TSHUMA GIVEMORE

BTECH IME

Concurrent Engineering Assignment

Question 1

a) Distinguish between value engineering and value analysis

Value Analysis is a cost reduction technique applied to the existing product with the aim of
enhancing its worth. Value Engineering is a technique used before the product gets approval for
fabrication. After the product is introduced. To get better optimized commercial output

b) Define the following terms

i. Value

Refers to a fair return in goods, services, or money for something exchanged

ii. Customer perceived value

Customer perceived value is the notion that success of a product or service your business offers
hinges on whether customers believe it can satisfy their wants and needs.

iii. Process value

Refers to the current measured value of a specific process component that is under control or
observation. The temperature of a furnace would serve as an illustration of this.

iv. Company perceived value

Company perceived value indicates how much a company is prepared to pay for a product or
service. This is determined by a product or service's capacity to satisfy the requirements of
customers and arouse desire, particularly in comparison to rivals.

v. Total value analysis

Total Value analysis is a concept that enables businesses to quantify the most important elements of
their value creation that would otherwise be concealed or unquantified. Because they have a better
understanding of how their choices will affect different stakeholders and society as a whole, people
make better decisions.

c) How can value of a product be increased

Add new product features

Improve product packaging

Improve customer onboarding

Continue to innovate
 d) Explain the 5 why techniques in value engineering

When a problem occurs, you drill down to its root cause by asking "Why?" five times. Then, when a
counter-measure becomes apparent, you follow it through to prevent the issue from recurring.

Question 2

Importance of Concept Design

Concept design is important for developers to stay on track during production. For example, if
developers build a product without the concept design, the product that they will bring to the
market may not bring value to the target users.

Concept design services are a good lubricant for preventing dead ends during the product
development phase. Once it is clear who and what a product is for, you can mitigate hindrances
during product development.

Importance of design for assembly

“Design for assembly is important because a large proportion of the product’s cost is in
manufacturing. Production and assembly can be time consuming, and equally, it can lead to quality
problems if the assembly process is complicated with too many steps. In short - it has potential to go
wrong if not properly planned and tested!

Part of the product design process is to define the requirements of the product - it’s not just visual,
it’s manufacturing methods, volumes, costs, quality and reliability. By planning manufacturing right
at beginning, alongside functional engineering, you can ensure that your design is going to fulfil the
criteria. Assembly requirements should be in the product requirement specification and you should
aim to make assembly processes as simple and fool-proof as possible.

Importance of design for manufacture

Design for manufacturing (DFM) is important because it’s about creating the process for the product
as much as the product itself. The design impacts every single part of production, from costs to
timing to eventual customer satisfaction. Any creator who wants to bring a new product to
market needs to partner with a company that has a DFM focus.

A poor design can create a domino effect that makes it impossible to manage even the smallest of
production runs. Without considering manufacturing in design, the producer opens themselves up to
a lot of mistakes, which could have been avoided if DFM was an original part of their process.

Importance of design for service

  Products and services are designed for users and (at least) the purchasing customers

 Closer cooperation between departments

 Producing a positive customer experience

 Implementing things sensibly while delivering value to the customer

 Strengthening customer-centricity

Importance of design for environment

The term Design for the Environment refers to a series of techniques, principles,
and methodologies used particularly in engineering, economics, technology, business, environment,
and policy disciplines to incorporate environmental considerations into the design, process, and
manufacturing of products and services.

Quite simply, Design for the Environment (DfE) attempts to reduce the impact of product design
upon the environment of a product or service. It takes into account the whole life cycle — going
beyond just the use of recycled materials or proper packaging or disposal.

Effective DfE practices, maintain or improve product quality and cost, while reducing environmental
impacts.

Importance of design for production

Design for production (DFP) refers to methods that evaluate manufacturing system performance as
a function of product design variables. DFP can lead a product development team to consider
changing the product design to avoid problems or improve profitability.

b) When choosing an assembly method for a newly developed product, or re-evaluating current
methods, it is critical to consider the materials or volume production mix to ensure reliability.

However, other factors, such as costs and production time, may also affect the fastening method
selected. For example, to join or assemble parts made from plastic components, there are three
“permanent” fastening methods typically used and discussed below: adhesives, mechanical
fasteners, and welding

Adhesives may be a good choice in several scenarios:

 When manufacturers refuse to make a significant initial capital investment for assembly
equipment

 For products that are assembled in limited volumes, at limited speeds, and without the need
for automation

Mechanical joining methods include, but are not limited to, snap and press-fit joints, screws, and
rivets. Mechanical joining is an ideal choice for products — such as electronic devices and appliances
—that are subject to disassembly for replacement or repair of internal components (such as bulbs,
batteries, switches, or circuits).

Plastic welding, which bonds parts by using heat and pressure, may be ideal for several reasons,
including: when plastic parts materials are compatible with each other and the process, production
volumes are high, and applications demand permanent bonding, hermetic sealing, and high
consistency.

Question 3

a) Comment on each of the following DFA guidelines

i. Modularise multiple parts into sub assembles

As previously mentioned in the report, the legs of our toy have several superfluous components,
including joints, screws and sockets . We intend to fix this part, designing one single piece to replace
the mechanism.

