Assembly Automation

Design for manufacture and assembly: background, capabilities and applications

Robert Bogue
Article information:
To cite this document:
Robert Bogue, (2012),"Design for manufacture and assembly: background, capabilities and applications", Assembly
Automation, Vol. 32 Iss 2 pp. 112 - 118
Permanent link to this document:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/01445151211212262
Downloaded on: 31 January 2016, At: 16:33 (PT)
References: this document contains references to 0 other documents.
To copy this document: [email protected]
The fulltext of this document has been downloaded 918 times since 2012*
Downloaded by University of New South Wales At 16:33 31 January 2016 (PT)

Users who downloaded this article also downloaded:

T. Vasudevan, B. Muralidharan, S. Muralidharan, S. Venkatakrishna Iyer, (1998),"Inhibition of corrosion of mild steel in acidic
solutions by quarternary salts of pyridinium bases", Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Vol. 45 Iss 2 pp. 120-126 http://
dx.doi.org/10.1108/00035599810198769
Eugenia Petridou, Niki Glaveli, (2008),"Rural women entrepreneurship within co-operatives: training support", Gender in
Management: An International Journal, Vol. 23 Iss 4 pp. 262-277 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/17542410810878077
Panagiotis Trivellas, Dimitra Dargenidou, (2009),"Leadership and service quality in higher education: The case of the
Technological Educational Institute of Larissa", International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, Vol. 1 Iss 3 pp. 294-310
http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/17566690911004221

Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by emerald-srm:486125 []
For Authors
If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service
information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit
www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information.
About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com
Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of
more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online
products and additional customer resources and services.
Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics
(COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.

*Related content and download information correct at time of download.

 Feature

Design for manufacture and assembly:

background, capabilities and applications
Robert Bogue
Associate Editor, Sensor Review

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the design for manufacture (DFM) and design for assembly (DFA) concepts and illustrate their
benefits and applications.
Design/methodology/approach – Following an introduction, this paper provides an historical background to DFM and DFA. It then describes these
techniques, highlights their capabilities and benefits and provides some examples of their applications. Finally, brief conclusions are drawn.
Downloaded by University of New South Wales At 16:33 31 January 2016 (PT)

Findings – Software implementations of DFM and DFA are shown to yield significant financial savings by allowing products to be designed with
enhanced manufacturing and assembly characteristics.
Originality/value – The paper provides an introduction to the DFM and DFA concepts which play a critical role in today’s highly competitive markets.

Keywords Manufacturing, Assembly, Design for assembly, Design for manufacture, Computer software

Paper type Technical paper

Introduction if products are to be manufactured on time and to the

required quality and price. Some DFM/DFA proponents
Design for manufacture/manufacturing (DFM) is a discipline argue that designing products with these techniques can
whereby products are designed so as to be as easy and cost- reduce costs to a point where domestic manufacture remains
effective to produce as possible. It is closely allied to design economically viable; there are many examples of this. Benefits
for assembly (DFA) but whereas DFM is principally of domestic manufacture include ensuring the security of
concerned with making individual parts, DFA addresses the intellectual property, acquiring in-depth manufacturing and
means of asembling them. As most parts are incorporated into process knowledge, nurturing the supply chain, maintaining
more complex products, the ability to assemble them low inventory levels, reducing transport costs and achieving
effectively is equally critical and accordingly, these two more rapid production cycles.
disciplines are often considered together, as design for
manufacture and assembly (DFMA). Whether involving an Historical background
inexpensive consumer product or a high-value, complex item,
the benefits of these concepts are obvious: without them, Formal approaches to DFM and DFA emerged in the late
products may be excessively costly due to manufacturing and 1960s and early 1970s and in recognition of their importance,
assembly difficulties and the time to market may be extended one of the first standards to address these issues was published
because of the need to modify the production process or in the UK in 1975: PD 6470, “The Management of Design
initiate iterative designs. It is widely recognised that around for Economic Production”. In 1977, Geoff Boothroyd, then
70 percent of a product’s manufacturing cost is determined by at the University of Massachusetts, developed a DFA method
decisions made at the design stage. which could be used to estimate the time required for the
The DFM and DFA concepts are more important than ever manual assembly of a product and the cost of assembling it on
in today’s highly competitive markets, particularly as an ever- an automated machine. Recognising that the most important
growing number of companies are outsourcing component factor in reducing assembly costs was minimising a product’s
manufacture and assembly to regions with low labour costs component count, Boothroyd introduced three criteria which
but often limited technical knowledge. Such companies often could be used to determine theoretically whether any of the
have little direct control over these processes and ensuring components could be eliminated or combined with others.
that the subcontractor can conduct them effectively is vital These criteria, together with tables relating assembly time to
various factors influencing part gripping, orientation and
insertion, could be used to estimate the total assembly time
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at and to rate the quality of a product’s design from an assembly
www.emeraldinsight.com/0144-5154.htm viewpoint.
In 1980 Boothroyd published Design for Assembly:
A Designer’s Handbook but written DFM/A guidelines were
Assembly Automation soon replaced by software packages. In 1981, Boothroyd and
32/2 (2012) 112– 118
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 0144-5154] Peter Dewhurst developed a computerised version of the DFA
[DOI 10.1108/01445151211212262] method and in 1983 Boothroyd Dewhurst, Inc. (BDI)

