DFMA Case Study: Redesigning A Product Saves $3 Million Annually

DFMA Case Study: Redesigning A Product Saves $3 Million Annually

A large, multinational company specializing in manufacturing business and financial systems initiated a program to enhance product development results by applying Design For Manufacturing and Assembly (DFMA) principles. The company’s leaders used DFMA software to streamline production processes for one of its products.

How DFMA software reduced time and costs for a product

DFMA software from BDI provides metrics on what a particular part or product should cost, rather than simply on quotes from different vendors.

The software analyzes assembly times and sequences, material and labor costs, design alternatives, major cost drivers, and other relevant data to generate suggestions that can help designers and engineers optimize the product.

For instance, the software may identify parts that could be eliminated to save money, pinpoint areas where a different assembly sequence could lead to improved efficiency, or recommend alternative materials and manufacturing processes that would enhance the overall outcome.

In this company’s case, DFMA software:

• Gave engineers a procedure to find and evaluate each part to see which parts could be eliminated, combined, moved to a different place, or made out of a different material. This procedure resulted in a 42% reduction in part count.
• Analyzed the time required for assembly operations and identified time-consuming bottlenecks that could be revised for faster and simpler production. The quantitative measurements of assembly times helped the team settle on the most efficient design, which reduced the manufacturing cycle time by 60%.
• Simplified the flow of goods through the factory due to the reduction in parts and the more efficient assembly time. Since the product was easier and faster to build, the Work in Progress (WIP) fell by 31%.
• Improved product quality and reliability due to the product’s simpler design and assembly process. Specifically, fewer parts meant fewer potential points of failure in the finished product, and easier assembly led to a more streamlined production process that reduced the likelihood of future product malfunctions. In this company’s case, the improvements led to a 53% reduction in service call requirements.

The company projected an overall annual savings of more than $3 million, based on the improvements made to this single machine.

In addition to the significant savings and dramatically higher efficiency, the client also received awards from the International Design Magazine and the Industrial Design Society for its achievements on this project.

Ready to cut your manufacturing costs by millions each year?

If a company can save more than $3 million per year by redesigning just one product, how much could you save by improving your product line and manufacturing processes with DFMA software?

Contact Boothroyd Dewhurst online to start redesigning your products and finding opportunities for cost savings.