Hello good people,
I’m looking for good books on DFM, could any of you reccommend me something worth reading?
Making It by Chris Lefteri is pretty good
I’ll second that suggestion, and add “Manufacturing Processes for Design Professionals” by Rob Thompson. I’ve used both of those books in the Sci & Tech design classes I’ve taught.
‘The Toyota Product Development System’ by Morgan and Liker.
The first few chapters in particular will break down the most effective methods of interaction between design and engineering with an eye toward successful manufacturing.
Slippyfish:
From Amazon’s reviews:
This is great stuff. However, the context of Toyota vehicle development is limited. The authors say (in italics) that most of Toyota Product Development is of derivative product vehicles built on existing product platforms. Further, most platforms are not radically different from prior platforms.
What do you think? I’ve never worked in an industry with slow changing consumer tastes. Still worth it?
To be honest I have not read the whole book. The first two sections were the most valuable for my job, because they described the behaviors necessary for effective communication from design to manufacturing. Keeping those behaviors in mind while still doing high-level design activities made for a smoother transition. Specifically - SBCE or Set Based Concurrent Engineering.
I think to successfully design derivative vehicles - or any other product - its essential to have some idea of the longer-term product road map. E.G. how a Camry platform can beget a Highlander or Lexus IS etc. when designing the very first car.
One debatable point, and one that I often challenge my engineering peers with, is that Toyota usually comes in toward the bottom of informal styling ratings. Lexus too. Whether this is a result of the superior development and manufacturing process is unknown. “Looks ugly but will drive forever”.
But yes, I think its worth it still. Most of my career has been in commercial/industrial products but I’ve spent some time in FMCG (soda bottles) and the behaviors detailed in this book could have been applied to fast-moving industries as well.