SEED Guides Selecting Manufacturing Processes < >

In considering alternative design solutions for cost and quality, it is necessary to explore candidate materials, geometries and tolerances etc., against possible manufacturing routes. This requires some means of selecting appropriate processes and estimating the costs of manufacture early on in product development, across a whole range of options. In addition, the costs of non-conformance (16) need to be understood, that is appraisal (inspection and testing) and failure, both internal (rework etc.) and external (customer returns, warranty claims, liability and recall, etc.) Therefore, we also need a way of exploring conformance levels before a process is selected.

The primary objective of the text is to provide support for manufacturing process selection in terms of technological feasibility, quality of conformance and manufacturing cost. The satisfaction of this objective is through the provision of data on the characteristics and capabilities of a range of important manufacturing processes. The intention is to promote the generation of design ideas and facilitate the matching and tuning of a design to a process.

To provide for this, a set of so-called PRIMAs have been developed. The PRIMAs present, in a standard format for each process, knowledge and data on areas including: material suitability, design considerations, quality of conformance, economics and process fundamentals and variations. The information includes not only design considerations relevant for the respective processes, but quite purposefully, an overview of the functioning of the process so that a greater overall understanding may be achieved. Within the standard format a similar level of detail is provided on each of the processes included.

The format is very deliberate. Firstly an outline of the process itself - how it works and under what conditions it functions best. Secondly a summary of what it can do - limitations and opportunities it presents, and finally an overview of quality considerations including process capability charts for relating tolerances to characteristic dimensions.