IE 458

DESIGN FOR ASSEMBLY

&
VIRTUAL ASSEMBLY
Presented By:
Mustufa Haider Abidi
Department of Industrial Engineering
King Saud University
Design for Assembly
Design for Assembly is a methodology for
evaluating part designs and the overall design of
an assembly.
It is a quantifiable way to identify unnecessary
parts in an assembly and to determine assembly
times and costs.
Using DFA software, product engineers assess
the cost contribution of each part and then
simplify the product concept through part
reduction strategies.
Design for Assembly
These strategies involve incorporating as many
features into one part as is economically
feasible.
The outcome of a DFA-based design is a more
elegant product with fewer parts that is both
functionally efficient and easy to assemble.
The larger benefits of a DFA-based design are
reduced part costs, improved quality and
reliability, and shorter development cycles.
BENEFITS OF DFMA
F 18 E/F has 42% fewer parts than C/D even though it is
25% larger
Reduced
-Production costs
-Defects
-Rework
BENEFITS OF DFMA
TOMOHAWK CRUISE MISSILE
STRATEGIC TACTICAL
PARTS 11500 7500
FASTENERS 2500 800
CIRCUIT CARDS 45 22
CONNECTORS 160 45
ASSEMBLY/ TEST HOURS 610 195
UNIT PRODUCTION COST $1000,000 $500,000
 ASSEMBLYTIME FOR
BALL CAGE DEVICE
REDUCED TO 15SEC
FROM 130 SEC.

8 SCREWS TO NO
SCREWS
DFMA METHOD
OF ELIMINATING ASSEMBLY
FASTENERS OPERATIONS
FROM 83 TO
54

TOTAL ASSY.
TIME 592SEC.
TO 277 SEC.
 RIBBON BASEPLATE
DIABLO PRINTER
OLD DESIGN 77 PARTS
NEW DESIGN
36 PARTS
 COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL
NEW DESIGNS OF RETICLE
ASSY.
ORIGINAL DESIGN REDESIGN IMPROVEMENT%
ASSY. TIME HRS 2.15 0.33 84.7
NO. OF DIFF. PARTS 24 8 66.7
TOTAL NO. OF PARTS 47 12 74.5
METAL FABN. TIME HRS. 12.63 3.65 71.1
WEIGHT LBS. 0.48 0.26 45.8
Advantages of DFMA
 Typical results of DFMA application
 Results of 88 published case studies
Decreases
- 51% parts count reduction
- 37% parts cost
- 50% time to market
- 64% in assembly time
- 57% in manufacturing assembly time
- 58% in assembly operations
- 69% in separate fasteners
- 68% in assembly defects
- 57% in service calls
68% in improvement in quality and reliability
 Benefits of DFMA
 Shorter developmental schedules and reduced cycle
times.
 Better first article quality
 Development of robust product designs
 Easier transition of designs to production
 Better supplier product integration
 More effective risk management
McDonnel Douglas experience
 Reduce number of parts and fasteners used on aircraft
 It means fewer opportunities for defects
 For each fastener there is the chance that the hole will be drilled
in the wrong place or be the wrong size
 By reducing the number of fasteners – numbers of defects
reduced, therefore, produce a higher quality product
 Weight is critical. Fuel costs approximately $50,000 per pound
of aircraft weight over 6000 hrs of the life of the aircraft
 There are 179000 on the FA-18 CD fasteners
 In previous models several parts were made of sheet metal
because machined parts were unable to reach minimum gage
limits
 With high speed machining – thinner gauge limits have become
possible
DESIGN HAS DIFFERENT
MEANINGS
To some it is aesthetic design
To some it means establishing the basic parameters
of a system
To some it is detailing of the materials, shapes, and
tolerance of the individual parts of the product
DFMA addresses the last aspect of product designs
DFMA
Three main approaches to design for assembly have
been developed and used viz.:
Design Heuristics
Design Ratings
Design Revision
DESIGN HEURISTICS
GENERAL SET OF RULES eg.:
Minimize the number of parts & assembly
directions.
Heuristics can be applied to a designer’s thinking
prior to actual product development or once an
assembly is complete.
Used to simplify product.
DESIGN RATING
Provide ratings for components as well as
overall design
Assembly ratings can be calculated.
BDI has theoretical handling and mating
ratings.
Other DFA rating methods provide different
schemes.
DESIGN REVISION METHOD
Combination of heuristics and rating method
eg. BDI
BDI combines a component rating scheme
with an assembly time and cost estimation
metric as well as specific rules in an ordered
sequence for deciding how to revise a design.
This has enabled product designers in
minimizing assembly simplicity.
DFMA application areas
 DFMA has been applied successfully to
- Structural design
- System design
 Landing gear system
 Flight controls
 Electrical, electronic hydraulic systems
 Environment controls
Who are using DFMA
 Over 400 companies and institutions
 Aerospace companies
- Allied signal
- Hughes Aircraft
- McDonnell Douglas Corpn.
Have implemented DFMA philosophy throughout
their product line
- Automotive industries
- Medical electronic equipment
- PC – industry and others
DFMA Team
Multidisciplinary teams
 Design engineers
 Manufacturing engineers
 Shop floor mechanics
 Suppliers reps
 Specialist in product support
 Maintainability
 Reliability
Virtual Reality
Virtual Reality (VR) is a technology which is regarded
as a natural extension to 3D computer graphics with
advanced input and output devices.

