Six Sigma and Beyond: Design for Six Sigma, Volume VI

THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS FOR SUCCESSFUL DFM/DFA

The very minimum requirements for a successful DFMA are:

1. Form a charter that includes all key functions.

2. Establish the product plan.

3. Define product performance requirement.

4. Develop a realistic, agreed upon engineering specification.

5. Establish product's character/features.

6. Define product architectural structure.

7. Develop a realistic, detailed project schedule.

8. Manage the project ” schedule, performance, and results.

9. Make efforts to reduce costs.

10. Plan for continuing improvement.

The details of some of these elements are outlined below:

• Form a DFMA charter

  • With any charter there are two primary responsibilities: (a) to identify the roles and (b) to identify the functions.

    1. Roles

       1. Charter members ” designer, manufacturing engineer, material/component engineer, product engineer, reliability/quality engineer, and purchasing.

       2. Team leader ” program manager is a good candidate, but not necessary. Any one of the charter members can be an adequate team leader. Some companies/organizations assign an integrator to be the DFMA leader.

    2. Charter's functions

       1. Determining the character of the product, to see what it is and thus, what design and production methods are appropriate

       2. Subjecting the product to a product function analysis, so that all design decisions can be made with full knowledge of how the item is supposed to work and so that all team members understand it well enough to contribute optimally

       3. Carrying out a design for producibility, usability, and maintainability study to determine if these factors can be improved without impairing functionality

       4. Designing an assembly process appropriate to the product's particular character (This involves creating a suitable assembly sequence, identifying subassemblies, control plan, and designing each part so that its quality is compatible with the assembly/manufacturing method.)

       5. Designing a factory system that fully involves workers in the production strategy, operates on adequate inventory, and is integrated with suppliers'/ vendors ' capabilities and manufacturing processes

• Establish product's character/feature

  • QFD approach

  • Value analysis

  • Effectiveness study on function and appearance/cosmetic

  • Product character risk assessment

• Define product architectural structure

  1. Functional block approach

  2. Hardware approach

  3. Software approach

  4. Component approach

• Develop a project schedule

  1. Agreed to by all functions on:

     • Tasks

     • Objectives

     • Duration

     • Responsibility

  2. Specific performance test:

     • Function

     • Appearance

     • Durability

  3. Use project management techniques.

  4. Concentrate on the concept of getting it done right the first time, not only doing it right the first time.

  5. Focus on the high leverage items ” get some encouraging news first.

  6. Locate and prioritize the resource.

  7. Management commitment.

  8. Individual commitment.

• Manage the DFMA project

  • Ensure regular and formal review of the status by charter members.

  • Regularly prepare and formalize executive reports ; get feedback.

  • Ensure total team inputs and contributions, not only involvement.

  • Utilize proven tools/methodologies.

  • Make adjustment with team consensus.

  • Ensure adequate resources with proper priorities.

  • Control the progress of the project.

THE PRODUCT PLAN

It is imperative that the following considerations, all of which have a major impact on the manufacturing process, must be discussed and resolved as early as possible in the design cycle:

1. Nature of program ” crash program, perfect design, or some other alternative

2. Product design itself

3. Production volume

4. Product life cycle

5. Funding

6. Cost of goods sold

Product Design

The focuses of marketing, engineering, manufacturing, and business/finance are quite different, yet they all push for the same interest for the organization. Our task then is to make sure that we balance out the different interests and priorities among the four functions of an organization. How do we do that?

To make a long story short: How to decide between a crash program and a perfect product? When we talk about perfect product we mean it from a definitional perspective. There is no such a thing as a perfect product, but because of the operating definition we choose, we can indeed call something a perfect product .

Criteria for Decision between Crash Program and Perfect Product

There are three issues here:

1. Opportunity cost

2. Development risk

3. Manufacturing risk

For a short life cycle product or a highly innovative product in a competitive environment that changes rapidly , a company must react quickly to each new product that enters the market. Getting the product to market fast is the name of the game. However, being fast to the market is no advantage if the company chooses inadequate technology, creates a product that cannot meet the potential customer's wants/needs/expectations, designs a product that cannot be manufactured, or must set the price so high that nobody can afford the product.

The opportunity cost of missing a fast-moving market window, the risk of entering a market with the wrong product, and the risk of introducing a product nobody can produce pulls managers in opposite directions. So, the choice of a crash program (CP) or a perfect product (PP) approach is a necessary step prior to any product design taking place.

Two examples will make the point of a CP and a PP:

Case #1: ” Crash Program

• Company: IBM

• Product: Personal computer

• Environment: Forecasted annual growth rate of 60%. Competitors, i.e., Apple, Tandy are controlling market developments and are beginning to cut into IBM's traditional office market.

