DESIGN FOR HIGH VOLUME MANUFACTURING

Cost sensitivities and production efficiencies drive design priorities when designing at scale for high volume manufacturing.

Simplexity’s Cost-Effective Approach for High Volume Manufacturing

At Simplexity we advocate system-level design vs. separate engineering “silos” whenever possible. There are many reasons for this but when it comes to designing products for eventual high volume manufacturing, the efficiencies realized by a system-level approach can be significant.

When a design is approached from a full system perspective, with all applicable engineering disciplines (mechanical, electrical, software/firmware and controls) considered as a whole, design efficiencies can be realized that may not be readily obvious if designing each in isolation. Often algorithms can be applied to prioritize how a product functions that may not be evident without that more holistic, complete system view.

For high volume manufacturing, unit costs rule the day. The principles we follow in system-level design to minimize unit costs include prioritizing product simplification and investing in NRE (non-recurring engineering) time to reduce the number of parts or part complexity to manage total BOM costs. Also, based on production forecasts, we will ultimately select an appropriate production manufacturing process, such as injection molding, formed sheet metal, or casting to maximize ROI at scale.

Good Design Engineering = Better Returns

Did you know that about 75% of the manufacturing cost of a product is dictated by the initial design and the architecture that is chosen? So, even if your initial run isn’t large, investing in good design engineering in the beginning can pay large dividends when production scales.

In designs for high volume manufacturing, the design NRE investment is often greatly outweighed by the component cost multiplied by the production volume which informs the total overall cost of production. So, investing in good design upfront can have hugely positive downstream profit ramifications.

 

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The blog, When Should I Start Designing for High Volume Manufacturing? provides a detailed example of how Simplexity helped Stratagene (now part of Agilent Technologies) redesign a product and switch to high volume manufacturing processes, resulting in over $400,000 cost savings and 5x ROI for each 1,000 unit run.

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Dedicated to the Full Product Lifecycle

Our clients rely on our engineering commitment that stretches beyond design and follows the product lifecycle through production and shipment. Whether clients need help electing the right contract manufacture or increasing confidence in the set-up of the assembly, testing, and qualification processes needed for manufacturing, we are here to help.

Clients regularly ask us to confirm that the processes used during manufacturing will achieve quality requirements. Analyzing production process metrics, such as Cp and Cpk data, that are critical to monitor and understand during production ramp-up, gives clients confidence in manufacturing quality. Dedication to the full product lifecycle and working closely with the contract manufacturer helps ensure that Client’s goals of minimizing cost while still having high part quality are met when the finished product reaches the hands of the end customers.

This includes cut-no-corners quality measures to ensure optimal end products: acceptable material substitutions, localization considerations, resource development, and other ways to improve overall product quality for your manufacturing engineering process.

In addition, clients regularly rely on our Quality Engineering team to design in-line test tools to provide built-in quality controls to minimize product failure or suboptimal performance as an integral part of the quality verification processes.

Proven, Practical Product Design and High Volume Manufacturing

Simplexity’s engineering case studies include successful high volume manufacturing engineering projects. We realize that even the best prototypes don’t guarantee successful production without a solid manufacturing plan in place. With regular project status reports focused on your manufacturing process requirements and associated verification tests, Simplexity can help ensure that part fabrication and full product assemblies meet the design intent and specifications.

What’s more, our New Product Introduction (NPI) service aligns perfectly with three key components of effective manufacturing engineering: product cost management, product quality optimization, and reduced time to market.

For more on this topic, you may also enjoy these blogs:

• Three Tips for Designing High Volume Mechatronic Products
• When should you consider designing custom gears?
• Design considerations during supply chain shortages

Contact Simplexity to apply high volume manufacturing and manufacturing engineering optimization to the design of your product. We look forward to hearing from you soon!