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What has happened? How did we lose the process view? Specialization! Since the beginning of this century, specialization has made barriers between the different functional fields. Everyone has become a specialist. This is owing to the incredible amount of knowledge an individual must utilize in their function. What have we lost because of this specialization? We have lost the ability to look at a problem from a broader viewpoint. This myopia, this single minded purpose in automotive industry created the wall between Design Engineering and Manufacturing.

What have we re-discovered? Multi-functional teams can create a better product in shorter time and lower total cost than each of the individual groups working separately.

An example is the automotive industry which brings product, process, and production people together at the beginning of the design phase. Equipment and part vendors, marketing, sales and distribution are also included on the team. They collaborate on each phase of the design process. A sample result of the rapid prototyping utilization: GM Canada manufactured a new sports car engine in 4 years rather than the customary 7 years. An example from a Hewlett-Packard team effort produced a new printer, conceived and brought to a high volume market in under a year from the traditional 3 year development cycle period.

“… the single most important reason for delays in development activities is the absence of multi-functional (and outsider) representation on development projects from the start”, Quote from Tom Peters book Thriving on Chaos ­ Handbook for a Management Revolution.

One objective of DFM is improved communication, either through electronic means or face-to-face. A benefit of the flow of information from a CAD system is that the geometry is delivered directly to a post processor that creates the program for a arithmetical control (NC) machine and the tooling used to verify the part is done correctly. Alternatively, the information can be passed to a rapid prototyping instrument (aka 3D Fax machine) or a simulation program to verify component design. This electronic communication can happen side by side or around the world. It helps improve the communication between the designer, the manufacturing engineer and the machine operator.

Output from the CAD system can also be developed through a Computerized Process Planning (CAPP) system to produce operator instructions for the rapid prototyping instrument. At materialise.com we can demonstrate how these may be displayed when needed at the operator’s computer or via a wireless interface to a portable device. No more lost or obsolete drawings!

A product that pulls all the information in the manufacturing knowledge base together with the other factors mentioned above with reference to materialise.com/rapid-prototyping, achieves DFM via another acronym, CIM (Computer Integrated Manufacturing) or otherwise CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing) or else PIM (Product Information Management).

There are many products in automotive industry that provide excellent examples of this state of art integration. Visit materialise.com to see how the artificial intelligence and natural language are being used to simplify their use.