V.

MAGESH
Assistant Professor
Mechanical Engineering
SRM University
ME2201-CAD in Manufacturing
UNIT-V-Computer Integrated
Design
MAGESH.V

Design For Assembly

Design for assembly (DFA) is a process by which products are designed
with ease of assembly in mind

If a product contains fewer parts it will take less time to assemble, thereby
reducing assembly costs

In addition, if the parts are provided with features which make it easier to

grasp, move, orient and insert them, this will also reduce assembly time and
assembly costs
The reduction of the number of parts in an assembly has the added benefit

of generally reducing the total cost of parts in the assembly

This is usually where the major cost benefits of the application of design
for assembly occur.

Methods and process

A process is the way you do something throughout the act of doing
it.
A method is the special way you adopt in performing your task.
For example, to design a website you need to follow certain step

like select the layouts, categories and theme color of your site-this
is a process.

Now, you have to select a programing language or a way to build

your site( e.g you can choose CMS, or conventional HTML coding
etc.)-these are the methods.

DFA-Introduction
As in all good design methodologies, in assembly it is important to
decide which factors have to be considered independently of

assembly methods or processes, which factors depend on assembly

methods which factors are common to all assembly processes and
which are specific to particular assembly processes

It is necessary to determine significance of each of these elements to

the overall objectives, so that given conflict, priorities can be
established to determine what, can balance, is the best course of
action
The first objective of any manufacturing design activity is to achieve
functionality and the next objective is to reduce costs.

DFA-Introduction
Functionality is considered in its widest sense to include reliability, quality
etc., this can not be compromised
It is assumed, therefore, that the purpose of good design for assembly
ultimately relates to cost, which involves deciding on the most appropriate
process and then designing to accommodate the strengths and weaknesses

of the process
It is necessary to indicate the significant different methods and processes
and to limit these to what is meaningful in terms of product design

The two basic classes of assembly processes are those performed by people
(manual) and those performed by mechanisms (automated).

DFA-Introduction
Manual assembly has many forms , from the bench to line ; automated case
one person is responsible for the assembly of the complete unit and for the
manual case each person is responsible for the assembly of only a small
portion of the complete unit
Is there need different design rules because of the nature of the method?

Yes.
To consider the independent factors and the manual assembly-specific
process is not sufficient- the different methods of assembly require further

consideration
Automated assembly also divides conveniently into two categories,
dedicated (hard, automobile, special purpose) and flexible(robotic, general

purpose).

Bench Assembly
A bench assembly is a component that has been assembled off of
the assembly line at a work station. Often, a component of a main assembly

requires extensive individual attention in a manufacturing facility. When

this occurs, it is given the moniker "bench assembly" and assembled on a
workbench from a series of parts and pieces. Once assembled, the bench

assembly piece is often fastened or attached to the main assembly by the

worker who assembled the sub-assembly on the bench. In some cases, an
entire crew or a single worker is responsible for all bench assembly

components for an entire work shift.

The father of the assembly line, Henry Ford of Ford Motor Co., also
created bench assembly.

DFA-Introduction
Automated assembly invariably involves the progressive assembly
of a unit in which each element of the assembly system is
responsible for only one assembly activity (ignoring multiples of the
same activity) , is only capable of that activity
In flexible assembly, however, each element of the system is always
responsible for more than one assembly activity and has to have the
capability for more than one activity

For the flexible assembly, good design has to address and respond to
the strengths and weaknesses of dedicated equipment (parts feeders
and automated work heads).

Dedicated Assembly
Dedicated assembly automates the assembly task by
breaking it down into simple operations that can
conducted by a series of work heads, the assembly
being built up as it passes down the line

Parts are supplied in bulk, placed in individual parts

feeders and presented to an automatic work head,

which inserts them into the part assembly at high speed

This form of assembly can achieve cycle time as low as

one second per assembly.

Flexible Assembly
Flexible assembly systems include in its structure set of technical
equipment and elements that are connected together in functional, material,
informatics, energy and similar bonds
These connections provide for realization of assembly operations in the
space and the time.

Every system is able to divide into various levels. Every level and its
located component have special tasks
sub assembly : Unit assembled separately but designed to be incorporated

with other units into a larger manufactured product

Automated Assembly : A type of assembly line in which the majority of
the tasks are performed by automated machines.

Assembly Line

An assembly line is a manufacturing process (most of the time called a progressive

assembly) in which parts (usually interchangeable parts) are added as the semifinished assembly moves from work station to work station where the parts are
added in sequence until the final assembly is produced. By mechanically moving
the parts to the assembly work and moving the semi-finished assembly from work
station to work station, a finished product can be assembled much faster and with

much less labor than by having workers carry parts to a stationary piece for
assembly.

Assembly lines are the common method of assembling complex items such as

automobiles and other transportation equipment, household appliances and

electronic goods.

Assembly line a series of workers and machines in a factory by which a succession

of identical items is progressively assembled.