112
 DFM and DFA: background, capabilities and applications Assembly Automation
Robert Bogue Volume 32 · Number 2 · 2012 · 112 –118

was founded. The company continues to play a central role in and their benefits are shown in Table I. More specific
this business. These packages allowed DFM/A concepts to be guidelines exist for particular products and processes, and the
adopted by a wide range of companies and found acceptance below list shows examples of those for machining.
by some of the world’s largest manufacturers. For example, in Guidelines for machining:
1988, the Ford Motor Company credited DFMAw software .
for high volumes, consider castings or stampings to reduce
with overall savings approaching $1 billion. A notable, early machining effort;
example of a good DFA is the Sony Walkman (Figure 1). The .
use near-net shapes for moulded and forged parts to
Walkman product line was designed for “vertical assembly” minimise machining effort;
by a robotic system in which the parts were inserted entirely .
design for ease of fixturing by providing rigid mounting
by straight-down motions. Since these early days, many surfaces and parallel clamping surfaces;
software packages have become available and are the standard . avoid thin walls and webs and deep pockets or holes so
tool for implementing DFM, DFA and DFMA techniques. parts can withstand clamping and machining without
Note: when applied to software, the acronym “DFMA” is a distortion;
registered trademark of BDI. .
avoid tapers and contours as much as possible in favour of
rectangular shapes;
The DFM/A concepts
.
avoid undercuts or other features which require special
operations and/or tools;
Few design engineers have a detailed knowledge of all of the .
where possible, avoid hardened materials or materials that
different manufacturing and assembly technologies and are difficult to machine; and
Downloaded by University of New South Wales At 16:33 31 January 2016 (PT)

materials and tend to create designs based on those with .

Locate machined surfaces on the same plane or with the
which they are familiar. Consequently, such designs are rarely same diameter to minimise the number of operations.
optimised and problems frequently arise when alterations are
made to the manufacturing process or the assembly method, The second method, devised by Boothroyd and Dewhurst,
or when materials are altered (e.g. when a plastic component employs a quantitative evaluation of the design. Each part of the
replaces a metal part). DFM/A tools and principles provide a design is rated with a numerical value depending on its
structured approach to achieving simplified designs for “assemblability”. The numbers are summed for the entire
products that can be manufactured effectively. They help to design and the resulting value is used as a guide to the overall
quantify manufacturing and assembly problems and identify design quality. The product is then redesigned using the
opportunities for innovative designs. Although they require numerical values. By concentrating on areas of the design that
additional up-front effort when compared to more contribute heavily to the overall score, the effects of the redesign
conventional design stratagies, the overall effect is to yield can be maximised. However, this again requires insight and
benefits which include significant cost savings and reduced knowledge on the part of the designer. The third, and most
time to market. This is largely due to fewer engineering recent development, is the automation of the entire process.
changes being required; fewer parts to detail, document and Using computer software, quantitative analysis can be applied
purchase; and a less complex product with enhanced to the design. Then, by constructing an expert system
assembly and manufacturing characteristics. employing the general design rules, a system can be developed
There are three means of applying a DFM/A process. The that can first analyse a design and then optimise it by repeatedly
first, as used originally, is to follow a general set of rules or applying the rules and evaluating the quality after each iteration.
guidelines. These are not quantitative and require someone to Figures 2-4 show examples of BDI’s DFM/A software. Since the
interpret and apply them in each individual case. These early implementations of DFM/A, a number of new tools have
general, qualitative DFM/A guidelines are necessarily non- been developed which cover a greater proportion of the product
specific, as they aim to encompass a diversity of products, life-cycle, from DFM/A, through to “Design for Service” and
processes and materials and some of the key DFM/A issues “Design for the Environment”. This last theme is reflected in
recent standards, such as BS 8887-2 (2009) “Design for
Figure 1 The Sony Walkman is an example of good DFA practice manufacture, assembly, disassembly and end-of-life processing
(MADE)”. An example of BDI’s design for the environment
software is shown in Figure 5.
In addition to the methods of Boothroyd and Dewhurst, allied
techniques have been developed by several other organisations,
including Hitachi (the AEM – “assembly evaluation method”),
Lucas (the “Lucas DFA method”) and Fujitsu (the PES –
“productivity evaluation system”). The main objective of the
Hitachi AEM is to facilitate improvements by identifying design
weaknesses at the earliest possible stage in the design process.
This is achieved through the use of two indices: the
“assemblability evaluation score ratio”, which is used to assess
design quality by determining the difficulty of the assembly
operations and the “assembly cost ratio”, used to project
elements of the assembly cost. It was employed originally to
refine the designs of tape recorder mechanisms to allow
automated assembly. The Lucas method resulted from a
collaboration with the University of Hull and differs from some
Source: Wikipedia other methods in that it does not use a cost analysis. It involves

