Design for Manufacturability and Time‐to‐Market, Part 1: Theoretical Foundations

Examines design for manufacturability (DFM) which has become of a paramount interest to academicians and practitioners as well. The emergence of advanced manufacturing and information technologies and recent managerial philosophies such as JIT, TQM have made it easier for manufacturing enterprises to carry out many of their activities concurrently. This new approach to business would no doubt result in increased efficiency, as measured by cost savings, and increased effectiveness as measured by improvements in quality, flexibility, and responsiveness. This new approach to manufacturing emphasizes that simultaneous improvement in these competitive priorities rather than trade‐offs will be the norm in many manufacturing establishments. Design for manufacturability, as a time‐based strategy, has been used by the Japanese for many years, and there is no reason to think that it will not work for Western manufacturers. However, if not planned for carefully, it can hurt rather than help manufacturing companies. In the cases that have been reported in literature so far, successes outnumber failures. Sheds light on the theoretical foundation of DFM as a time‐based technology. Examines the different approaches to product and processes design and compares and contrasts the traditional and concurrent approaches to manufacturing. Examines a number of DFM definitions in an attempt to offer a more representative definition. Analyses the main pillars of DFM and explains the necessary characteristics for successful implementation of DFM. Elaborates the benefits of DFM as reported in literature. Explains some of the drawbacks of DFM and introduces the reader to Part 2 of this article.