Using clustered assembly elements in the estimation of potential design for assembly benefits

This paper addresses the variation problem in design for assembly (DFA) benefits in different products. It investigated 12 product cases that employed DFA methodology in their redesign and found that DFA benefits correlate with certain product assembly properties. It explored the correlation relationships using assembly factors consisting of clustered manual handling and insertion assembly elements. Two sets of correlation models for estimating potential DFA benefits were developed. An example is provided to illustrate the estimation procedure and its result