Design for automated assembly (DFAA) is a strategic manufacturing approach that not only boosts efficiency but also plays a pivotal role in enhancing the quality of the final product. In terms of efficiency, DFAA simplifies product design, which in turn helps streamline production and reduce labor costs. As for product quality, DFAA minimizes damage and errors during production. It also promotes output uniformity and consistency; optimized component design and fabrication means improved overall quality of the final assembly. By integrating design and assembly considerations from the outset, manufacturers can achieve a competitive edge in productivity and product excellence.
What is Design for Automated Assembly?
Design for Automated Assembly (DFAA) is a subset of Design for Manufacturing (DFM) that focuses on designing products specifically for ease of assembly by automated systems. The goal is to minimize the complexity of assembly processes, reduce the number of parts, and ensure that products are easy to assemble with minimal human intervention. This approach often involves considering the use of robotic tools and grippers to avoid the need for reorientation during assembly, which is particularly crucial for automation.
Core DFAA Strategies
While we’ve previously explored factors for DFAA success, it’s good to look again at core strategies. The most significant DFAA strategy is to simplify the product design. The simplicity of a product’s design is directly related to its feasibility for automation. A simpler design typically means fewer parts and less complexity, which means less handling (machine or human handling) and a smoother, faster automation process.
Final product design also means the design of components that can be easily integrated into the assembly process, minimizing the steps or stages required or making sure to use standard components as much as possible. Further, product design means considering the automation equipment used for the final assembly and how the assembly process will incorporate Poka-Yoke, or error-proofing, methods that will make it impossible for parts to be installed incorrectly.
Design Considerations for DFAA
In what ways are parts simplified for an automated assembly process? Parts should be designed only to be assembled in the correct orientation. Parts may be designed with “self-locating” features to facilitate correct assembly, a hallmark of intuitive component design, such as asymmetrical features or keyed components. By guiding components into their correct positions during assembly, the need for external aids and adjustments is minimized.
Because these features interact precisely with other parts within an automated assembly system, they help maintain tight tolerances and remain within specification, ultimately reducing the number of parts wasted due to inexact fabrication.
Additionally, joining methods are an essential design consideration. Where possible, products designed with “snap-fits”—without the need for fasteners or tools—can speed up the assembly process and reduce costs.
Other ways to facilitate automated handling in the product/component design is to incorporate features, textures, or coatings that make the part easily handled by automated equipment, like vacuum cups or grippers, which prevent them from slipping.
Lastly, products should be designed for top-down assembly so that parts can be assembled in a straight line as much as possible. Assembling in a straight line reduces time-consuming complex movements or mechanical reorientations.
Modular Product Design and DFAA
Modularity in design for automated assembly supports easy adaptation to changing product requirements or market conditions.
Modularity breaks down products into interchangeable components, reducing the final assembly‘s complexity. Modularity particularly supports high-mix, low-volume production flexibility with easily added or removed product features that do not require equipment retooling, allowing manufacturers to adapt quickly when demand changes.
Because of its nimbleness, modular product design facilitates a just-in-time/made-to-order business model, making it possible for manufacturers to assemble products in response to specific customer orders. This kind of manufacturing enables companies to cut down on stored inventory while promptly accommodating supply chain demands.
The Role of Engineering Consultants in DFAA
The future of DFAA is quite promising and transformative for the manufacturing industry. Adaptable automated assembly systems that can handle a variety of products without extensive reconfiguration is the goal of any manufacturer who designs a product with automated assembly in mind. Most often, engineering consultants play a pivotal role in DFAA by acting as extensions of an in-house engineering team or supplying needed engineering expertise that may be absent altogether.
Here are some key consulting contributions Wes-Tech makes in DFAA:
- Expertise in advanced technologies. We bring our specialized knowledge of the latest automation technologies to help manufacturers integrate them into their manufacturing processes.
- Process optimization. We analyze existing assembly processes and identify areas to streamline production, reduce labor costs, minimize waste, enhance product quality, and improve safety.
- Customized solutions. Wes-Tech is not a build-to-print automation integrator. Every manufacturing setup is unique. We work with our customers to develop tailored solutions to complex manufacturing problems.
- Project management. Implementing automation systems is a complex project. We manage these projects from start to finish, ensuring they are completed on time and within budget.
- Training and development. Wes-Tech trains customers in their new assembly equipment so that operators, service managers, and more are thoroughly capable of working with and around these systems.
If you have a new or improved product in mind that could benefit from a new assembly process, contact us so we can explore the possibilities of both product and process to optimize production.