DFMA® White Paper: DFMA the Product, Then Lean the Process

Lean Manufacturing has revolutionized the manner in which many of the world’s leading companies bring their products to market.  It is a cost-reduction and efficiency philosophy that has an unwavering focus on eliminating waste.  While traditionally thought of as applying only to the manufacturing floor, Lean also has application throughout the entire organization and supply chain.  What we don’t see traditionally from Lean Manufacturing initiatives is an equally vigorous emphasis on the product itself.  Fundamental to the ultimate success of Lean is an investment of time to understand the design of the product for which we are attempting to create a Lean process.

This paper will explore the additional savings that could be unlocked when engineers combine an up-front DFMA analysis of the product with Lean Manufacturing approaches to production.  Combining these two techniques results in products that are “lean-from-the-start.”