ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the design of a product involving all of the costs. It examines the concept of total product optimization for product design considering life cycle cost (LCC) that associates performance specifications with least LCC. The design optimization process, in general, considers the cost to the customer as the objective criterion. When design engineers and production engineers work together to design and rationalize both the product and production and support processes, this is known as integrated product and process design. The starting point for integrated product development is the designer's consideration of: design for manufacturability, design for assembly, design for serviceability/maintainability, design for reliability. In the development of new products, the reliability consideration has a tendency to be more of an afterthought in the design process. The integrated product and process design strategies have been proven more cost effective than the conventional design process that concentrates purely on the functional aspect.