113
 DFM and DFA: background, capabilities and applications Assembly Automation
Robert Bogue Volume 32 · Number 2 · 2012 · 112 –118

Table I General DFM/DFA guidelines and their benefits

Guidelines Benefits
Minimise the part count Improved reliability, reduced purchasing and inventory costs, simplified assembly
Use standard, off-the-shelf parts rather than custom components Reduced costs, lower purchasing lead times, potentially greater reliability
Minimise and standardise the use of fasteners/design for Reduced costs, simplified assembly, improved reliability, simplified repair and
efficient joining and fastening maintenance
Use as few dissimilar materials as possible Simplified jointing, need for fewer manufacturing processes
Minimise the use of fragile parts Cost reductions due to fewer part failures, easier handling and assembly
Do not over-specify tolerances or surface finish Easier manufacture and reduced fabrication costs
Design for ease of fabrication Cost reductions from the elimination of complex fixtures and tooling
Consider modular designs Reduced costs due to simplified assembly and test
Aim for mistake-proof designs Cost reductions by eliminating need to re-work incorrectly assembled parts
Design for simple part orientation and handling Cost reductions due to non-value-added manual effort or dedicated fixturing
Design with predetermined assembly technique in mind Cost reductions from use of proven/known techniques
Consider design for automated/robotic assembly Potential cost reduction over manual methods
Downloaded by University of New South Wales At 16:33 31 January 2016 (PT)

Figure 2 DFA analysis: part characteristics dialogue

Source: Boothroyd Dewhurst, Inc.

assigning and summing penalty factors associated with reductions in the time and costs associated with a
potential design problems, similar to the Hitachi method but product’s manufacture and assembly. Typical figures, based on
with the inclusion of handling as well as insertion. Unlike other a large number of case histories, are: part count: 254 percent;
DFA methods, the Fujitsu PES approach is not a refinement weight: 222 percent; assembly time: 260 percent; labour
procedure to be used after completion of the design but aims to costs: 243 percent; assembly cost: 245 percent; assembly
create a detailed design that is easy to manufacture and defects: 2 68 percent; and product development cycle
assemble in the most cost-effective manner. time: 245 percent.
The techniques have been applied to a diversity of products
and a ball valve illustrates their benefits in the context of a
Applications
seemingly simple item. The valve consisted of the body,
DFM/A techniques are used extensively by durable goods fittings, seals and the ball and was designed to be operated
manufacturers, whether in the form of software or written with a separate actuation mechanism. The original design had
guidelines, and have been shown to yield very significant 33 parts and the assembly process required some to be aligned

114
 DFM and DFA: background, capabilities and applications Assembly Automation
Robert Bogue Volume 32 · Number 2 · 2012 · 112 –118

Figure 3 DFM concurrent costing analysis of a deep drawn part

Downloaded by University of New South Wales At 16:33 31 January 2016 (PT)

Source: Boothroyd Dewhurst, Inc.

Figure 4 DFM concurrent costing analysis of a sheet metal part, also showing process and material selection

Source: Boothroyd Dewhurst, Inc.