• Analysis: Opportunity cost is high. Development cost is low ($10 million compared to IBM's equity value of $18 billion). The technology of design and process are stable and internally available.

• Decision: Crash program approach ” develop, design, manufacture, and market the product within 2 years .

• Approach details: Deviate the standard eight phases design procedure. Give the development team complete freedom in product planning; keep interference to a minimum; and allow the use of streamlined, relatively informational management system. Use a so-called zero procedure approach, focusing on development speed rather than risk reduction of product, manufacturing, and so on.

• Results: Introduce the product within 2 years. Customer acceptance is good. Cost overrun by 15%. Cost of goods sold is about 5% unfavorable to the original estimate. Market share is questionable. Long term effects ” ???

(Does this sound familiar? Quite a few organizations take this approach and of course, they fail.)

Case #2: ” Perfect Product Design

• Company: Boeing

• Product: Boeing 727 replacement aircraft (767)

• Environment: Replacement within ten years is inevitable (may be speeded up to 5 years). Competitor, i.e., Airbus, has started its design. A new mid-range aircraft may take 727 replacement market away due to the operating/fuel inefficiency, comfortability, and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) restraints.

• Analysis: Opportunity cost is high. (There is a need for 200 “300 seat market; 727 is becoming obsolete.) Development cost is high (estimated $1.5 billion compared to entire company equity of $1.4 billion). Development and manufacturing risk is high. Technology and customer preferences are predictable but not yet crystallized. (Should it have two engineers or three? Should its cockpit allow for two people or three? Cruise range? Fuel consumption? Pricing?)

• Decision: Perfect product design approach. Complete the development of all new technologies of design and manufacturing processes in the early stages of research and development (R and D). Test everything in sight, and move product to launch only when success is nearly guaranteed . Eight-year design lead time.

• Approach details: Form an R and D team of 400 engineers/managers that includes designer, manufacturing engineer, quality, purchasing, and marketing. (The team member number goes up to 1000 right before go-ahead.) Apply concurrent engineering and DFMA process fully in the product R and D stage.

• Results: Introduce the 767 on schedule (which compares to Airbus' 310 eight months behind schedule). Although Boeing had missed the 300 “350 seat market and lost some of the 727 replacement market to Airbus 300, Boeing got to keep 200 “300 seat market with a successful 767. Development costs were within budget and cost of goods sold was 4% favorable to the original estimates. No recall record so far. Long term effects ” likely good.

Most likely you are the in-betweens. The other approaches (see Figure 5.5) include:

• Quantum leap ” parallel program

• Acquisition

• Joint venture

• Leapfrog (Purchase a facility to maintain and manufacture current technology/design. Focus R and D on next generation technology/design.)

Figure 5.5: The product development map/guide.

The Product Plan ” Product Design Itself

Product design has dedicated (whether one wants to admit it or not) the future of the product. About 95% of the material costs and 85% of the design/labor and overhead costs are controlled by the design itself. Once the design is complete, about 85% of the manufacturing process has been locked in.

Design- related factors affecting the manufacturing process include:

• Product size /weight

• Reliability/quality requirement

• Architectural structure

• Fastener/joint methods

• Parts / components /materials

• Size, shape, and weight of parts/components

• Appearance/cosmetic requirement

Other factors affecting the manufacturing process include:

• Floor space

• Material flow and process flow

• Power, compressed air, a/c and heating, and facility

• Quality plan

• Manual operation mandatory

• Mechanized operation or automation operation mandatory

• System interfacing requirement

• Manufacturing process concepts/philosophy ” cpf vs. in-line vs. batch vs. cellar approaches

• Management commitment

• Production volume

  Volume requirements have the major influence on the choice of the manufacturing process.

• Product life cycle

  As with volume requirements, product life has a significant influence on the manufacturing process.

• Funding

  Since most of mechanization and automation are heavily capitalized, funding plays a major role in determining the product plan, which has a significant influence on the manufacturing process.

• Cost of goods sold

  What is affordable capital/tooling/fixture amortization?

  What is the targeted cost of goods sold?

Define Product Performance Requirement

Minimum requirements are the collection and understanding of the following information:

• Customer wants vs. customer needs vs. customer expectations

• Field condition and environment

• Performance standards

• Durability

The result of this understanding will facilitate the development of realistic and agreed upon specification(s). Some of the specific items that will guide realistic specifications are:

• Engineering interpretation of customer needs

• Correlation between engineering specification and product specification

• Reliability study in terms of MTBF

• Manufacturing process reliability assessment in terms of maintaining original designed product standard

• Manufacturing cost assessment

• Option structure

• Control plan

• Qualification plan