TABLE OF CONTENTS Winston. A. Knight
Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, 02881, USA, and Boothroyd Deswhurst Inc., 138 Main St., Wakefield, RI, 02879, USA. knight@egr.uri.edu
| Abstract: | This paper outlines the development of product analysis procedures for manufacture, service and environmental performance. The paper further describes how these procedures can be integrated to give a predictive assessment of the life cycle performance of products. This integration enables design teams to evaluate design proposals and effect design changes to meet the specific life cycle goals that are judged to be the most important for the particular product under consideration. |
| Key words: | Product design, Design for manufacture, Life cycle design, Design to cost. |
The author and his colleagues have been involved in research and developments in the area of product design for manufacture and assembly (DFMA) for the past 20 years or more [1]. Much of the basic research in support of these developments has been carried out through a series of industry-funded projects. The underlying philosophy of this work is that early design decisions on product configurations, together with material and process selection, lock in a high proportion of the subsequent manufacturing costs. Thus suitable predictive analysis tools are required that can enable design teams to evaluate the assembly and manufacturing aspects of product design proposals at the early stages of design. This quantification of design decisions facilitates the development of simpler and more easily manufactured products, with reduced costs. This work has resulted in...