An immersive environment is generated in which

human can navigate and interact.

For example: A user move around and explore the

features of a 3D forest scene is navigation like walking
through a forest and interaction means to select and
manipulate objects in the scene like grabbing &
examining a flower in the forest.
Virtual Reality cont’d…..
It is an emerging technology with applications in wide
range of fields like medicine, manufacturing, defense,
oil exploration, architecture, aerospace, education and
training.
The integration of this new technology with
CAD/CAM software systems for engineering, design,
and manufacturing will enhance the field of computer-
aided design and engineering.
One aspect of design and manufacturing which may be
significantly affected by virtual reality is design for
assembly. When VR is used for the assembly purpose
then it is often known as Virtual Assembly.
Virtual Assembly
Virtual Assembly is defined as “The use of computer tools to
make or “assist with” assembly-related engineering decisions
through analysis, predictive models, visualization, and
presentation of data without physical realization of the product
or supporting processes” . (Jayaram et al., 1997)
Virtual Assembly is a combination of many technologies such as
advanced visualization, simulation, assembly and manufacturing
procedures and assembly / manufacturing equipment
development.
It can be used for both assembly and disassembly.
Need Of Virtual Reality
Product design is a critical activity because it has been estimated that 70% to
80% of the time & cost of product development and manufacture is
determined by the decisions made in the initial design stages. (Kalpakjian &
Schmid, 2001)
Some analyses show that assembly-related activities in manufactured goods
account for over 50% of the total production time and 20–40% of the unit
production cost. (Choi et al. 2002)

During the design process, 92% of communications are graphically based.

(Bertoline et al. 1997)

Thus, efficient graphics communication tools can improve design and

decision-making processes.

Most designers currently use traditional CAD tools to communicate their

designs to others. However, CAD tools only allow users to examine 3D
models from outside flat computer monitors. In other words, the models and
the viewers are in different realms.
Benefits of Virtual Assembly
Here are the some benefits of the Virtual Assembly:
Reduce Manufacturing Time
Reduce Manufacturing Cost
Doesn’t Require Physical Prototype
Risk Free Process
Provide Collaborative Working Environment
Offers Easy Modifications
Predict the Quality of an Assembly
Address the Assembly and Disassembly Verification
Provide the Platform to Train the workers for the Novel
Assembly
Benefits of Virtual Assembly cont’d…..
Activities in the area of Virtual Reality for assembly
processes
• Feasibility analysis of product assembly

• Analysis of:
 Styling, Design
 Sequences
 Mechanical accessibility
 Plausibility- and
collision-checks
Applications of Digital & Virtual Reality in assembly
processes
Product and manufac- Use of tools engineering, maintenance, operation
turing engineering:
 Studies of ergonomics
(usability),
 Accessibility,
reachability,
 Understandability Field of view

Workspace

Layout of manual
assembly
Activities in the area of Virtual Reality for assembly
processes
• Feasibility analysis of product, manufacturing
• and assembly

Tools:
 (Stereo) Visualisation
 Mechanical hinge arm system
 Mechanical hinge arm system
including force-feedback
 Data glove with haptical
Feedback
Virtual and Augmented Reality
• Assembly planning and simulation

 Order management, sequence planning

 Analysis of facility configuration
 Visualisation of product and
facility states
 Optimisation of Operations
 Kinematics and
transport systems
 Animation of
manufacturing and Example:
Cast-rolling line SMS
assembly sequences
 Flow of Money

Example:
Airplane production Fairchild-Dornier
THANK YOU