Product innovation is like a roller coaster ride where some products successfully make it to the market, others stumble or never even make it to the starting line, because of budget bloopers or manufacturing madness. Can you believe that 95% of new products fail? That’s enough to make anyone’s head spin. Companies keep tripping over the same hurdles time and time again. Design-to-manufacturing (DFM) is one of your golden tickets to turn product dreams into reality.
Where product innovation meets manufacturing
Applying design-for-manufacturing (DFM) principles in your product development process will significantly enhance the efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and overall quality of your products. Here’s the million-dollar question: how do you design a product for manufacturing? How do you design a product that ensures a seamless transition from final prototype to mass production?
For maximum efficiency in manufacturing and minimal production costs, it’s crucial to have a clear understanding of how design choices influence these aspects. The product’s shape, for example, has a significant impact on the cost of the injection molding and thus on the total manufacturing cost. DFM includes: simplifying product designs, minimizing the number of parts, standardizing components, and selecting materials that are easy to work with.
Securing success: collaborative design synergy with manufacturers
DFM aims to bring all relevant key players together as early as possible in the design phase. The further along you are in the manufacturing process, the more expensive it becomes to make changes to your design. So early collaboration with designers, engineers, manufacturing partners and others is crucial to integrating manufacturability considerations into the product design. It will enable you to mitigate risks like supply chain disruptions, inflation, and material and labor shortages, while it also facilitates the creation of easily manufacturable designs. Whether your manufacturer operates locally or internationally, regular cross-functional meetings play a pivotal role in identifying potential challenges and aligning design decisions with manufacturing capabilities.
The impact of manufacturing on design and the transformative potential of innovation © Verhaert
Geographical manufacturing: rethinking the location game
Over the past few decades, many appliance manufacturers moved production to Asian hotspots, especially China. Why? The promise of lower labor costs, fewer environmental rules, and a massive market playground. Of course, it hasn’t been all smooth sailing. They’ve hit a few bumps, like rising shipping costs, dips in product quality, intellectual property headaches, tricky trade relationships, and increasing geopolitical tensions.
Given these hurdles, some manufacturers are rethinking their location game. By bringing production back to Europe, they’re looking to tap into top-notch standards, be closer to customers, and enjoy more political and legal stability. Plus, let’s not forget, that choosing the right manufacturing spot before and during the design for manufacturability process is a game-changer. It’s not just about cutting costs, it’s about nailing that perfect product-market fit. Including geographical factors in your DFM strategy can be the secret sauce to your product’s financial and market success.
Curious about the great manufacturing relocation shuffle? Stay tuned for our upcoming perspective in which we’ll explore the tug-of-war between Europe and China!