Design for Manufacturing and Assembly vs. Design to Cost: Toward a Multi-objective Approach for Decision-making Strategies During Conceptual Design of Complex Products

Design-for-Assembly (DfA) and Conceptual DfA criteria are used in the generation of cost-effective assembly sequences for complex products. The design freedom suggests optimal solutions in the assembly time minimization problem regardless costs and issues about materials and manufacturing processes selection. The goal of this approach is to investigate how the application of the conceptual DfA affects the material and manufacturing costs (Design-to-Cost). A complex product (tool-holder carousel of a CNC machine) is used as a case study. The outcome is an approach to support designers and engineers in the re-design process for the product development and cost reduction.