The Devenish Group, Inc. specializes in product development strategy, management and design, with emphasis on cost reduction and accelerated time-to-market.  President and founder, Bill Devenish, a long-time DFMA advocate, has decades of experience in technology product development.  He has implemented DFMA within a variety of large and small companies, leading to enhanced cross-functional collaboration and significant product cost savings.

As R&D Manager at Nokia in 1998, Bill led the engineering team that developed the first smart phone released in North America, and in 2016 he received the Distinguished DFMA Supporter of the Year from Boothroyd Dewhurst.  Bill earned a B.S. in Design Engineering from Brigham Young University, an M.S. in Management of Science and Technology from Oregon Graduate Institute and a graduate certificate in Systems Engineering from Florida Institute of Technology.  He has been awarded ten patents and has authored several papers on DFMA, embedded passives, implementing SolidWorks, and Design for Six Sigma (DFSS).

• Extensive experience in electronic product development for the consumer, industrial and defense markets, including strategic planning, product and program management, product design/engineering, process implementation and technical staff development.
• Guidance for companies of all sizes on implementing DFMA to enhance competitive position and achieve profitable growth.
• Institutionalization of DFMA through integration with the overall design process.
• Optimization of new product designs through early DFMA assessment and reduction of existing product costs through DFMA redesign.
• Process improvement to foster effective project and program management, concurrent engineering, robust innovative design and effective design reviews for accelerated market introduction with improved quality and reduced cost.
• DFMA analysis of competitor products for benchmarking and optimal market positioning.
• DFMA “Should Cost” modeling of parts and assemblies.
• Hands-on, personalized DFMA training for technical staff.

Matt Miles is a mechanical engineer with over 25 years of product development experience. He has held positions in R&D, continuous improvement, supplier quality, and advanced manufacturing while applying DFMA and value engineering techniques to product development.

Matt has been practicing DFMA, utilizing Boothroyd Dewhurst’s software, since 2006, during which time he has led the implementation of DFMA at two separate companies. He has facilitated numerous cross-functional product design reviews and implementation workshops on the DFMA/VAVE tool sets. Matt has helped integrate these tools into the product development process and company cultures that have resulted in identifying millions in potential cost savings and avoidance, implemented cost savings, and patented product designs.

Matt is also accomplished in Lean Manufacturing. Some of his most recent work has been tying DFMA application to the manufacturing floor. DFA analysis on product designs has led to Matt facilitating teams on DFMEA and PFMEA analyses applied to the new designs. These methods identified design/process risks and were developed into necessary control plans to mitigate risks in production, improvements to work instructions, and validating/qualifying processes prior to product launch.

Matt has written multiple DFMA case study papers and presented on these topics at Boothroyd Dewhurst’s International Forums on DFMA. He has also presented on DFMA and Value Engineering application towards product development at the 2017 SAVE International Value Summit and the 2012 Boston Quality Conference. He holds five patents and was awarded the Boothroyd Dewhurst supporter of the year award in 2009. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology and a Master of Science degree in Product Development, both from the Rochester Institute of Technology.

• Design for Manufacture & Assembly (DFMA)
• Value Analysis / Value Engineering (VA/VE)
• Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)
• Supplier Quality & Development
• Competitive Benchmarking
• DFMA integration into the Product Development Process
• DFM “should cost” analysis for purchased parts
• Lean Manufacturing

Convergence Data Services provides component and supplier management software solutions to the discrete manufacturing industry.  Convergence offers a solution which enables the extension of DFMA cost modeling to the enterprise for increased accuracy, efficiency and effectiveness.  This integrated toolset manages and validates DFMA inputs against company standards and rules and then publishes the models, outputs and other related files to a centralized database for easy access.  Automated refresh capabilities are provided which allow for the automated update of cost analyses against the most up-to-date cost inputs (i.e. material, machine and operation libraries).  Convergence also provides an easy to use search, query and reporting tool which provides cost rollups and competitive cost comparisons.

For more information visit the company’s Web site (www.convergencedata.com) or call 1-203-364-8600.

SOLIDWORKS Corporation, a Dassault Systèmes S.A. (Nasdaq: DASTY, Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA) company, develops and markets mechanical design software solutions. Founded in 1993, SOLIDWORKS’ mission is to unleash the power of 3D for everyone in product development. Only SOLIDWORKS is 100% focused on product design, providing software and services that help manufacturers get new products to market faster. Innovative, yet proven, SOLIDWORKS software is the standard in 3D. In seven years of delivering product, SOLIDWORKS has shipped over 250,000 total seats of software worldwide. SOLIDWORKS has offices around the globe and sells, distributes, and supports its products through a worldwide network of resellers. For the latest news, information, or a live online demonstration, visit the company’s Web site (www.solidworks.com) or call 1-800-693-9000 (outside of North America, call +1-978-371-5000).

SolidView/Pro is a low-cost, easy to use, program for viewing and measuring a variety of 3D CAD data formats. With the SolidView family of products, anyone with a Windows PC can view, measure, and mark up CAD data. Instead of working with confusing paper drawings, you can now have a real-time shaded view of your CAD designs, without the need for expensive CAD hardware or software, and without extensive training.

SolidView/Pro is from Solid Concepts Inc., a privately held corporation headquarted in Valencia, California. Additional information on SolidView and Solid Concepts can be obtained from www.solidview.com. SolidView is a registered trademark of Solid Concepts Inc.