Low profile home speaker system

Our speaker features a doubles surround system, where one flexible rubber surround is stacked above another, for increased stability. It also has features for manufacturability such as a plastic ring on the top and bottom plastic supports, where the both the coil and magnet reside centered, respectively. Between the top and bottom support there are holes which further stabilize the vibration axially, and provide a way to easily assemble the outer case

Design for automated manufacture of composite structures

New trends in manufacturing highlight the growing use of composite materials to produce lightweight, high performance structures. This requires the design stage to account for complex manufacturing constraints, and as industry begins to move towards automated manufacturing of composites, the more complex manufacturing constraints can introduce severe limitations to the design space, reducing the opportunity for designers to optimise a product. To address these limitations, this research proposes strategies for implementing design for manufacture specifically accounting for automated manufacture of composite structures. As a composite design develops, more detail is added, increasing the design fidelity. Typically design for manufacturing practices are only applied when the design fidelity is detailed enough to see individual plies. However, by implementing design for manufacturing practice at earlier stages of the design, when the design fidelity is low and design change is easy to implement, the greatest performance and manufacturing gains can be achieved. This research aims to develop a design process that uses digital technology to facilitate design for automated manufacture for composite structures. This research uses a systematic approach to create a generic design process and supporting tools, capable of identifying the key manufacturing constraints, and accounting for them at the earliest possible stages of the design. The proposed design process uses a strategy to apply design for manufacture using digital tools, and identifies actions required to enable automated composite manufacturing. The development of the design process is guided by the capture of the current industrial design practices. The proposed process is validated through the design and manufacture of an industrial demonstration structure, produced using an automated composite manufacturing process. The results from validation confirm the hypothesis that it is possible to have a generic design process to support the design for automated manufacturing of composites components

Concurrent engineering and design for manufacture in the medical device industry

Concurrent Engineering (CE) is an approach to product development in which engineers work on design and manufacturability at the same time. The ultimate goal of concurrent engineering is to reduce the time-to-market while improving quality. This thesis goes into details about the tools necessary to achieve successful product development in the Medical Device Industry. The novelty of this thesis is not in the tools themselves but rather in the way that they are applied to the medical device industry. The need for the CE approach is of utmost importance because of the vast competition in the medical device industry. The times now require changes. These changes are depicted in detail early in this thesis. This latter suggests that manufacturing is to be perceived like another science. The axiomatic approach to manufacturing answers these needs. A new way of designing a product and collecting data is relevant. It is known as the technique of Quality function Deployment (QFD). Finally, all these tools are managed with the phase approach to management. I sincerely think that this thesis will constitute an invaluable tool for managers and engineers in the medical industry

Designing for rapid manufacture

Thesis (M. Tech.) -- Central University of Technology, Free State, 2008As the tendency to use sol id freeform fabrication (SFF) technology for the manufacture of end use parts grew, so too did the need for a set of general guidelines that would aid designers with designs aimed specifically for rapid manufacture. Unfortunately, the revolutionary additive nature of SFF technology left certain fundamental principles of conventional design for manufacture and assembly outdated. This implied that whole chapters of theoretical work that had previously been done in this field had to be revised before it could be applied to rapid manufacturing. Furthermore, this additive nature of SFF technology seeded a series of new possibilities and new advantages that could be exploited in the manufacturing domain, and as a result drove design for rapid manufacturing principles even further apart from conventional design for manufacture and assembly philosophy. In this study the impact that rapid manufacture had on the conventional product development process and conventional design for manufacture and assembly guidelines were investigated. This investigation brought to light the inherent strengths and weaknesses of SFF, as well as the design for manufacture and assembly guidelines that became invalid, and consequently lead directly to the characterization of a set of design for rapid manufacture guidelines

Development of a manufacturing feature-based design system

Traditional CAD systems are based on the serial approach of the product development cycle: the design process is not integrated with other activities and thus it can not provide information for subsequent phases of product development. In order to eliminate this problem, many modern CAD systems allow the composition of designs from building blocks of higher level of abstraction called features. Although features used in current systems tend to be named after manufacturing processes, they do not, in reality, provide valuable manufacturing data. Apart from the obvious disadvantage that process engineers need to re-evaluate the design and capture the intent of the designer, this approach also prohibits early detection of possible manufacturing problems. This research attempts to bring the design and manufacturing phases together by implementing manufacturing features. A design is composed entirely in a bottom-up manner using manufacturable entities in the same way as they would be produced during the manufacturing phase. Each feature consists of parameterised geometry, manufacturing information (including machine tool, cutting tools, cutting conditions, fixtures, and relative cost information), design limitations, functionality rules, and design-for-manufacture rules. The designer selects features from a hierarchical feature library. Upon insertion of a feature, the system ensures that no functionality or manufacturing rules are violated. If a feature is modified, the system validates the feature by making sure that it remains consistent with its original functionality and design-for-manufacture rules are re-applied. The system also allows analysis of designs, from a manufacturing point of view, that were not composed using features. In order to reduce the complexity of the system, design functionality and design-for manufacture rules are organised into a hierarchical system and are pointed to the appropriate entries of the feature hierarchy. The system makes it possible to avoid costly designs by eliminating possible manufacturing problems early in the product development cycle. It also makes computer-aided process planning feasible. The system is developed as an extension of a commercially available CAD/CAM system (Pro/Engineer), and at its current stage only deals with machining features. However, using the same principles, it can be expanded to cover other kinds of manufacturing processes

Sustaining competitive advantage in product development : a DFM tool for printed circuit assembly

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1996, and Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1996.by Greg Nagler.M.S

Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) in construction: the old and the new

Design for manufacture and assembly (DfMA) has become a buzzword amid the global resurgence of prefabrication and construction industrialization. Some argued that DfMA is hardly new, as there are concepts such as buildability, lean construction, value management, and integrated project delivery in place already. Others believe that DfMA is a new direction to future construction. This paper aims to review the development of DfMA in manufacturing and its status quo in construction, and clarify its similarities and differences to other concepts. A multi-step research method is adopted in this study: First, an analytical framework is generated; Secondly, a literature review is conducted on DfMA in general, and DfMA-like concepts in the AEC industry; The third step is to compare DfMA with related concepts. This study reveals that DfMA as a philosophy is hardly new in construction, and the empirical implementation of many DfMA guidelines has begun in the AEC industry. The findings suggested that DfMA is a new and mixed ‘cocktail’ of opportunities and challenges to improve construction productivity with the advancement of construction materials, production and assembly technologies, and ever-strengthened logistics and supply chain management. This study sheds light on three research directions: DfMA implementation and guidance strategies, DfMA frameworks and blueprints, and applications in cast in-situ or intermediate prefabrication construction. Our research findings provide a synopsis of DfMA research and development in construction. This paper can also serve as a point of departure for future theoretical and empirical explorations

Design and Production of a UM Photo Album

The authors would like to thank all the CME faculty and staff that made this project possible. Without their commitment to the students and the program, projects like this one would never make if off the ground. The authors would like to extend special thanks to Richard Hairston who served as a technical advisor for the project. Special thanks also the CME professors Dr. Vaughn, Dr. McClurg, and Ms. Watanabe. Their guidance was invaluable when the team found itself deep in the weeds. Lastly the authors would like to thank their amazing team that made this idea come to life. Their hard work made this endeavor successful