An Approach for Producibility and DFM-methodology in Aerospace Engine Component Development

The competitiveness in the aerospace industry is steadilly increasing, at the same time there is a rapid development of new technology for next generations of jet engines. To achieve one of the most important goals, reducing weight, fabrication of structural components is one possible approach, common to many aerospace manufacturers. However, the engineering work becomes more difficult and requires new knowledge. Production becomes significantly more complicated as the need of different manufacturing processes increases, as well as the complexity of other production related activities. In the paper, definitions of producibility and manufacturability are discussed, together with related metrics for measurement of the impact of the product design on a production system. The result is a recommended set of methodologies and tools to manage and evaluate the manufacturing interests and targets, and how they must be reached and balanced within the product development process, in order to improve producibility. The work has also identified gaps and opportunities for improvements, and suggested an approach for next step in order to increase producibility in manufacturing of aerospace engine components.