Partners in design

The concept of design for manufacture (DFM) aims to improve manufacturing productivity, quality, reliability, maintainability, cost, time to market, and ultimately, customer satisfaction. However, it can sometimes be all too easy to pay lip service to the process instead of actually providing customers with tangible product benefits, such as accurate cost estimation, effective material and process selection and reduced cycle times. When looking for partners to provide a DFM service, aerospace companies should be looking for a number of capabilities including detailed knowledge and expertise in the sector, a sound knowledge of the design issues which may affect the manufacture of components and the willingness and commitment to be involved in the design process from an early stage. By ensuring the correct expertise is on board, manufacturers operating in the aerospace industry can ensure their final product is manufactured to a high standard, and the design and manufacture process moves forward quickly and cost-effectively. Keeping a close eye on the latest trends and issues affecting the sector is vital for CEMs providing a good service to aerospace clients. This also helps ensure collaboration on design issues is well-informed and researched. Having a level of in-house expertise reassures aerospace clients their product is being designed and specified to the highest possible standard, ensuring they remain competitive in an extremely technical and tough market. Within the aerospace industry a key challenge for designers is to incorporate new technologies as well as considering the longevity of a product, which can often be between 20 and 30 years. It's therefore essential CEMs fully understand and have the ability to work with this technology as well as having the necessary quality standards in place. There are a number of quality standards and frameworks within the industry which are designed to help ensure consistency and drive performance, for example the AS9100 standard and the SC21. As a set of quality and auditing processes AS9100, was formulated to create a commonality of recognition in the industry and complements SC21, a widely recognised excellence model formulated by 19 aerospace and defence industry leaders to drive improvements in supply chain management and increase efficiencies and performance among the UK's 15,000 suppliers. Working closely with designers and customers is vital in order to create an intricate understanding of the product and customer requirements. By working in partnership, idea generation can be maximised due to the number of experts around the table. Both expertise and resources are pooled; reflected in the old saying, “many heads are better than one”. A good understanding of product design, manufacturing, procurement, product testing and the environmental impact of electronic equipment will be provided by a team such as this. Outsourcing to companies with close geographical proximity will also help with the ability to work collaboratively, as well as benefiting from shared cultural values. This enables the company to reduce their overall carbon footprint through the reduction of shipping, a key factor in today's carbon conscious climate. UK manufacturers have the skills, investments in technology and knowledge required to work within the aerospace sector. They can also help to manage supply chain costs, thus releasing much needed cash and increasing flexibility and service levels to the end customer. Because of close collaboration with supply chain partners, CEMs are able to reduce total inventory levels, decrease product obsolescence, lower transaction costs and react and respond more quickly to changes in the market. When specifying design parameters, it's important that the design engineer works closely with the manufacturing team to ensure any potential design flaws are eliminated at the design stage. This ensures costly mistakes are avoided, and helps create the optimum DFM, test, procurement, and environmental best practice. This in turn reduces cost and helps to enhance the environmental credentials and reputation of the end product; something which has become increasingly important as governments and industry set carbon emissions targets. In addition, airlines are also competing to meet the customer demands to reduce these emissions. There are sometimes design barriers which have to be overcome to help customers get product to market on time and correctly produced. Design elements may look effective at the drawing board stage, but may then present challenges when the designs are manufactured. Early stage collaboration between designers, customers and CEMs is crucial in order to eliminate these. By collaborating on the initial design, factors can be built into the design to allow for good stock control of elements required, ease of testing processes for the component and overall, a better designed product with potentially fewer parts that is functionally more efficient and easier to manufacture. This also allows for savings both up and down the supply chain, as more cost-effective purchasing is passed to the end customer. Working with a CEM with experience in manufacturing a range of similar products will help this process, as they can use previous experience of working on successful products as a technical and creative reference point for the new product. When looking for a quality manufacturing partner, there are several factors to consider. It's important to ensure they have the flexibility to help provide tailored manufacturing solutions backed up with specialised knowledge of the aerospace sector. A company with strong testing facilities will also help to ensure the final quality and durability of the product is top class, which will assist adherence to industry standards and increase customer confidence. Perhaps most importantly, the manufacturer must provide design collaboration and support from the outset. As mentioned earlier, the aerospace industry has always been subject to criticism from environmentalists, and economic pressures to reduce waste. In the current economic climate, it is vital waste is reduced in order to help businesses remain competitive. 85% of the manufacturing costs of products are fixed within the first 10% of the product development. Working collaboratively with a cross-functional team of customer, designer and CEM will help incorporate cost and waste saving initiatives into the product from conception stage. Also, sharing resources means logistics and supply chain requirements can be streamlined, in turn reducing the carbon footprint of the process. Collaboration and supply chain excellence in the aerospace industry is resulting in innovations which will not only provide better equipment, but will influence other market sectors to address global environmental impact. Looking to the future, the aerospace industry is likely to see an increase in innovations to help reduce carbon footprint, more lightweight aircraft, and an increase in integration in the sector. This will not only result in reduced production costs but also faster times to market. www.axiom-ms.com