115
 DFM and DFA: background, capabilities and applications Assembly Automation
Robert Bogue Volume 32 · Number 2 · 2012 · 112 –118

Figure 5 Design for environment software being used to analyse the environmental performance of a motor assembly
Downloaded by University of New South Wales At 16:33 31 January 2016 (PT)

Source: Boothroyd Dewhurst, Inc.

with a fixture. DFA analysis indicated that the valve would counterbalance spring was redesigned as a one-piece casting
require 8.02 min to assemble. Labour costs were estimated at which eliminated a bracket. This decreased the component cost
$4.29/unit, material costs were $1,179.13/unit and fixture by 60 percent and also eliminated the need for three stamping
costs were $0.13/unit, giving a total of $1,183.55 per unit. dies, one tapping operation, one screw-driving operation and
The DFMAw software suggested the following design the tooling cost to build the fixtures. By redesigning the center
improvements: shaft that attached the counterbalance to the stamped housing,
.
integrate two mounting brackets into the valve body; it was possible to eliminate four fastening screws and several
.
integrate one of two fittings into the valve body; other parts and simplify the two die-cast housings at either end
.
eliminate five washers; of the shaft. Performing FEA to this and a second redesign
.
eliminate four threaded inserts; revealed an opportunity to create a stronger hinge by splitting
.
eliminate two O-rings; the stamped housing into two (left and right) pieces and adding
.
eliminate four hexagonal nuts; extruded housing holes for the shaft in each piece. Although this
.
reduce the length of the hex bolts to 0.5 in.; and splitting added a part to the assembly, the final subassembly still
.
add a self-aligning feature to the fitting and valve body. had an overall part count that fell from 29 to 23 and the
The result of these changes was that the part count fell by component costs were reduced by 28 percent. The redesigned
55 percent, from 33 to 15; labour time is now 3.33 min/unit, hinge is now in production and the total component count
a decrease of 58 percent; the labour cost decreased by 59 percent dropped from 45 to 30 pieces. The number of assembly
to $1.78/unit; and material costs fell by 24 percent, to $898.15/ operations fell from 14 to 5 and the overall cost of the hinge was
unit. Fixture costs were eliminated entirely and in total, the cost reduced by 53 percent.
of the valve was reduced to $899.93, a 24 percent saving. Just redesigning parts of a larger product can yield significant
Another example of an apparently simple item that benefited benefits and an example is the hydraulic cylinders used on fork-
from DFMA analysis is a specialist hinge manufactured by lift trucks manufactured by Raymond Corp. (Figure 6). In an
Southco, Inc. which is used on various medical products. The effort to offset rising material and transportation costs, the
hinge was a load-bearing counterbalance type, used to control company studied all aspects of the model 7400 truck’s design
the opening and closing of heavy lids. The aim was to reduce the and decided that the hydraulic cylinders offered the greatest
hinge’s cost and although manufacture in India or China was prospects for improvement and potential cost savings. DFA and
considered, a decision was made to continue with domestic DFM software was used to analyse the design of the cylinders,
production. The company used DFMAw software from BDI leading to a number of changes. These inluded eliminating
and in the interest of simplicity the analysis was applied machining operations on the cylinder housing by reducing
to several of the hinge’s separate subassembles. The center a traditional two-part design to one part. A combined end-cap/
housing subassembly which sits at one end of the manifold eliminated welding the existing manifold to the tubing

116
 DFM and DFA: background, capabilities and applications Assembly Automation
Robert Bogue Volume 32 · Number 2 · 2012 · 112 –118

Figure 6 DFMAw software allowed Raymond to reduce the cost of the hydraulic cylinders used on its fork-lift trucks
Downloaded by University of New South Wales At 16:33 31 January 2016 (PT)

