Re-Design on Vehicle Front Support Structure Using DFMA

At Beijing Automotive Technology Center Companies (BAIC) there is a mandate to make low-cost reliable cars and light trucks in high volumes. However, an important existing design was experiencing cost and potential quality issues. As the effort got underway for a new model of the off-road vehicle to be designed, it was important to address concerns with the bumper assembly. (Full story)

Endress + Hauser Credits $1MM Savings to Successful DFMA Implementation

In 2016, Endress + Hauser, a leading gloval provider of process and laboratory measurement technology, embarked upon a new product cost reduction strategy to offset shrinking margins and growing global competition. The goal was to improve product-related cost position by making it central to all product development activities, thereby securing long-term competitiveness in the marketplace. Rather than take a more traditional cost cutting approach through budget and personnel reduction, the company decided to focus on team-based product development with the help of the DFMA methdology and software toolset. (Full story)

Motorola Solutions uses DFA software to benchmark designs and measure improvement in its global product portfolio

Every product in Motorola Solutions’ extensive portfolio—which includes handheld RFID readers, mobile radios, multimedia micro kiosks, and many others—is benchmarked and analyzed during design/redesign using Boothroyd Dewhurst’s Design for Assembly (DFA) software to cut part count and assembly time. (Full story)

Boothroyd Dewhurst’s DFA Software Drives Cost Savings for Motorola's DS9208 Scanner

Working closely with our Engineering Design Team at the concept stage of development and using the Boothroyd Dewhurst Design For Assembly Software, we were able to meet our cost savings objectives.  This success allowed us to deliver a quality product, on time and on budget. (Full story)

Simplifying Veterinary Device Relieves Maturing Product Symptoms

Each product redesign offers engineers a fresh opportunity to break with convention.  But with deadlines looming, they can often feel pushed to re-purpose an existing Bill-of-Materials (BOM) and just tweak critical features.  Armed with hard data about the consequences of their material choices, however, design engineers can make timelier, profit-driven decisions up-front in the redesign process. (Full story)

HOW TO MANUFACTURE SUCCESS: HERE’S YOUR PLAN…

It's all about revenue and profitability. The basis for a healthy productive enterprise and economy is the sustainable manufacturing of durable goods. Having a solid plan is absolutely necessary for creating a successful manufacturing venture. The operative word here is "sustainable". So to successfully launch a product into the market, you have to carefully plan for it and know where you want the plan to arrive at. (Full story)

Design analysis helps SouthCo reduce overall cost on a medical hinge by 53 percent

Southco Inc. manufactures latches, hinges, fasteners, inject/eject mechanisms and other access hardware (the “touch points”) for enclosures and cabinets. Over thirty percent of their business is custom work. “We have to make many of our products to customers’ individual specifications,” says Rick Langkamp, Manager of Manufacturing Technology and New Product Development at the Southco facility in Honeoye Falls, N.Y., “and we have to make them at a reasonable price.” (Full story)

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University student uses DFMA to refine the design of a robotic monocopter.

Since the time of DaVinci, inventors and engineers have wrestled with aviation design challenges.  Here are a couple for today.  Aeronautics challenge number one:  Build a flying machine that imitates the aerodynamics of a maple seed—a nature-mimicry design problem that has stumped engineers for the past sixty years.  Aeronautics challenge number two:  Fly an unmanned vehicle inside a closed structure—one of the last remaining frontiers in the growing world of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and vehicles (UAV).  Now, both of these challenges have been successfully solved with one design—a biologically-inspired, robotic monocopter. (Full story)

Hitting the Jackpot with DFMA

International Game Technologies is a worldwide supplier of computerized gaming machines. Using Boothroyd Dewhurst Design for Manufacturing and Assembly software engineers score 40 percent total savings on slot machine part and assembly costs. (Full story)

Redesign of Forklift Hydraulic Cylinders

Raymond was introduced to Boothroyd Dewhurst Design for Manufacturing and Assembly cost reduction software in 2006. Since that time, Raymond engineers have been able to incorporate the costing tool in the design and manufacture of Raymond’s full line of electric forklift trucks. The DFMA software was used to assist in the redesign of the hydraulic cylinders on the Model 7400 Reach-Fork® truck, in which part count was reduced significantly while maintaining product and component quality, functionality, reliability and reducing cost. (Full story)

