Manufacturing And Cutting Costs With Design Optimization
If a business decides to outsource some of its manufacturing to eliminate costs, one important consideration is in the product quality. If the product quality is sacrificed because of the cost reduction, this may not be as productive in cost savings as hoped.
Concurrent Engineering and Design for Manufacture ability
Another method of saving on costs is through concurrent engineering. This is when a product is designed at the same time as the manufacturing process for the development of the product. Another way is design for manufacture ability (DFM) where products are designed in a manner to optimize all of the features of the manufacturing process such as fabrication, shipping, testing, ensuring customer satisfaction and the best costs. DFM advocates products to be manufactured with the least number of parts and therefore less waste and cost reduction. Product design is done so that the product will be able to work with other parts and standardization is advocated.
Other Cost Saving Methods
Working with a vendor to help in product design can help in keeping costs down. They can assist in averting decision making such as making a product unnecessarily fancier for aesthetic purposes. Vendors will comprehend the issues that the manufacturers face and can help in offering solutions. This additionally imparts a learning opportunity so that the manufacturer and vendor learn how to produce the jobs faster and more effectively each time.
Input has to be gained from staff in every department of the organization in order to cut costs. Talking to people who actually do the work on the floor can result in ideas on how to make changes to save money.
Understanding all issues that have happened in the past and learning from them so that they will not be repeated in the future is imperative. Make sure designs are as simple as they can be so the fabrication, processing and assembly are simple. Any issues in fabrication, assembly and processing can end in enormous costs to repair. Follow guidelines for processes of design. For example, there are certain guidelines for operation of a laser cutter so follow them to the letter every time the laser cutter is used. Do not design for right- and left-hand parts but produce a product that can be used either way so as not to end up with a huge amount of stock. Have a product that is symmetrical so it is simple to assemble and avoids unnecessary complexity. Always manufacture a quality item. It is less expensive to do it right the first time than to fix it later on.
Concurrent Engineering and Design for Manufacture ability
Another method of saving on costs is through concurrent engineering. This is when a product is designed at the same time as the manufacturing process for the development of the product. Another way is design for manufacture ability (DFM) where products are designed in a manner to optimize all of the features of the manufacturing process such as fabrication, shipping, testing, ensuring customer satisfaction and the best costs. DFM advocates products to be manufactured with the least number of parts and therefore less waste and cost reduction. Product design is done so that the product will be able to work with other parts and standardization is advocated.
Other Cost Saving Methods
Working with a vendor to help in product design can help in keeping costs down. They can assist in averting decision making such as making a product unnecessarily fancier for aesthetic purposes. Vendors will comprehend the issues that the manufacturers face and can help in offering solutions. This additionally imparts a learning opportunity so that the manufacturer and vendor learn how to produce the jobs faster and more effectively each time.
Input has to be gained from staff in every department of the organization in order to cut costs. Talking to people who actually do the work on the floor can result in ideas on how to make changes to save money.
Understanding all issues that have happened in the past and learning from them so that they will not be repeated in the future is imperative. Make sure designs are as simple as they can be so the fabrication, processing and assembly are simple. Any issues in fabrication, assembly and processing can end in enormous costs to repair. Follow guidelines for processes of design. For example, there are certain guidelines for operation of a laser cutter so follow them to the letter every time the laser cutter is used. Do not design for right- and left-hand parts but produce a product that can be used either way so as not to end up with a huge amount of stock. Have a product that is symmetrical so it is simple to assemble and avoids unnecessary complexity. Always manufacture a quality item. It is less expensive to do it right the first time than to fix it later on.
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