Production tips from Joe's garage

We all know that concurrent engineering is supposed to bring design engineers closer to the manufacturing process than they have ever been before. In fact, "design for manufacture" and "design for assembly" have become priorities for more and more product development teams. Even so, unless they work for small companies and have actual manufacturing duties, many design engineers are still "going to school" when it comes to appreciating the latest thinking on production. If you're in that category, I'd like to recommend a little book that will give you a quick education, All I Need to Know about Manufacturing I learned in Joe's Garage (Bayrock Press: (208) 376-2266).

In this easy-reading book, authors William Miller and Vicki Schenk highlight some of the chief concerns of manufacturing today, using a mythical Saturday shelf-building project in Joe's garage. Bit by bit, the book reveals what the authors see as the "Ten Commandments" of manufacturing excellence:

Improve product design to enhance manufacturability and to increase functionality and reliability for customers.

Take a look at this list and consider your own company's production system. How have you changed the way you design products based on the increasing pressures to manufacture more efficiently and with higher quality? If you've got a good success story to tell about the payoffs of closer design-manufacturing ties, please send a fax to me at:FAX: (617) 558-4402.