Design for facility (DFF) approach for commodity parts.

Abstract

The current work presents a methodology called 'Design for Facility over the Internet (DFF)'. The methodology provides an Internet-based environment for the designers to perform manufacturability analysis of their designs, upfront in the design process, for the maximum utilization of existing facilities. The idea is to utilize the excess capacity of existing facilities to manufacture a new product, instead of making a huge capital investment in setting up a new dedicated line. The methodology is applicable to the mass-production commodity parts that can be represented parametrically and are machined in a dedicated line, after going through a near net-shape process. The DFF approach provides a mapping between the parametric representation of a part design and a manufacturing facility and uses this mapping to evaluate the design with respect to the specific capabilities of the facility. Using the DFF approach one can also design a part family to be machined in a given facility. The approach requires the capabilities of facilities to be parameterized and represented in a common format (using XM(TM)), to be stored and maintained by each manufacturer, at a central website accessible by a DFF analysis service (DFFAS). DFFAS analyzes a given parametric design with respect to the capabilities of a facility and generates redesign suggestions for the designer to adapt his design to fit the capabilities of the facility. A prototype DFF system for automotive connecting rods is developed using the Java(TM) programming language. The system enables a designer to design a connecting rod to fit the fixturing (machining datums) capabilities of existing machining facilities. The system also generates suggestions to help design a family of connecting rods.