1.A. INTRODUCTION

Assembly is more than putting parts together. Assembly is the capstone process in manufacturing. It brings together all the upstream processes of design, engineering, manufacturing, and logistics to create an object that performs a function. A great deal is known about the unit processes that are required to fabricate and inspect individual parts. Books exist and courses are taught on manufacturing processes and systems for turning and molding, to name a few. Assembly, which actually creates the product, is by comparison much less studied and is by far one of the least understood processes in manufacturing.

Assemblies are the product of the assembly process. But assemblies are also the product of a complex design process. This process involves defining the functions that the item must perform and then defining physical objects (parts and subassemblies) that will work together to deliver those functions. The structure of the item must be defined, including all the interrelationships between the parts. Then each of the parts must be defined and given materials, dimensions, tolerances, surface finishes, and so on. Books exist and courses are taught on how to design machine elements such as gears and shafts that become parts of assemblies. Yet there are no books that tell how to design assemblies, or books that indicate how to tell when an assembly design is good.

This book has several goals:

• To place mechanical assemblies in the context of product development and...