Source: Wikipedia

side, removing machining from the tubing and reducing baseline, the company started to simplify the design and
welding time. The top end-cap was also changed to a screw- resolve any inherent design and assembly limitations. Specific
on configuration instead of being retained by a snap ring, solutions included a lug-slot fastening method for the back
further reducing machining effort. Using more common parts cover, a bracket to hold vertically stacked PCBs and a speaker
between cylinders helped to optimise the design further. The held in place by a bayonet clamp, all of which eliminated
free lift chain anchors were changed from right- and left-hand assembly difficulties. In addition, a plastic cage was used to
parts to a common component used on either side. Analysis of locate the LCD, which eliminated adhesives and tolerance
the internal assembly also led to more common parts being used issues, making assembly and alignment easier. Ultimately,
on both the main and free lift cylinders. The use of common fasteners were reduced by 43 percent and parts by 44 percent
bleed screws, rather than a variety of screws, helped reduce and the assembly time was halved. Another electronics
inventory, which saved space and manufacturing time. It also company to have benefited from DFMAw software is Dell,
led to the bleed screws being located into the end-cap which Inc., who applied this to the design of the chassis of its
eliminated a further machining operation. As a result of using OptiFrame computer family (Figure 7). The results were
DFMAw software tools on the 7400’s cylinders, Raymond impressive: assembly time was reduced by an average
reduced the overall part count by 10 percent and slashed the of 32 percent; the purchased part count was reduced by
total assembly cost by 18 percent. The greatest impact was on 50 percent; throughput/h/ft2 in the factories increased from
the free lift cylinder: a 24 percent reduction in the part count. 0.009 to 0.016 units/h/ft2, a 78 percent improvement;
While these examples all concern mechanical products, and throughput/hour/direct labour operator increased from
DFMA techniques are also making an impact on the design of 1.67 to 3.07, an increase of 84 percent. The reduction in
electronic devices. Beijer Electronics, Inc. is a manufacturer direct labour costs yielded estimated savings of close to
of mobile data terminals and human machine interfaces $15 million.
(HMIs) and was under pressure from a key customer to During the past 12 months, Design IV, BDI’s pan-
reduce significantly the cost of a custom-designed interface European agent, reports that the most frequent enquiries
terminal but was keen to retain domestic production. Using and applications in the UK and continental Europe have
DFMAw software to redesign the unit, the number of PCBs involved companies manufacturing scientific and medical
was reduced, leading to fewer fasteners. Lug and tab features products. An example is IDEXX Laboratories, a leading
were used to replace screws, eliminating the need for washers supplier of diagnostic technologies for animal health
and nuts. In addition, to avoid unnecessary reorientations and water and milk quality. One of the company’s
during assembly, a top-down method was adopted. Five products, the Catalyst Dxe blood chemistry analyser,
design iterations later, the number of parts had been reduced recently underwent a redesign of a major subassembly, the
by 50 percent, fasteners by 61 percent and the assembly time “Maintenance Access Door” (MAD), to improve reliability
fell by 70 percent, thus allowing the product to meet the and reduce the cost. A key design feature was that the new
customer’s requirements. Following this success, the company subassembly needed to be retrofittable into the existing
again used the software when starting design on a new HMI instrument without requiring any changes to other
product line. These units needed many new features and had subassemblies. Using DFMAw software and by conducting
an ambitious cost target. Using the original HMI terminal as a several design iterations, the company achieved a number

117
 DFM and DFA: background, capabilities and applications Assembly Automation
Robert Bogue Volume 32 · Number 2 · 2012 · 112 –118

Figure 7 One of the Dell “Optiframe” range of computers Figure 8 CAD images of the MAD’s components
Downloaded by University of New South Wales At 16:33 31 January 2016 (PT)

Source: Courtesy of Dell, Inc.

of very significant improvements: the part count fell from Notes: Above: the original design; below: the new design
183 to just 31 (283 percent, Figure 8); the assembly time Source: Idexx Laboratories, Inc.
was reduced from 45 to 11 min (2 75 percent); the
assembly cost fell from $622 to $384 (2 38 percent); and
a 40 percent reduction in the weight was achieved. offshore locations. The more recent software packages that
A and DFMA tools, in particular software packages, have consider end-of-live and environmental issues will help
allowed companies to design components and products with manufacturers comply with waste disposal and recycling
superior manufacturing and assembly characteristics. legislation.
This has been shown to yield significant economic
benefits, arising from the use of fewer parts and reduced
manufacturing and assembly time. In some instances, these
Corresponding author
cost reductions have allowed companies to continue with
domestic manufacture rather than transferring production to Robert Bogue can be contacted at: [email protected]

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: [email protected]

Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints

118
 This article has been cited by:

1. SL Soh, S K Ong, A Y C Nee. 2016. Design for assembly and disassembly for remanufacturing. Assembly Automation 36:1, 12-24.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
2. Olayinka Olabanji, Khumbulani Mpofu, Olga Battaïa. 2016. Design, simulation and experimental investigation of a novel
reconfigurable assembly fixture for press brakes. The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology 82, 663-679.
[CrossRef]
3. Wanderson de Oliveira Leite, Juan Carlos Campos Rubio, Jaime Gilberto Duduch, Paulo Eduardo Maciel de Almeida. 2015.
Correcting geometric deviations of CNC Machine-Tools: An approach with Artificial Neural Networks. Applied Soft Computing
36, 114-124. [CrossRef]
4. Sophia Keil, Dietrich Eberts, Rainer Lasch. 2014. Redesigning Product Workflow for Excellence. IEEE Transactions on
Semiconductor Manufacturing 27, 539-550. [CrossRef]
Downloaded by University of New South Wales At 16:33 31 January 2016 (PT)