DFM Engineering
Design for Manufacturability (DFM) Engineering is the engineering art concerned with designing articles in such a way that they are easy to manufacture. This brings about time and cost savings, reducing the price of the final article. DFM Engineering is an approach used in all engineering disciplines, but differs widely according to the type of manufacturing technology.
Ease of manufacture depends to a large extent on the material used. Where Computer Numeric Control (CNC) machining is utilised as a milling technique to shape articles, a material should be suited to the machining process. Softer metals like aluminium and magnesium are easier to machine than harder metals such as stainless steel and Titanium. Materials that are too soft, like plastics that yield and distort, are also difficult to machine. In addition, materials such as metals come in different shapes and sizes in their raw forms and the size and shape of the article to be manufactured may be influenced by this factor.
In the past, it has happened that products were designed that could just not be built. Prototypes in the model shop were tweaked and adjusted and in large, full-scale production, these techniques turned out to be impractical. Therefore, DFM starts with design, as research has shown that up to 70% of a product's cost is determined by decisions made at the design stage and only 20% by decisions made at the manufacturing stage. The product should be designed from the outset to be easily made, and this process includes raw materials, manufacturing techniques, suppliers, capacity and available technology. In many cases, it might mean that automated manufacture is cheaper, more precise and more efficient than manual labour.
DFM Engineering is constantly evolving and changing in pace with technology. New materials and new manufacturing techniques change how DFM is applied. It has to take into account the capabilities of the manufacturing industry and the prevalence of certain techniques.