DFMA 2006, the new version of the Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DFMA) software suite, contains new versions of both modules in the integrated suite: DFA Version 9.3 and DFM Concurrent Costing Version 2.2. DFMA 2006 software guides engineers through the process of simplifying a product design, quickly estimating assembly, labor, and part manufacturing costs. The software isolates the major cost drivers associated with a wide range of choices for part manufacture and finishing. Features include new tools for comparing the cost of automatic versus manual product assembly and for estimating the cost to manufacture PC boards. Through a quantitative, multi-disciplinary approach to cost assessment, DFMA software helps users create innovative, high-quality products that are more economical to manufacture. When products have fewer parts, companies have fewer digital archives to maintain and can streamline suppliers, inventory, and shipping. When products are easier to manufacture, companies can improve factory throughput and overall resource use. DFMA 2006 software contains an extensive set of early cost models for material and manufacturing processes, including sheet metalworking, machining, structural foam molding, plastic extrusion, injection molding, thermoforming, blow molding, cold and hot die casting, hot forging, powder metal processing, sand casting, and investment casting. DFMA 2006 adds a PC board process that incorporates cost models for bare board manufacture as well as population, or assembly, of the board. The cost estimate for bare board manufacture is based on complexity and includes costs for internal and external circuit generation, lamination, AOI testing, hole-drilling, solder masking, legend printing, and final circuit testing. With this new software capability, product development teams can include estimates for PC boards in early cost profiles for electromechanical devices. An automatic assembly process estimates the cost of assembling a product on an automatic high-speed assembly machine. For comparison purposes, the software also computes the estimated cost of assembling the same product on a manual assembly line report using the software to cut overall product cost by an average of half.
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