• The knowledge of manufacturing processes is of great importance for a design engineer. In product design, selection of materials and processing of materials into finished components are closely related to one another.
• Process of integrating the design and manufacturing in the product design is called as Design for Manufacture (DFM).
• The major objective of DFM is to ensure that the product and the manufacturing processes are designed together .

The general guidelines to be followed in DFM are :

1. Minimize total number of parts in product:

A product cost is related to the number of parts in a product. Reducing the number of parts in a product normally reduces the cost of the product.

The number of parts can be reduced by :

A. Combining two or more parts into an integral design.

B. Use of snap or press fits to replace or reduce number of fasteners.

• It is important to note that, sometimes the reduction of too many parts may increase the cost of the product because the remaining parts may become too heavy or complex. Sometimes, it may make the disassembly also difficult.

2. Minimize variety of parts:

Minimizing the variety of parts reduces the manufacturing cost, improves the quality of the parts and minimizing the inventory requirement.

3. Use of standard parts:

The standard parts are always less expensive than the custom-made parts. Therefore, as far as possible, standard parts should be used in a product.

4. Design parts for the ease of manufacture:

The manufacturing process should be selected such that the minimum number of economical operation are required to give the part a final shape. Finishing operations such as grinding, lapping, honing, etc. should be avoided whatever possible.

5. Shape the parts for minimizing the operations:

The parts should be shaped such that, they can be produced with minimum number of operations.