With up to 70% of manufacturing costs being determined at the design stage, design for manufacturing (DFM) is no longer an optional strategy, but a necessary tool for electronics manufacturers to stay competitive in an increasingly demanding market.
DFM is a proactive approach to product development which ensures that a product is designed to be as simple and efficient to manufacture as possible. The DFM process must be integrated from the very beginning of product development, addressing potential challenges that could occur during the manufacturing process before it starts.
As electronics devices and components become more complex and powerful, implementing DFM principles early in the design process is crucial to speeding up production, minimising costs, and crafting high-performance components and devices.
This article will explore the benefits of DFM and its key best practices, highlighting how this proactive approach helps drive seamless, scalable, and high-precision electronics manufacturing.
What is Design for Manufacturing (DFM)?
Design for Manufacturing (DFM) is the process of optimising a product's design to make it easier to manufacture at scale without compromising quality and performance.
From material selection to product assembly and testing, DFM requires that product design account for all manufacturing needs and constraints before the proper production process begins.
For example, are all necessary components readily available, ensuring a smooth supply chain? Are the selected materials fully compatible with the intended assembly process, thus preventing production issues? Does the product design comply with industry standards and regulations?
By addressing such concerns early in the product development cycle, companies can minimise production costs, enhance product quality and reliability, and accelerate time-to-market.
These benefits make DFM essential in electronic manufacturing services (EMS), especially in printed circuit board assembly (PCBA), which forms the foundation of most electronic devices used today.
Electronics manufacturing demands precision, efficiency, and effective resource management. By implementing DFM principles in product design, EMS providers like PCI can produce high-quality, high-performance products at scale while streamlining workflows and optimising resource utilisation.
The Benefits of Implementing DFM Principles in Electronic Product Design
Reduced Manufacturing Costs
DFM enables manufacturers to design products that are easier and more cost-effective to produce, reducing operational expenses while improving efficiency. Less complex product designs require fewer parts, specialised materials, and assembly steps, providing manufacturers with significant cost savings.Improved Product Quality
The DFM approach of simplifying product design can ensure greater consistency and reliability across production batches. These streamlined product designs also minimise the likelihood of errors and defects in the manufacturing process, such as misaligned components or loose circuit connections. Faster Production Cycles
DFM encourages collaboration between design and manufacturing teams from the earliest stages of the product development cycle. This approach helps identify and address potential production challenges long before they cause disruptions to the manufacturing process. By reducing the need for multiple design iterations and troubleshooting, DFM also helps accelerate time-to-market.
Key DFM Best Practices for Seamless Production in Electronics Manufacturing
Implementing DFM best practices in electronics manufacturing ensures a smoother and more cost-effective production process along with better product quality. Below are five essential DFM best practices that will help drive seamless manufacturing:
Simplify Designs
- Reduce the number of components and assembly steps
One of the core principles of DFM is to reduce the number of components within a product, thus cutting down the number of steps required to put it together. This makes the product design less complex, quicker to assemble, and reduces the likelihood of errors in the manufacturing process.
For instance, manufacturers can consider replacing multiple discrete resistors with a single resistor network to decrease the number of pick-and-place operations required of their machinery.
- Use modular designs to simplify manufacturing and testing
Another method to simplify designs is to utilise modular design models. In modular product design, a device will be made up of multiple smaller parts and systems that can function independently.
One example of modular design is a laptop, which consists of individual parts such as the core processors, graphics drives, the battery, and so on. These components can be upgraded, tested, or replaced as required, without the need to disassemble or overhaul the entire product.
Additionally, modularity also allows for the same components to be reused interchangeably across different products, ensuring more cost-efficient manufacturing processes and reducing wastage for EMS providers.
Select Standard Components
- Prioritise readily available, cost-effective components.
When electronics manufacturers choose specialised or niche components, they risk delays and increased costs due to supply chain constraints and procurement challenges.
Following DFM principles and opting for widely available standard components ensures a smoother manufacturing process, as standard components can be obtained from multiple reliable suppliers with established supply chain networks around the world.
These components are also likely to be cheaper because they are produced in large quantities at a time. Since standard parts are readily available, manufacturers can further reduce costs by maintaining smaller inventories instead of stocking large quantities of hard-to-source components.
