ABSTRACT
Engineering plays a vital role, many times unknowingly, in Lean manufacturing and office transactional processes. Engineering impacts all aspects of the design, not just the product design itself. There are various names for designing Lean processes. The most familiar is the "Product, Preparation, and Process" (3P) process. This process focuses on designing the product or service to ensure it can start out Lean versus having to be leaned out later. It encompasses various tools: design fishbones and process mapping, design for manufacturing and assembly (DFMA), failure modes effects analysis (FMEA), transitioning the product to production, and target costing principles. The DFMA program in new product development is effective for new designs and designing product improvement projects. Engaging DFMA in the concurrent engineering team allows a focus on minimizing the design complexity and costs while maximizing value for customer. DFMA will help minimize the: part count; material cost; the amount of time the materials are in process; and defects and rework.
