Application of design for manufacturing and assembly (DFMA) method to vehicle door design

• Main Authors: Abd Samad, Md Fahmi, Yusuf @ George, Kjeldsen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Science and Technology Research Institute for Defence 2022
• Online Access: http://eprints.utem.edu.my/id/eprint/26996/2/DFMA.PDF; http://eprints.utem.edu.my/id/eprint/26996/; https://www.stride.gov.my/v3/images/buletin-teknikal/2022_vol_15_num_1.pdf
• Institution: Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka

Design for manufacturing and assembly (DFMA) guidelines aim to reduce part count, number of welds and number of operations. By doing so, production advantages such as shorter production time, higher management efficiency and greater customer satisfaction are achieved. In this paper, the effectiveness of the DFMA method was shown in vehicle door design. Two vehicle door designs were taken apart to investigate the feasibility of better designs using the Boothroyd and Dewhurst analysis. It employed quantitative analysis of various parts of the design, such as door frame, door board and screws. Each part of the design was rated with a numerical value depending on its assembly requirements. The product was then redesigned, using the numerical values as a goal to be minimised. Various factors concerning assembly were considered, such as symmetry and size of part. The outcome was designs that have shorter assembly time and assembly efficiency higher than 15%.