Design for Manufacture is a term often used in precision engineering, but what does it mean? Design for Manufacture (DFM) is the process used to create optimised products at minimal cost.
This includes simplifying and refining the design of components to make the manufacturing process more efficient and reach the end goal as quickly as possible while maintaining quality standards. This ranges from simple changes such as a material change recommendation, all the way to changing the design itself.
We sat down with our technical team to find out the 4 key benefits of including CBE+ from the design stage of your process.
Lower costs
Our engineers can look at drawings and identify ways to save cost. This could be by changing the material, suggesting an optimised manufacturing route or even modifying the design. This will not always be an option with every part, but in most cases our team can work with you to create the cheapest route possible and still achieve a quality product. With multiple complimentary manufacturing services on one site, we can often also save you cost in the transport department by getting everything you need done in one.
Shorter Lead times
At CBE+ we don’t like to waste time. When we manufacture your parts, your time becomes our time, that’s why we prefer to work with our customers from the design stage to create the quickest route to achieve the end goal without compromising the standard a part is finished to.
Optimised design
Sometimes when working with new parts our highly experienced engineers come across designs, that quite frankly, could have been better. That’s why we urge our customers to work with us before finalising their designs, not only to save time and money, but also to create the optimal design for their component and its application.
Saving the environment, without making an effort.
With shorter lead times and an integrated tailored supply chain from a single supplier, there is another, often unconsidered benefit. Reduced carbon emissions. We are all responsible for our carbon footprint, by using CBE+ to work with you from the design stage we can ensure we create the quickest viable route to create your parts. Less time in processing, means less energy used resulting in a lower carbon footprint. Even better, if you need multiple services, we can cut out the emissions that would have been created transporting parts between separate subcontractors if you were to use alternative suppliers.
What about if I am producing parts, but think there could be a better way to do it?
Its human nature to make mistakes, we don’t always get everything perfect first time. After all, if everyone settled for their original effort manufacturing would become redundant and innovation would cease to exist. Our team are open to exploring our customers current designs and working together to create the improved ‘next generation’ of their products.
Does design for manufacture apply to Electroless Nickel Plating?
More often than not, when businesses approach us for Electroless Nickel Plating on their products, they present us with a completed part that has been approved in terms of design and manufacturing processes. Although we can find a way to plate these parts, in some instances we have had to suggest changes to the design to make plating viable. If plating had been considered at the design stage could have been avoided.
Our plating experts have over 30 years of experience plating parts used in numerous sectors from aerospace & defence to general engineering. We urge our customers to get CBE+ involved at the design stage to consider the application of plating when engineering their parts. We have worked with some customers to not only make the design more practical, but in turn also saved them time and money. Avoid having to reengineer your parts, get CBE+ involved from day one.