Standardise to reduce part variety

The process of standardization logically leads to simplification or variety reduction. This implies
reducing unnecessary' varieties and standardizing to the most economical sizes, grades, shapes,
colours, types of parts and so on.

ii. Colour Code parts that are different but shaped similarly

As there are a lot of gears that should be fitted in both left and right parts of the body, marking with
the same color each gear axis and the area where it has to be fitted would facilitate the assembly
process and also make the product more colorful, which is an important aspect for a toy.

iii. Place fasteners away from obstructions, design in fastener access.

Eliminate fasteners

The left and right parts of the body are joined by very small fasteners and tabs, as well as really small
screws. This system could be improved.

Provide flats for uniform fastening:

The body parts were the fastening joints are located are very flat and smooth surfaces, which
simplifies the assembly process.

iv. Prefer easily handled parts

Think about who will assemble the product and make it easy to handle. Handling is done by humans
or robot . Focus on the components properties, including size , weight, fragility, stickiness and
sharpness. If you are manufacturing a large object that cannot be automatically handled or
assembled by robots, add design features that allow operators to safely handle it. Some of the most
common handling tools include hooks, cranes, or forklifts. Designs must consider how many hands
or tools will be necessary to handle it.

Make sure all components can be easily handled. If the components design cannot be improved any
further, implement manufacturing jigs and fixtures in the assembly line to improve product quality.
For example, Ultimaker 3D printers are used by Volkswagen assembly lines to improve the assembly
quality of cars they manufacture.

b) What is hard automation and what are the design guidelines for this method

Fixed automation, also known as “hard automation,” refers to an automated production facility in
which the sequence of processing operations is fixed by the equipment configuration .The design
guidelines for this method are as follows

Think like a robot.

Consider Off the Shelf

Prepare for the camera.

Question 5

Using examples of products of your choice, explain the following Design for X-ability concepts

i. Design for Compatibility

Designing for compatibility entails making an effort to make it as simple as possible to pair up any
firmware version with any hardware version. Cell phones are an excellent example of this. Many,
many different models of cell phones exist but some are very alike.

In Design for compatibility (DFC), the teams look at every set of specifications that may be
independently imposed on the product from its life-cycle standpoint. For instance, a set of
specifications may have come from the design side in the form of its features, functions etc. Another
set of specifications may have come from the process side in terms of manufacturing operations,
machine functions, availability and so on. It is important that these sets of specifications are
mutually compatible, both the product and process standpoints. Design for compatibility provides,
early in the design process, a set of checks on consistency of specifications and a set of methods to
evaluate alternatives if those checks are not compatible. Some key factors that measure DFC are:
• Compatibility of part shapes with respect to the chosen process, form features, and so on.

• Processability of materials with respect to the chosen manufacturing process

• Ability of the process to provide the desired surface finish, hardness, tolerance, colour, look etc.

ii. Design for Green

Green design is a term that is reserved for those aspects of design that consciously strive to make
the end product as sustainable and ecologically friendly as possible. Green design is possible in
numerous areas such as, for example, in car and aircraft design to achieve better aerodynamics and
save fuel.

Design for Green (DFG) means considering life-cycle usage of the product from an environmental
standpoint while the product is being designed.

iii. Design for logistics

This is a strategy in supply chain management which involves product design to reduce logistics cost.
A quintessential example of design for supply chain is Soda Cans. In 1957 Soda Can manufacturers
switched from cone top soda can to flat top soda can, the cans became easier to store, stack and
transport.

DFL means influencing the design teams to use various performance indicators, such as cost-drivers,
lead times, while the product is being developed.

iv. Design for manufacturability

Design for Manufacturing (DFM) is the process of designing parts, components or products for ease
of manufacturing with an end goal of making a better product at a lower cost. This is done by
simplifying, optimizing and refining the product design. The acronym DFMA (Design for
Manufacturing and Assembly) is sometimes used interchangeably with DFM. Examples include initial
investments in productive capital like molds, stamping dies, machining fixtures, weld fixtures, etc.

A good example of the use of DFM guidelines is the Nippodenso radiator. Nippodenso is a Japanese
company that builds such car products as generators, alternators, voltage regulators, radiators and
anti-skid brake systems. Toyota is its chief customer. Nippodenso has learned to live with daily
orders for thousands of items in arbitrary model mixes and quantities. The company's response to
this challenge has several components:

• The combinatorial method of meeting model-mix production requirements.

• In-house development of manufacturing technology.

• Wherever possible manufacturing methods that don't need jigs and fixtures. The combinatorial
method divides a product into generic parts or subassemblies and identifies the necessary variations
of each. The product is then designed to permit any combinations of variations of these basic parts
to go together physically and functionally. There are six basic parts and three varieties of each in the
radiator example, this means that the company can build 36 or 729 different models (of radiators).
The in-house manufacturing team designs the parts, so the manufacturing system can easily handle
and make each variety of each part and product.

v. Design for serviceability

Design for service (DFS) is a product lifecycle strategy that addresses a product’s serviceability
attributes. These attributes, such as reliability, configuration, and ergonomics, have a direct bearing
on the cost and efficacy of servicing the product. Design for service is a critical aspect of service
lifecycle management (SLM), which in turn is an integral part of product lifecycle management (PLM)