Redesign of an in-market food processor for manufacturing cost reduction using DFMA methodology

TIMETAL®407 (Ti-407) is a novel titanium alloy formulated as a medium strength, highly ductile alloy offering a range of manufacturing cost reduction opportunities. It can be used as a direct replacement for Ti-6Al-4V or Ti-3Al-2.5V alloys, particularly in applications where energy absorption during fracture or HCF endurance are the key design criteria. The effect of thermo-mechanical processing on microstructure has been characterised and the room temperature high cycle, low cycle and dwell cycle fatigue properties of Ti-407 containing 30-40% primary alpha volume fraction are presented and discussed. These results are compared with data generated from Ti-6Al-4V processed to provide a similar but non-standard microstructure and demonstrate that Ti-407 shows superior HCF endurance strength, despite having a significantly lower tensile and yield strength.

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Manufacturing Processes Re-Engineering for Cost Reduction: The Investment Casting Case Study

Volume 4: 24th Design for Manufacturing and the Life Cycle Conference; 13th International Conference on Micro- and Nanosystems ◽

10.1115/detc2019-97532 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Marco Mandolini ◽

Federico Campi ◽

Claudio Favi ◽

Michele Germani

Keyword(s):

Investment Casting ◽

Cost Estimation ◽

Cost Reduction ◽

Food Packaging ◽

Economic Benefits ◽

Manufacturing Cost ◽

Process Selection ◽

Production Processes ◽

Manufacturing Alternatives ◽

The Impact

Abstract The production cost is one of the most important drivers for product competitiveness. For increasing profits, a manufacturing process re-engineering is mandatory. This practice passes through systematic procedures for process selection, cost estimation and results analysis. This paper presents a method for evaluating different manufacturing alternatives for cost reduction. This method, composed of eight steps (most of them retrieved from the scientific literature), permits engineers to consider important aspects, such as the choice of cost estimation tools, the collection of data related to production processes, the impact related to the introduction of new production processes and the interpretation of results. Authors adopted such method for evaluating economic benefits of introducing a new manufacturing technology (i.e. investment casting) for three components of a food packaging machine. The adoption of the proposed method leads to compare investment casting vs. machining. The paper presents a detailed discussion of the economic benefits (return on investment, cash flows and manufacturing cost breakdown) related to the introduction of the investment casting technology.

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A Modular Design Method Considering Defense From Leakage of Synthetic Functions: A Case Study of a Paper Feeding System

Volume 3: 30th Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, Parts A and B ◽

10.1115/detc2010-28706 ◽

2010 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Akihiro Hirao ◽

Tsuyoshi Koga ◽

Kazuhiro Aoyama

Keyword(s):

Cost Reduction ◽

Modular Design ◽

Comprehensive Evaluation ◽

Design Method ◽

Prototype System ◽

Manufacturing Cost ◽

Pareto Solution ◽

Functional Interactions ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Synthetic Function

This study proposes a modular design method that considers defense from leakage of the synthetic function. Today’s modular design method might lead to an increase in of the leakage of intellectual property. If the modular design were able to conceal the structure of the interactions of product components which realize the product functions, the competitive value of synthetic function might be protected and its life might be extended in the market. The proposed method was implemented to a prototype system (the paper feeder on a photocopier). The result showed the Pareto solution for the trade-offs of manufacturing cost reduction through outsourcing and the defense against the leakage of synthetic function value, indicating a module division plan with both aspects balanced at a high level. The comprehensive evaluation confirmed that the proposed balanced plan accounted for a more satisfactory evaluation value than the other two plans. Specifically, the study recommended the module division plan that enables around a 74% reduction of risk of leakage of synthetic function and about a 43% overall loss, even though the manufacturing cost worsened by approximately 42% when compared to the plan emphasizing manufacturing cost reduction. These application results support the hypothesis that modular design can conceal the structure of functional interactions. Therefore, it was concluded that the proposed module design method was more effective than the existing method, which does not consider the hiding and concealing of the functional interactions of the synthetic value.

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Analysis of manufacturing cost and market niches for Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) solar cells

Sustainable Energy & Fuels ◽

10.1039/d0se01734e ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (4) ◽

pp. 1044-1058

Author(s):

Ao Wang ◽

Nathan L. Chang ◽

Kaiwen Sun ◽

Chaowei Xue ◽

Renate J. Egan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Cost Reduction ◽

Manufacturing Cost ◽

Manufacturing Costs ◽

Cost Drivers ◽

Potential Market ◽

Reduction Strategies

The manufacturing costs of CZTS with different substrates, major cost drivers, and cost reduction strategies are analyzed. Potential market niches of CZTS products and techno-economic requirements for CZTS commercialization are explored.

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