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Implementing Integrated Development Manufacturing
December 31, 1969 |Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
By Emad S. Isaac, The Morey Corporation
Advancing technologies are compressing design cycles and driving manufacturers to an “integrated development manufacturing” methodology. This strategy organizes discrete disciplines into a single comprehensive manufacturing plan, minimizing time, maximizing technology.
In a system of integrated development manufacturing, design for manufacturability (DfM) concepts are pushed to the beginning of the design phase, with design verification and product validation activities contributing to the development of the product’s manufacturing process. What we see happening today is the incorporation of the development phase into manufacturing processes.
The process begins with a target specification and ideally with some critical market inputs, including market demand with product price points. One can proceed without this information, but clarity of purpose at the beginning of a project is probably the single greatest guarantor of success.
DfM has been around for a long time, but the importance of incorporating DfM into the development process is escalating. Integrated development manufacturing layers and coordinates the process of moving from raw technology and concept to a finished, manufacturable product. Challenges range from fundamental disconnects between software tools to basic communication issues. This methodology does not embrace any one specific philosophy in the industry, but uses the best features of several.
The process focuses on coordinating tasks and maximizing the output of every milestone. When two tasks overlap, execute it once and use the results effectively to support both tasks. Another way of looking at product development is the process of moving from theory to practical application. The key to integrated development manufacturing is to move the “practical” to the beginning of the process. The practical input is not limited to DfM. It is a holistic approach that includes a dozen critical areas of input at one phase or another.
One challenge, frequently overlooked, in developing highly integrated products is the fundamental disconnect of technology roadmaps. For example, commercial telematics products are designed around wireless and embedded processor technologies that change almost quarterly. However, the intended target application has a minimum-five-years lifecycle. Wireless communication technologies are driven by consumer applications that move quickly. This, coupled with the service contract model, dictates swift technology depreciation. Technology depreciation leads to obsolete parts; without parts you cannot manufacture product.
Evaluating component technology gets more complicated as technology diversifies. Manufacturers and distributors have developed systems to share component obsolescence issues, but they do not always get communicated to the right people. No matter how much planning goes into a project, there will always be an obsolesence risk. The best practices are to maintain good communication channels through your supply chain down to the design team, with a healthy dose of historical data. Vendors who continue to supply material after it has reached its peak volumes do so by choice.
The ODM also must balance the option of working with completed technology sub-systems, modules, or chip sets. Each alternative will accomplish the desired goal, but each has a different cost structure. Wireless chipsets, for example, are relatively inexpensive, but carry high risks associated with certification and design. By comparison, the subsystem option has an expensive unit cost, but minimizes design and certification risks. The challenge is to combine the right technology deployment – balancing the risks and unit costs for the target audience. The sales and marketing team also must be part of this process as their understanding of the product and its lifecycle will both influence and temper customer expectations at the beginning of the program.
To help define where and when to drive down technology unit costs, and assume technology risks with higher development/certification costs, we employ a “technology value curve.” This works like supply and demand curves, defining the right time to shift from one technology level to another from an economic perspective. It also defines the values customers put on specific technologies. We then use “design spreading” to maximize our economies of scale. In its simplest form, it incorporates modular design elements, well-maintained component libraries, highly documented electronic circuits, modular firmware, DfM, and electronic hardening practices developed through experience. The elements can be assembled into custom products minimizing development costs and time. We also reach economies of scale by identifying the market needs and then developing products that will satisfy several customers’ specifications, resulting in a market footprint significantly larger than any one customer might demand on their own. By design spreading we maximize this “solution footprint” to address how much of the market space our solution will satisfy without significant change to the final product design, development, or certification.
DfM and design for testability (DfT), combined with IPC electronic manufacturing standards, provide a comprehensive collection of physical characteristics to be used when manufacturing an electronic assembly. These attributes need to be pushed to the beginning of the development process and designed into the product, instead of applied to the product as an afterthought. The challenge here is not the body of knowledge, but communicating and embracing a collaborative model. It is important for product developers to streamline and manage the entire process comprehensively using good project management techniques in a collaborative model to compete.
Components, which include circuit boards, are selected to meet various requirements – size, weight, material composition – optimized for design, manufacturability, testability, and unit cost. Compromises may be made, but the intent is to make decisions earlier in the process, maximizing flexibility.
Prototyping is where design and manufacturing meet in execution. Prototyping is all about data for the product designers and the manufacturers. If the team can coordinate the entire process and use the same manufacturing equipment, it will provide manufacturers with initial reviews of the manufacturing process. The lessons learned here will provide the foundation for a pilot production run. Here, developers can validate the product while manufacturers statistically assess and fine-tune their process.
Test engineering gains visibility in prototype and pilot production phases. However, test engineering absolutely needs to be engaged at the beginning of the process and throughout to develop the verification, validation, and certification plans and to create the production test equipment. Fabricating customized test equipment is a lengthy process and the test engineer should know the full purpose of the product to make sound decisions.
Conclusion
When we finally get to the end of the integrated development manufacturing process, we have a well-designed, manufacturable product at a competitive cost that is available to meet demand. This process is about collaboration, communication, and efficiency; the result is getting cost-effective solutions to the market on time.
Emad S. Isaac, CTO, The Morey Corporation, may be contacted at 100 Morey Drive, Woodridge, Ill. 60517; (630) 754-2300; eisaac@moreycorp.com.