A team‐based design for assembly methodology

Design for Assembly (DFA) is now a well established technique for cost reduction at the design‐manufacture interface. The method described here is simple, highly visual and team based and can be learned in a single day of training and experience has shown that a design team can achieve significant savings even during the training process. The method starts with the analysis of an existing product, prototype, or preliminary design by describing the product and assembly process in the form of rows in a design matrix. The row‐based description is then progressively modified by cascading down the matrix through considerations of part count, ease of handling and ease of assembly insertion. The final rows of the matrix represent the improved assembly design and its assembly process, and the body of the matrix contains cells that describe design and process changes in an order that records the evolution of the design process.