DFA-Introduction

For the automated assembly the flexibility of the equipment will usually result in
some aspects of design being less important but others being more important

The argument suggests that design rules will be different and that dedicated
assembly and flexible assembly need some different design for-assembly rules

Dedicated assembly equipment also exists in a wide variety of different forms

There are rotary and in-line machines, there are indexing (synchronized) and free
transfer (asynchronous) and there are stopping machines and memory pin machines

For the memory pin machines there needs to be a rework or scrapping policy

Indexing and free transfer require different design strategies as do different rework
policies.

DFA-Introduction
For flexible assembly, the possibilities for equipment are
even more bewildering

In addition to having both bench (single station) and all the

options of line alternatives with various control and rework
strategies, there are other options such as error recovering,
gripper changing, etc.
Regardless of the method of assembly, the flexible assembly
process itself uses equipment that is always responsible for
more than one assembly activity and needs its own set of

different design rules .

Principle of Assembly
According to Henry Ford:
The principles of assembly are these:
1) Place the tools and the men in the sequence of the operation so that each
component part shall travel the least possible distance while in the process
of finishing
2) Use work slides or some other form of carrier so that when a workman
completes his operation, he drops the part always in the same placewhich
place must always be the most convenient place to his handand if
possible have gravity carry the part to the next workman for his operation
3) Use sliding assembling lines by which the parts to be assembled are
delivered at convenient distances.

Product design factors-Dependent on Assembly Method

Introduction (A method is the special way you adopt in performing your task ).
Classification of assembly methods:
1.

Single station assembly- All the assembly functions are carried out in a single

location
2.

Line assembly- Only one task is carried out in a given location and the product is
assembled by moving the partially completed product from location to location

3.

Hybrid assembly- Multiple tasks are performed at a number of locations

So, Manual bench assembly and single-arm flexible assembly are single - station
assembly

Dedicated assembly is line assembly

All other methods of assembly are hybrid

Ex: One person assembling a product where a series of partial products are moved in

turn to the operator for several assembly tasks to be performed, is hybrid assembly.

Similarly, flexible line assembly where the partial product passes through the
system having several assembly tasks performed at each location is also hybrid
assembly

Single-station assembly :

In this if it is the part being added that is faulty, then if recovery is possible. It is
clear that the faulty part should be removed and replaced

If either recovery is not possible because the part already present is damaged or
fault then, again what to do is obvious,

The product needs to be disassembled to the point at which the faulty (damaged)
part can be removed, after which assembly can recommence

In manual assembly, the mechanism for achieving this is straightforward; both the
disassembly work and the assembly work is carried out by the operator

 In flexible assembly, disassembly has to be carried out by an operator and

assembly from the point at which the defective part has been removed can
either be carried out manually or by using the flexible assembly equipment
What can be done to minimize the effort required to carry out the recovery?
If the problem is associated with part being added and it is immediately
recoverable, then better product design, from the standpoint of the

assembly method can not improve the situation

All the inefficiency is caused by the amount of disassembly work required,
assembly should be arranged to minimize it

This can done by choosing the order of assembly or retrieving the

offending part with minimum disruption (if it is not buried under other
parts).

Single-station flexible assembly is carried out in a single-assembly location where

the product is built up and then removed on completion

But in automated assembly not all the operations can be carried out by the
equipment

Due to a difficult parts-feeding operation, a difficult insertion task, a difficult

grasping operation or a particularly poor quality part that would benefit from
manual inspection

Sympathetic product design can resolve this by:

Ensuring that manual operations are at the beginning or at the end of the assembly
work so not relevant to the machine

Carrying out the manual operations off-line by making small sub assemblies which
can be introduced to the machine as parts-More realistic possibility, success will
depend on how open the precedence's and how soon parts are secured after they

have been placed.

Line Assembly

Line assembly is invariably restricted to dedicated assembly machines, classified as

1.

Indexing (Synchronous)

2.

Free transfer (asynchronous)

Indexing machine, as the name implies, operate by moving all the assembly
fixtures simultaneously, if stops one work station operating stops them all

Free transfer machines link independent workstations by buffers in which partial

assemblies, on fixtures, may be stored

Stopping of any individual workstation does not immediately or necessarily stop

any of the other workstations from functioning

In the event of error, can not be corrected automatically, three possibility exist.

Line Assembly

First is to stop the machine and attempt to recover from the error manually- if the
recovery is successful, the machine can continue, if the recovery is not successful
the product would invariably removed stop assembly activity

Second, is acknowledge the error, allow the machine to continue , do not further
work on the partial assembly and carry out manual remedial work at the end of the
assembly line

Third , essentially changes what is done in the remedial work phase and allows for
reintroduction into the line of a reworked sub-assembly, possible really only
appropriate to free-transfer machines

Free transfer machines stop when an error is detected and the part being added has
caused the error, the rectification time is short and the disruption to the system is
minimal. (referred as stopping indexing machines).

Line Assembly
Indexing machine sometimes stop but more often continue and do
no further work on the partial assembly ( memory pin machines).