- Avoid custom parts unless absolutely necessary.
Unless they are needed for specialised industries or functions, abstain from using custom components in manufacturing. Developing custom parts requires significant expense and additional time for testing and prototyping, driving up production costs for manufacturers.
On top of that, customised component designs may also present unforeseen problems that only become evident once the production process has started. Addressing these issues can place extra strain on manufacturing resources, increasing time and labour costs.
Optimise PCB Layouts
- Ensure proper spacing, trace routing, and grounding.
Implementing DFM principles to optimise PCB layouts involves ensuring proper spacing, trace routing, and grounding.
For instance, be sure to provide sufficient spacing between components on the PCB, especially heat-generating ones. This allows for effective thermal management across the board, preventing overheating.
Additionally, keep traces—the electrical connections linking PCB components together—short and direct to minimise signal delay, avoid crosstalk, and maintain strong signal integrity.
- Design for manufacturability while maintaining signal integrity.
The core of DFM is designing and planning PCB layouts to be as straightforward and uniform as possible, ensuring ease of assembly and manufacturing.
One way to achieve this is by standardising the placement of components on PCBs. For example, grouping related components or those that perform similar functions in the same area of the board can simplify assembly processes and enhance efficiency.
In addition to this, accessible test points should be incorporated into the PCB layout design. This will make testing and quality control procedures much more efficient during production, which will significantly reduce manufacturing timelines.
Consider Assembly Processes
- Design for automated assembly wherever possible.
Products should be designed to make automated assembly as efficient and convenient as possible. For example, designing a product that uses joining methods like snap-fix mechanisms eliminates the need for specialised fastening tools, saving expenses and enabling a faster assembly process.
Additionally, products can be fitted with features that facilitate gripping and handling by automated machinery. These include vacuum cups or special coatings that will stop components from slipping during assembly.
- Minimise manual interventions to reduce errors.
Facilitating smooth transitions between automated processes while minimising manual intervention helps enhance manufacturing accuracy and reliability.
For instance, consider incorporating features like strategically placed mounting holes on a PCB that align with corresponding guide holes on another component. This ensures precise positioning, preventing misalignments and incorrect orientations during automated assembly.
Plan for Testing and Inspection
- Incorporate test points and accessibility for quality control.
Proper placement of test points allows for easy access to critical nodes on a PCB for testing purposes. Engineers can quickly and deftly test elements such as PCB signal integrity and circuit functionality during production. This simplifies the fault diagnosis operation and reduces the time taken to identify and resolve issues with the product.
- Align designs with in-circuit testing (ICT) and automated optical inspection (AOI).
In electronics manufacturing, ICT is used to verify the functionality of individual components on a PCB. Meanwhile, AOI is a testing method which employs high-resolution cameras and specialised software to detect defects such as soldering issues and missing components.
When applying DFM principles to product design, it is crucial to distribute PCB components in a way that allows ICT probes easy access while also providing an unobstructed view for AOI inspection.
By incorporating these considerations early in the design phase, manufacturers can conduct thorough quality control measures, speed up production, and significantly lower the risk of defective parts or products advancing to later assembly stages.
Achieve Excellence in DFM-Driven Electronics Manufacturing With PCI
DFM is an indispensable aspect of modern electronics manufacturing. For EMS providers like PCI specialising in PCBA, hardware, and Internet of Things (IoT) manufacturing, DFM plays a vital role in enhancing product quality, accelerating production timelines, and optimising manufacturing resources.
This enables PCI to consistently deliver high-performance, reliable, and cost-efficient electronic products through large-scale manufacturing.
Why Choose PCI as Your EMS Partner in Design for Manufacturing?
- Decades of experience optimising designs for efficient manufacturing.
- End-to-end support from design to scalable production.
- Use of advanced tools, such as CAD software and DFM analysis, to align design goals with manufacturing capabilities.
- Collaborative approach to meet client needs and ensure production success.
Partnering with an experienced EMS provider like PCI ensures your business can successfully leverage DFM principles to deliver exceptional products to customers. Contact our friendly team today to learn more about how we can help you.