturing and assembly easier, faster, and less expensive. The following optimization methods are the foundation tools that our product design firm uses when working on your product design.

DFM is a process of engineering and refining the product design for ease of manufacture. This method allows for cutting the production costs, improving performance and efficiency of the product prior to manufacturing. The main focus of the design optimization for manufacturing is to reduce overall part production cost by minimizing the complexity of manufacturing operations.

DFA is a process of making a product’s design for ease of assembly. The priority is to minimize the number of product parts and assembly operations. As a result, it will streamline the assembly process and cut the product assembly costs.

Ultimately, both of these methods allow finding the best ways to optimize design for manufacturing and assembly. At the same time, they help reduce overhead, labor costs, and the use of raw materials. DFM and DFA also provide opportunities for shortening the product development cycle time. These processes go hand in hand and are often used as a single method. They are referred to as Design for Manufacturing and Assembly or DFMA.

From 3D modelling, design, and drafting, we also offer your business exceptional design for manufacturing and assembly. And market research is critical for this process and for the successful launch of a new product. With this in mind, our team conducts thorough prior art search during the initial stages. We get to know your concept inside and out, as well as how it relates to other products currently on the market. We carefully study how your product fits into the market and identify opportunities in the marketplace. Also, we determine your target audience, what features they would like to see, how much they would pay, and more. As a result, our team will create a sketch of conception and refine the design for ease of manufacture until it meets our high standards. That will give you a highly innovative design that will take your business to the next level.

When working on design optimization for manufacturing, our team estimates and works towards meeting the cost demand – would it be a luxury version of a product or a disposable household item. We also put special focus on the availability and limitations of raw material supply. We work with suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors, both in the US and overseas, on a regular basis. This allows us to be aware of any limitations related to procurement. And it gives us a first-hand insight about raw materials we need to use specifically for your project. Our team will help you establish a supply chain and source all the necessary components and materials your product needs. From metal to plastic to fabric – we got you covered.

Our design optimization for manufacturing includes numerical analysis. This tool helps to evaluate your product and ensure that it meets the required performance, reliability, and integrity standards. Through our computer simulation services we are capable of solving challenging fluid flow, thermal, and mechanical design problems. We run simulations for the wide range of products – from water mill and aircraft to children toys and medical equipment.

Our team uses high-end Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software packages. FEA enables our engineers to reduce the number of physical prototypes by running virtual experiments on CAD models. And CFD simulations allow us to analyze, optimize, and test the design performance before the prototyping stage. Engaging our digital capabilities during the design for manufacturing and assembly prior to building physical prototypes eliminates raw material waste. Therefore, it reduces your prototyping and manufacturing costs. Even though not everything can be predicted and solved just using digital tools – but be sure that when we start working on your prototype the most of the initial issues would already be tackled. And only the product usability might need to be addressed at this stage.

LA NPDT’s in-house product development services, including rapid prototyping, allow for the uninterrupted fine-tuning of the design for ease of manufacture. Thus, bringing the best out of your product and realizing its potential to the fullest prior to the production stage. Once all the design iterations are implemented, we will have your manufacturing sample ready. And our short-run manufacturing capabilities might be just enough to produce the first batch of your product. Because our product design firm provides one-stop shop product development experience, it means that you get to work with just one company from the concept to market.