Founded in 2002, MechoTech is a product development and engineering services company based in southern California. We manage full product development cycles from concept to design and production. MechoTech provides complete support for all steps in product innovation and process to supplement each client's internal resources on an as needed bases, on time and on budget.

With over 25 years of experience in the data storage and computer industry, I bring a wealth of knowledge in product design and development in consumer electronics and medical devices. I hold a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering from USC, an Engineering Degree from UC Irvine and achieved a Management Program Certification from Stanford University.

 

To discuss how MechoTech can assist you in your next project, please contact Moe Sarraf, CEO /President, at msarraf@mechotech.com or (949) 215-7270.

 

Moe Sarraf

CEO/President

Design for Manufacturability (DFM) and Design for Testability (DFT) are critical to product design and development. Products are initially conceptualized to provide a particular capability and meet identified performance objectives and specifications. The designer's objective must be to optimize the product design within the production system. A production system includes its suppliers, material handling systems, manufacturing processes, labor force capabilities and distribution systems.

Another objective for designers and engineers is to design a functioning product within economic and schedule constraints. Research has shown that decisions made during the design period determine 70% of the product's costs while decisions made during production only account for 20% of the product's costs. Further, decisions made in the first
10% of product design could determine the vast majority of the product's cost, quality and manufacturability characteristics. This indicates the great leverage that DFM can have on a company's success and profitability.

When design engineers and manufacturing engineers work together to design and rationalize both the product and production and support processes, it is known as integrated product and process design. The designer's consideration of design for manufacturability, cost, reliability and maintainability is the starting point for integrated product development.

The application of DFM and DFT must consider the overall design economics. It must balance the effort and cost associated with development and refinement of the design to the cost and quality that can be achieved

DFM / DFT GUIDELINES
A number of general design guidelines have been established to achieve higher quality, lower cost, improved application of automation, better maintainability and a higher return on investment. Examples of these DFM and DFT guidelines are as follows:

• Review the design early on, preferably prior to engaging prototype sample build with the potential hard tooling (tool and die maker) supplier. Share the critical-to-function (CTF) design parameters with the hard tool supplier and get their feedback. Incorporate the design enhancements into the design prior to the prototype sample build. Sharing the CAD data with the supplier can save major development costs and will expedite the final product launch.
• Consider Design For Testability (DFT) early on, as well, by sharing the test methodology with the Production Test department. This process will lead to improvements in the early design phase and will reduce the total product cost by reducing the test time (i.e. avoid unnecessary tear down and scrap disassembly and re-assembly).
• Foolproof the assembly design so that the assembly process is unambiguous
• Reduce the number of parts to minimize the opportunity for a defective part or an assembly error, to decrease the total cost of fabricating and assembling the product, and to improve the chance to automate the process
• Design verifiability into the product and its components to provide a natural test or inspection of the item
• Avoid tight tolerances beyond the natural capability of the manufacturing processes and design in the middle of a part's tolerance range
• Design "robustness" into products to compensate for uncertainty in the product's manufacturing, testing and use
• Design for parts orientation and handling to minimize non-value-added manual effort, to avoid ambiguity in orienting and merging parts, and to facilitate automation
• Design for ease of assembly by utilizing simple patterns of movement and minimizing fastening steps
• Utilize common parts and materials to facilitate design activities, to minimize the amount of inventory in the system and to standardize handling and assembly operations
• Design for ease of servicing the product
• Design modular products to facilitate assembly with building block components and sub-assemblies

In addition to these guidelines, designers and engineers need to understand more about production systems, including its capabilities and limitations, in order to establish design rules to further guide and optimize their product design. 

Design for Manufacturability and Integrated Product Development may require additional effort early in the design process, but yields a much greater ROI. The integration of product and process design through improved business practices, management philosophies and technology tools will result in a more producible product to better meet customer needs, a quicker and smoother transition to manufacturing, and a lower total program/life cycle cost.

MechoTech can help organizations achieve a higher ROI while driving down costs. For more information, contact MechoTech, LLC at (949) 215-7270 or visit www.MechoTech.com.

(949) 215-7270 or visit

 www.MechoTech.com