Fig.5.3. relationship between production rate and parts quality for

machines
Assumed that the machines all work on a cycle time of three
seconds and that, for the machine that stop, it takes 30 seconds to
rectify the fault and restart the machine

For stopping , indexing and free transfer machines, all current part
faults are rectified when they occur and only previous part faults
reach the end of the machine, for this two factors to be considered:

Line Assembly
1. For single station assembly, the position in the assembly of the
current part relative to the faulty prior part has to be considered:

The further they are apart, the more disassembly work is required
2. The nearer the end of the assembly the faulty previous part, the
less manual assembly is required to finish the product

Under circumstances where this type of fault unavoidably occurs

early in the assembly sequence, it is more effective to complete
disassemble the product and return the good parts to their parts
feeders
So, prior part faults should preferably be as near the end of the

sequence if not, they should be near the beginning.

Line Assembly

For memory pin machines, the strategy for dealing with prior part faults is
exactly the same as previous, additionally, when a current part fault occurs, the
partial assembly passes to the end of the line with no further parts added

By doing early or at the end , so that manual disassembly or assembly is minimized

Above all considered how the effort, and cost, of dealing with unacceptable
assemblies can be reduced by good product design

In real case; some part-to-part combinations are of good quality while others are
less good

Where should parts be placed in the assembly sequence to minimize the effect on

the production rate of unacceptable assemblies? Depend on assembly method.

Line Assembly
For a stopping indexing machine, the production rate of acceptable
assemblies is only affected by the number of current and prior part
faults and the time it takes to rectify a current part fault
All these are independent of the assembly sequence and hence nothing can
be done in the current context to improve production rate
For a memory pin machine, the production rate of acceptable assembly
sequence is also independent of assembly sequence since all faults are
certain to occur and they always result in unacceptable assemblies
For a free-transfer machine, the situation is different because of the
independence of the individual workstations

Most free- transfer machines are open loop shown in fig.5.4. i.e. regardless of the
size of the buffers between stations

The first station never stops because it has no empty assembly fixture available and
the last station never stops because it has no buffer location in which to place an
empty assembly fixture

So, the machine is biased towards the middle in that the stoppage of a station near
the centre of the machine is more significant than one towards the ends

i.e if there is a choice of where to place poor-quality part combinations, they should
be at the ends rather than the middle of the machine

3.

Some operations need to be carried out manually

For automatic assembly lines, this does not represent significant problem:

All partial assemblies are carried on fixtures and the introduction of operators at

Aspect of efficient line assembly is the accommodation of manual operations

appropriate positions on the line does not cause any disruption.

Hybrid Systems
Three basic types of hybrid systems (Multiple tasks are
performed at a number of location):
1. Manual assembly lines where several tasks are
performed at each station on the line
2. Single-station manual assembly using an indexing
mechanism and multiple fixtures, and with one

operator assembling multiples of products

3. Flexible assembly lines where several tasks are

performed at each station on the line.

Concept of integration

Database for CAD

Design databases have many of the same functional

requirements as management oriented databases.
They must provide effective file management and
means of associative access, as well as controls for
concurrent use. Both types of database must provide a
common interface to a number of applications.
Both types need to be able to generate reports - both
tabular and graphic - and to provide backup in case of
system failures.
They both must provide security against unauthorized
access.
The unique system requirements of design databases
pertain not to these general capabilities, but from the
need to organize information and process it in a
manner that supports design use and decision making

The following propositions regarding design:

1. Artifacts to be designed are decomposed into subsystems. Alternative
decompositions result in different subsystems. Choice of subsystems is an
important design decision.

2. Because of the many dependencies and criteria that must be satisfied, designers
should retain control of the decision making sequence, including the ability to
iterate and vary the order of decisions during different iterations.

3. Designers should be able to use normative data as a surrogate for detail designing
for any of the subsystems available to them.
4. Many representations are needed to effectively evaluate a design's multiple

performances.
5. Information flow to and from designers should be of high density, supporting full
engagement of their intellectual capabilities on the design problem.

Static structure

Conventional databases distinguish and separate the data definition language (DDL)
from the data manipulation language (DML).

The DDL supports declarations of data types such as records, variables and
constants. It also includes various inter-record accessing structures, such as ISAM
(Indexed Sequential Access Method), inverted file or linked lists. The database
structure as defined in the DDL, including al! permanent record declarations and
accessing structures between them, is called its schema.

As in most languages, alteration of the schema forces re-compilation of the

database program. The DML, on the other hand, incorporates sort and merge or set
operations, as well as access operators for the various structures offered in the
DDL.

Thus it provides tools for accessing the database in application programs

Limitations
Current database systems do not respond very

well to several of these requirements .

Most of their shortcomings derive from three
sources: the static structure of database.
systems, the speed of their access mechanisms
and their lack of tools for managing integrity.

Three types
The users of database systems typically are distinguished as one of three
types.

Responsibility for the schema organization and for the loading of data into
data structures are those of a database administrator.
This responsibility is distinct from the application programmer, who
develops programs that use but do not alter the database structure (though
record instances certainly may be created or destroyed). Thus the DDL is
the tool of the database administrator and the DML the tool of the
application programmer.
Users apply the application programs and/or read data in the database

Concurrent Engineering