SQUEEZE TIME AND MONEY OUT OF PRODUCTION USING DESIGN FOR MANUFACTURABILITY
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SQUEEZE TIME AND MONEY OUT OF PRODUCTION USING DESIGN FOR MANUFACTURABILITY Overview Product design does not occur in a vacuum and has a significant impact on manufacturing. In fact, 3D design carries even greater potential for streamlining production processes, especially when you take advantage of Design for Manufacturability tools and applications. With these technologies, you can avoid the manufacturing delays, cost overruns, and shop-floor retrofits that work against your company’s success and competitive position.

Design and manufacturing go hand in hand Winning in today’s global marketplace requires more than innovative and creative product designs. To succeed, you must also beat the competition to market, while controlling development costs and maintaining high levels of quality. Accomplishing these goals demands the implementation of efficient and consistent processes throughout the product development cycle. If you create fantastic product designs but experience difficulties in manufacturing, you cannot achieve the healthy profit margins, ambitious production schedules, or consistent product...

...a case in point TiSport, a leading manufacturer of high-performance, titanium wheelchairs, automated its machining operations by using a CAM package that is fully integrated with SolidWorks 3D design software. This integration enabled the company to use SolidWorks software configurations to drive machining, resulting in annual production cost savings of $400,000. Design for moldability Manufacturers utilize molds to produce a growing number of products. As any mold maker will tell you, however, not all shapes are moldable. Regardless of the mold method used—including injection-molding,...

Design for casting and forging Many manufacturers produce metal parts that are not machined, either through forging or casting. Forging is the preferred method for creating extra-strong metal parts, in which the metal’s grain is hammered or pressed into the shape of a part using a combination of pressure and temperature. Casting is typically reserved for metal parts having complex geometries that preclude machining or in instances where casting is faster and less expensive than machining. Cast parts are produced by pouring molten metal into sand, metal, or investment-cast molds. As with...

...a case in point BigBelly Solar utilized SolidWorks sheetmetal design, simulation, and interference detection tools to streamline fabrication of the world’s first solar-powered trash compactor. These capabilities not only helped the company develop an innovative, first-of-its-kind product, but also enabled it to reduce its material costs by more than 30 percent. Design for assembly The methods utilized to assemble parts and subassemblies into final products can vary greatly: from pick-and-place robotics to machine-driven assembly/packaging to human manual operations. With any assembly...

3D design helps you integrate design and manufacturing Even though different manufacturing processes have their own unique characteristics, they have common goals. You want to manufacture products and parts of consistently high quality as quickly as possible while controlling or trimming costs. This paper has touched on the potential opportunities for leveraging DFM for your particular type of manufacturing. This section will more specifically address how SolidWorks 3D software solutions— including SolidWorks CAD software, SolidWorks Simulation, SolidWorks Enterprise PDM, SolidWorks...

httpfldf mxpress.geometricsoftware.com Select an instance for failure details. Deep Pocket/Slot [Failed 1/5] Deep, narrow slots are difficult to Milling deep slots involves long and slender cutters. Such cutters are prone to chatter and may pose challenges in achieving tighter ® Conform to standard drill sizes [Failed 5/5] Making sure that a product is manufacturable requires the use of DFM tools to evaluate whether it can be made cost-effectively in the specified shape and material. With SolidWorks CAD software and DFMXpress, you can fully interrogate the manufacturability of your design...

Accelerating time-to-market Manufacturing can help shorten time-to-market by making sure a design is ready for prime time—suitable for manufacturer—and by streamlining processes and interactions. • Ensure manufacturable designs. Making sure that a product is manufacturable requires the use of DFM tools to evaluate whether it can be made cost-effectively in the specified shape and material. With SolidWorks software DFM tools, you can assess materials and geometries, so you deliver a problemfree design to production, avoiding unnecessary delays. • Guarantee production-ready data. Providing...

• Check important sheetmetal settings, such as the recommended bend radius, hole diameter to thickness ratio, hole to part edge • Easily create flat patterns, as well as compensate for stretching due to bends. • Automatically generate cut lists for welded structural frame members. Reducing returns/warranty costs The best way to cut costs related to product returns and warranty claims is to manufacture a quality product. • Enhance product quality. There are two facets to quality in terms of manufacturing. One has to do with manufacturability. The other involves performance. With SolidWorks...

• Easily manage geometric dimensioning and tolerancing specifications with the SolidWorks DimXpert. • Use the specialized functionality for fastening analysis found in SolidWorks Simulation to figure out the correct size and number of fasteners required to actually hold your parts together. Reducing the number of fasteners in your design can decrease costs, complexity, weight, and time to manufacture. • Evaluate fastening methods—such as bolted connections, welded connections, etc.—to determine which method works best to gain a cost advantage, reduce weight, or accelerate assembly. •...