Designing for assembly quality: strategies, guidelines and techniques

Abstract

of Bristol, UK ‡University of Hull, UK Component design decisions and choice of assembly technology ultimately impact on the final quality of a product. Problems may arise when a component's design puts limits on the technical performance of an assembly operation. Recently, efforts have been focused on predicting component quality levels through variability and process capability measures at the design stage, but the variability associated with assembly operations is rarely considered in the context of quality. This paper reviews the current assembly-orientated design techniques available to detect potential quality problems and identifies the key issues relating to assembly quality, including the relationship between the components, operations and assembly technologies used. An approach is presented for highlighting potential assembly variability problems early in the design process and its application is demonstrated through the use of an industrial case study.

Exploring design innovation and performance: the roles of issue related to design strategy

“…Numerous researchers have highlighted that industrial design and technical innovation play a key role in improving the competitiveness of products, firms, and national economies (Rothwell 1983, Berger 1989, Wray 1991, Freeman 1992, Utterback 1994, Sheldon 2004, Marxt and Hacklin 2005. Design innovation strategy is considered useful *Email: erickshi@msl.hinet.net 556 Yen Hsu as it provides guidelines for industrial design and R&D (Baxter 1995, Wandeback et al 2002, Vidal 2004, Booker et al 2005. Gemser and Leenders (2001) also indicated that an industrial design-centred new product development strategy can help change the nature of competition of the industries.…”

System dynamics and learning: Learning during the product realization chain

“…However, they usually provide design options that the manufacturing department passively follows, by translating the physical materials of the product to instructional information. needed to create the product" [7]. During this stage, process engineers address the concerns about how a new product design impacts on the execution of a process, and take initiatives to prepare for upcoming product design releases or changes.…”

A survey-based methodology for prioritising the industrial implementation qualities of design tools

“…(i) A number of formal design tools can be introduced to the team as simple guidelines so that general principles are understood before training in formal tool, either workbook or computer-based (Booker et al 2005) (ii) Paper-based workbooks have a positive impact on team-building and deepen the understanding of the problem and tool (Booker 2003) (iii) Tools that are heavily reliant on statistics are more suited to computer-based formats ) (iv) Using computer-based tools makes documentation and reuse easier and faster, integrate with existing systems effectively and have the capability for remote access (internet) or local access (intranet) (Lindahl 2006) (v) Some tools have CAD linkage capabilities for embedding design rules (Darlington and Booker 2006) A 'Champion' based in the company, and identified early (Rost et al 2007) E2.…”