Symbol Puts It All Together (Faster) with DFMA

Design for Manufacture and Assembly software helps the company to reduce assembly costs and times. At Symbol Technologies, the products are all about information. Headquartered in Holtsville, New York, the company creates mobile and fixed devices that capture information, manage it in small and large computers, and communicate it over networks throughout the business enterprise. (Full story)

John Deere Harvests Savings with DFMA

New EPA-certified Tier 3 engine prompts cost-effective redesign

Manufacturers of offroad vehicles have been meeting increasingly stringent emissions standards for the past several years, and Deere & Company is no exception. Starting in 2006, in particular, Tier 3 regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency require specific reductions of oxides of nitrogen in nonroad diesel engines. Deere has developed a family of new EPA-certified Tier 3 engines for use in its range of offroad equipment. (Full story)

Good Designs Brewing at Access Business Group

DFMA Software Perks Up Design of Water Filters and Kahve Coffee Maker. Access Business Group (Ada, Michigan) develops, manufactures, and distributes a comprehensive range of durable goods, including patented water treatment and air filtration systems, and an award-winning coffee maker. Access has emerged as a leader in water filtration products, using special carbon and ultraviolet (UV) light technology for optimal health and taste benefits. (Full story)

DESIGN FOR OPPORTUNITY WITH DFA

Design analysis software helps instrument builder develop a new product in time to capture a healthy share of the market Whenever a window of opportunity opens for introducing a new scientific instrument, MDS SCIEX (Concord, Ontario) leaps through it confidently. Such was the case a few years ago when the opportunity arose to develop a hybrid mass spectrometer combining time-of-flight technology with conventional quadrupole designs. (Full story)

DELL Builds a Framework for Success

Design for Assembly and Design for Service drive the design of Dell Corporation’s Optiframe^® Computer Chassis.  The redesign saved Dell an estimated $15 million dollars in reduced direct labor costs.  The company saved millions more by increasing throughput and thus postponing facility relocations that otherwise would have been required to boost manufacturing capability. (Full story)

LEAN CUISINE Whirlpool Sweden puts DFA to work to cut parts by 29 percent and assembly time by 26 percent.

Training is a valuable investment, but companies don’t expect immediate profits from the training sessions themselves. At Whirlpool Sweden in Norrköping, though, this was exactly the case as they trained cross-functional teams of in-plant personnel to perform design for assembly (DFA) analysis.(Full story)

COOL, STYLISH AND GREEN

In designing a new cooling display cabinet for delicatessens and supermarkets, AB Electrolux, faced a complex challenge. The company wanted to create a product that was cost-effective, satisfied expectations for appearance and performance, while meeting stringent targets for environmental friendliness. They used DFE software, developed jointly with Boothroyd Dewhurst, Inc. to simulate the disassembly and environmental impact of products at end of life. Thus was born the Chameleon, a new “green” cooling display for Electrolux (Full story)

NORTEL ENGINEERS dramatically lower product costs

A Nortel design team utilized DFMA to redesign two products in the company’s broadband portfolio. The redesign of the OC-3 Express shelf mechanics resulted in expected savings to Nortel of $700,800 annually.The annual expected cost savings to Nortel for the redesigned filler pack are estimated to be $3.45 million. (Full story)

REDESIGN OF AEROSPACE PROJECT cuts costs up to 74%

A DFMA engineering team redesigned several areas of a helicopter crew station using DFA analysis, and recorded significant savings in part count, fabrication and installation time, weight and overall cost. Implementation strategies as well as results are described. (Full story)

On-going effort in AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR for cost reductions aided by DFA

Despite time pressures, this VA/VE group has committed to continuous review of automotive seating products. They use a baseline DFA analysis with on-site workshops to facilitate team contributions to the reduction of assembly inefficiencies. A dramatic redesign is illustrated. (Full story)

NEW GENERATION OF MEDICAL TEST EQUIPMENT benefits from DFMA input

In this upgrade of a blood-gas analyzer, DFMA analysis was used to pinpoint areas where significant cost and quality improvements could be found. Those included a review of material uses, more self-aligning features and fewer overall components. A benchmark DFA analysis was the kickoff point for a successful product development effort. (Full story)

DESIGN STUDY OF TRUCK INSTRUMENT PANEL
identifies assembly and environmental impact savings

A comprehensive look at a truck instrument panel redesign was reported on at the annual meeting of the Society of Automotive Engineers. The critical change, the use of two large structural moldings to eliminate a complex steel assembly, resulted in cost savings in the dramatic reduction of assembly operations and number of parts. The new design also offered innovative savings in material recycling through simplified disassembly opportunities. (Full story)