Product Architecture, Industrial
Design, Design for Manufacturing
Chapter 9: Product Architecture
 Product Architecture has 2 elements:
 Functional – individual operations and transformations
that contribute to the overall performance of the
product
 Physical – parts, components, and subassemblies that
implement the product function
 Creating modules or building blocks can help in
organization and manufacturing
Implications of the Architecture
 Decisions of architecture can affect many issues:
 Product change

Upgrades, Add-ons, Adaptation, Wear, Consumption,
Flexibility in use, Reuse
 Product variety
 Component standardization
 Product performance
 Manufacturability
 Product development management
Examples
 Exhibit 9-4 pg 169 – Swatch watch
Example – F-150
Example – Sport Trac
Establishing Architecture Steps
1.
Create a schematic of the product

Layout of the components, their hierarchy and interactions
2. Cluster the elements of the schematic
Group the components into clusters based on:

Geometric integration and precision

Function sharing

Capabilities of vendors

Similarity of design or production technology

Localization of change

Accommodating variety

Enabling standardization

Portability of the interfaces
Establishing Architecture Steps
3. Create the rough geometry
 Create a rough, basic 3-D and 2-D sketches
4. Identify the fundamental and incidental interactions
 Likely the functional groups or clusters will be
assigned to the respective areas of expertise for further
design. As a cross functional team the interaction
between groups should be know


Fundamental interactions – interactions of components
based on function of the product
Incidental interactions – interactions that arise from
physical arangement
Delayed Differentiation
 On occasion variations in architecture will be delayed
until further in the Supply Chain.
 Examples – voltage components, product variation or
customer ordering
 Design evolves around the customized group to allow
for the options
Chapter 11: Design for
Manufacturing
 Detail design decisions have a substantial impact on
final product quality and cost
 Development teams face multiple and often
conflicting goals
 Important to have metrics to compare alternative
designs
 Dramatic improvements often require substantial
creative efforts early in the process
 Well-defined method makes the decision-making
process much easier
DFM
 Requires a cross-functional team, internal to the
organization and external experts, as well as vendors
 Performed throughout the process
 Overview:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Estimate the manufacturing costs
Reduce the costs of components
Reduce the costs of assembly
Reduce the cost of supporting production
Consider the impact of DFM decision on other facors
Estimate the Manufacturing $
 Manufacturing $ = ∑Input costs





Raw material
Purchased components
Employees effort
Energy
Equipment
 Component $
 Assembly $
 Overhead $
Estimating the Manufacturing $
 Fixed $ vs. Variable $
 Fixed - $ spent regardless of the quantity of products
sold
 Variable - $ spent that changes based on the quantity of
products sold
 Estimate the $ of standard components
 Estimate the $ of custom components
 Estimate the $ of assembly
 Estimate the $ of overhead cost
Reduce the $ of Components
 Understand the process constraints and cost drivers
 Redesign components to eliminate processing steps
 Choose an appropriate Economic scale
 Standardize components and processes
Reduce the $ of Assembly - DFA
 Integrate parts
 Maximize ease of assembly
 Parts inserted from the top of the assy
 Part is self-aligning
 Part does not need to be oriented
 Part requires only one hand for assy
 Part requires no tools
 Part is assembled in a single, linear motion
 Part is secured imediately upon insertion
Reduce the $ of Supporting
Production
 Minimize systemic complexity
 Error proofing
Consider the impact of DFM
 The impact of DFM on development time
 The impact of DFM on development cost
 The impact of DFM on product quality
 The impact of DFM on external factors
 Component reuse
 Life cycle cost