ABSTRACT
Although there are many ways to increase manufacturing productivity (utilizing improved materials, tools, processes, plant layout, etc.), consideration of manufacturing and assembly during product design holds the greatest potential for significant reduction in production costs and increased productivity. Robert W. Militzer, one-time president of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. has stated [1]:
In other words, if the product is poorly designed for manufacture and assembly, techniques can be applied only to reduce to a minimum the impact of the poor design. Improving the design itself is not worth considering at this late stage; usually, too much time and money have already been expended in justifying the design to consider major changes or even a completely new design. Only when manufacture and assembly techniques are incorporated early in the design stage (i.e., product design for ease of manufacture and assembly) will productivity be significantly affected.
