The PEM Technology Gateway at the Institute of Technology Sligo can help support industry by working with local and national companies to provide various solutions for their innovative engineering journeys. Among other specialised areas, the PEM Technology Gateway has significant expertise in product design and mould/tool design with Design for Manufacturing (DFM) considerations in mind.
The PEM Technology Gateway can help bring your concept ideas to production by leveraging our engineering/technical staff’s industrial and R&D experience, we can also connect you in with our extensive industry network to facilitate all your manufacturing needs.
Main benefits to using a Design for Manufacturing approach are:
- Design simplification (ease of manufacture/fabrication/assembly);
- Alignment of key stakeholders in design phase (less expensive than the manufacturing phase);
- Life cycle/value engineering;
- Material selection criteria;
- Cost effectiveness;
- Waste reduction;
- Environmental consideration;
- Rapid prototyping of concepts;
- Manufacturing technique consideration;
- Eliminating/reducing unnecessary manufacturing operations.
It is important when designing anything, that, as well as defining all the key design specifications ('essential vs desirable features'), that the design engineer also gives proper consideration and thought as to how it will be manufactured.
Take the example of a basic injection moulded component, often a company’s product design engineer will develop a component without fully understanding the implications (usually cost) that their design will have on the tooling/mould manufacturing and polymer processing of the that particular component.
This usually results in either time wasted through multiple design review meetings between the product design engineer and toolmakers until a compromised design is agreed or, alternatively, the toolmaker ends up manufacturing an overly complex tool/mould at the expense of the company.
A lot of the time, the toolmaker’s designer will suggest design amendments to a product design engineer to avoid or minimise processing defects such as Short Shots, Flow Lines, Warpage, Voids, Flash, Jetting, Sink Marks, Knit/Weld Lines, Burn Mark etc.
This is where the PEM Technology Gateway can help, through our expertise in precision engineering and design we can assist companies by utilising a holistic approach to designing products to eliminate waste (time and material) when it comes to the manufacturing phase of process.
Key steps in our Design for Manufacturing process:
- Kick-off meeting (introduction to the component concept);
- Advance a design development strategy;
- Product development phase;
- Detailed design phase;
- Simulation analysis phase (finite element analysis/optimisation studies);
- Design review meeting (initial concept design agreement);
- Manufacture/assembly of prototypes (CNC machining or 3D printing);
- Prototype testing phase (physical testing);
- Design review meeting (prototype/testing feedback);
- Sign-off (proceed to manufacture).
Do you need assistance with precision engineering and design work? The PEM Technology Gateway team can assist your company with concept design development; 3D CAD modelling; simulation analysis; detailed drawings/animations; material selection; prototyping; testing; and can assist with all other Design for Manufacture (DFM) considerations.
We can also help your business to navigate the myriad of funding mechanisms and help you choose the funding best suited for your project – with funding available from €5,000 up to €300,000 it can be a godsend to businesses.
Contact us to find out more about how the www.pemcentrie.ie can support your business or on email: https://www.pemcentre.ie/meet-the-team
