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Our proposal relates the component's main functions with each process characteristic (mass, minimum section thickness, draft angle, surface finish, dimensional tolerances, minimum lot and lead time) through a correlation matrix, resulting in importance indexes for these characteristics. Furthermore, the importance indices obtained are related to the capability of each casting process discussed, providing a process rating. A checklist based on DFM principles is also provided to guide the designer when a need for improvement is observed or no processes are suited for producing the desired part. For validation, two ferrous and two nonferrous cast parts were analyzed. The results were compared with other selectors described in the literature and with processes actually used in the industry. Thus, they have shown a good relation with the other methods, especially regarding the quantitative classification determined by the proposed selector.

Selecting the most suited manufacturing process for a specific product, as well as optimizing the design regarding manufacture and assembly, is actions that will directly impact on cost and quality, aiming at finding the best match between the product's functional requirements and the attributes of the processes, and it should be carried out in the first stages of product development. In this context, the literature presents some sheet metal joining process selection methods, which can be classified as: mechanical (forming), metallurgical (welding) and chemical (adhesive) processes. However, such methods are complex and not specific for thin sheet metal. Therefore, our goal is to propose a joining process selector for overlapping sheet metal, which can correlate the product's functional requirements with the technical characteristics of the processes (clinching, rivets and welding) in early stages of product development. Unlike what is found in the literature, this selector is subdivided into five different types of clinching processes. The selector design was based on the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) principle, which easily converts a product's functional requirements into an ordered joining process list. The joining process data collection was carried out from two approaches: quantitative (joining sheet thickness, joint dimensions, production batch and joining strength) and qualitative (type of material, surface finish and accessibility to perform the joining). Three products were chosen to validate the selector. The results were compared against the literature and commonly commercially employed processes. The application of the selector in commercial products showed compatibility with the literature as well as the commercially used processes. However, depending on the product, other requirements might be considered, such as availability of equipment and production costs.