Design For Manufacture
Design for manufacture is a systematic method for designing products so that they are easy and cheap to produce. The method consists of four steps:
Analysis of the costs of manufacturing a product: First, all of the pre-material and processing costs have to be established in detail so as to identify the major cost blocks.
Generation of a cost driver tree: A cost driver tree is created as a means of analyzing the source of costs.
Generation of recommendations for action: On the basis of the cost driver tree, ideas are generated for lower-cost design.
Implementation of the new, lower-cost design: In the course of calculating the costs of the new product, the solutions with the highest savings are applied.
Application of the design for the manufacture process highlights strengths, weaknesses, and success factors in the field of design. Besides procurement, financial controlling, production, engineering, and sales, all other stakeholders should be involved right from the start, with everyone working together .
Based on the experience gained in numerous projects, five main factors have been identified for ensuring successful design for manufacture activities:
The work starts only after a detailed cost structure is implemented.
Suppliers are closely involved in the design for the manufacture process, so their ideas can be included.
All departments involved understand the needs and interests of the other departments.
Ideas without actual relevance to cost cutting are dropped as quickly as possible.
The service to the customers is not affected by cost reductions, either in perception or in scope.