DfX methodologies address different issues that may occur in one or more phase of a
product life cycle: • Development phase • Production phase • Use phase • Disposal phase Each phase is explained with two dichotomous categories of tangible products to show differences in prioritizing design issues in certain
product life cycle phases: •
Consumer durables •
Capital goods Non-durables that are consumed physically when used, e.g. chocolate or lubricants, are not discussed. There also exist a wide range of other classifications because products are either (a) goods, (b) service, or (c) both (see OECD and Eurostat, 2005:48). Thus, one can also refer to
whole product, augmented product, or extended product. Also the business unit
strategy of a firm are ignored, even though it significantly influences priority-setting in design.
Development phase • Design rules • Basic rules of embodiment design: clarity,
simplicity,
safety (Pahl and Beitz, 1996: 205–236) • Organizational process • Design for short
time to market (Bralla, 1996: 255–266) • System design, testing & validation • Design for reliability (Bralla, 1996: 165–181), Synonyms:
reliability engineering (VDI4001-4010) •
Design for test • Design for safety (Bralla, 1996: 195–210; VDI2244); Synonyms:
safety engineering,
safe-life design • Design for quality (Bralla, 1996: 149–164; VDI2247), Synonyms:
quality engineering • Design against
corrosion damage (Pahl and Beitz, 1996: 294–304) • Design for minimum
risk (Pahl and Beitz, 1996:373–380)
Production-operations phase • Design rules •
Design to cost (Pahl and Beitz, 1996: 467–494; VDI2234; VDI 2235), see
Target costing,
Value engineering • Design to standards (Pahl and Beitz, 1996:349–356), see
Interchangeable parts,
product modularity,
product architecture,
product platform • Design Guidelines •
Design for assembly (Bralla, 1996: 127–136), (Pahl and Beitz, 1996: 340–349) •
Design for inspection (Hitchens Carl (2014) Guide to Engineering Metrology) •
Design for manufacturability (Bralla, 1996: 137–148), (Pahl and Beitz, 1996: 317–340) •
Design for logistics, design for postponement (see
Delayed differentiation) • Specific situations •
Design for electronic assemblies (Bralla, 1996: 267–279) •
Design for low-quantity production (Bralla, 1996: 280–288)
Design rules Design to cost and design to standards serves
cost reduction in production operations, or respectively supply chain operations. Except for luxury goods or brands (e.g.,
Swarovski crystals,
Haute couture fashion, etc.), most goods, even exclusive products, rely on
cost reduction, if these are
mass produced. The same is valid for the functional production strategy of
mass customization. Through
engineering design physical interfaces between a) parts or components or assemblies of the product and b) the manufacturing equipment and the logistical material flow systems can be changed, and thus cost reducing effects in operating the latter may be achieved.
Design guidelines •
Design for manufacturability ensures the fabrication of single parts or components that are based on an
integral design in mechanical engineering terms. Every production technology has its own specific design guideline that needs to be consulted depending on the situation. •
Design for assembly addresses the combination of single parts or components to subassemblies, assemblies, modules, systems, etc., that are based on a
differential design in mechanical engineering terms. An important issue is how the embodied interfaces within a product are designed (mechanical engineering, electrical engineering). Contrary, software or respectively firmware interfaces (software engineering, electrical engineering) are not significant for assembly operations, because these can be easily flash installed within one production step. That is a cost efficient way to enable a wide range of product variants. •
Design for logistics covers issues along supply chain partners (i.e., legally independent firms) but is by its means closely related to the
design for assembly guidelines. In academic research,
design for logistics is tangent to the
strategic alliances,
supply chain management, and the
engineering part of
new product development. For example, Sanchez and Mahoney (1996) argued that product
modularity (i.e., how physical sub-systems of a product are sub-divided through interfaces; also called product or system architecture), and organizational
modularity (i.e., how organisational entities are structured), depend on each other. Fixson
et al. (2005) found that the relationship between product architecture and organisational structure is reciprocal in the contexts of
early supplier involvement during
system design and the
concept phase of the
product development process.
Use phase • User focused, see
Product design,
Industrial design • Design for user-friendliness (Bralla, 1996: 237–254), see
Usability,
Ben Shneiderman,
Emotional Design • Design for
ergonomics (Pahl and Beitz, 1996: 305–310) • Design for
aesthetics (Pahl and Beitz, 1996: 311–316) • After-sales focused • Design for
serviceability (Bralla, 1996: 182–194; Pahl and Beitz, 1996: 357–359), • Design for
maintainability (Bralla, 1996: 182–194; Pahl and Beitz, 1996: 357–359; VDI2246), • Design for repair-reuse-recyclability, a key part of the
International Design Excellence Awards criteria
Comparison: consumer durables vs. capital goods User focused design guidelines may be associated with
consumer durables, and after-sales focused design guidelines may be more important for
capital goods. However, in case of capital goods design for
ergonomics is needed to ensure clarity,
simplicity, and
safety between the human-machine interface. The intent is to avoid shop-accidents as well as to ensure efficient work flows. Also design for
aesthetics has become more and more important for capital goods in recent years. In
business-to-business (B2B) markets, capital goods are usually ordered, or respectively business transaction are initiated, at industrial trade fairs. The functional traits of capital goods in technical terms are assumed generally as fulfilled across all exhibiting competitors. Therefore, a purchaser may be subliminally influenced by the aesthetics of a
capital good when it comes to a purchasing decision. For consumer durables the aspect of after sales highly depends on the business unit's strategy in terms of service offerings, therefore generally statements are not possible to formulate.
Disposal phase •
Design for Environment (Bralla, 1996: 182–194), see also
Life cycle assessment,
Technology assessment,
sustainable engineering,
sustainable design • Design for
recycling (Pahl and Beitz, 1996: 360–372), design for disassembly •
Active disassembly •
Remanufacturing • Recycling of electrical and electronical equipment – Disassembly and processing (VDI2343) • Recycling oriented product development (VDI 2243) ==Similar concepts in product development==