Design for Manufacturing: Sometimes the Coolest Products are the Hardest

“Begin with the End in Mind.” This well-known Steve Covey habit is especially true during product development

I recently had the opportunity to speak about the early stages of product design at the Design for Manufacturing (DFM) Summit in Brooklyn, NY, discussing that without a clear understanding of product requirements from the start (as viewed from ALL stakeholder’s perspectives) most products are doomed to fail. And one of the biggest failure points happens when a large stakeholder, the manufacturer, is unable to manufacture efficiently.

Let’s Take a Closer Look at Design for Manufacturing

Design for Manufacturing (DFM) philosophies tell us to design our products proactively, optimizing all manufacturing functions. The right process involves creating a productization plan before digging into the engineering and design, which forces us to address all requirements and trade-offs early on. But even though we all know we should be doing this, turning it into practice is a whole other story.

Let’s be honest. We only want to work on the “cool” and interesting parts of a design. We absolutely love creating things that add value to the lives of others, yet don’t want to do the grunt work to make it real. And it gets even harder when we’re working on a product that really piques our interest.

“Begin with the End in Mind.” This well-known Steve Covey habit is especially true during product development.

I recently had the opportunity to speak about the early stages of product design at the Design for Manufacturing (DFM) Summit in Brooklyn, NY, discussing that without a clear understanding of product requirements from the start (as viewed from ALL stakeholder’s perspectives) most products are doomed to fail. And one of the biggest failure points happens when a large stakeholder, the manufacturer, is unable to manufacture efficiently.

Let’s Take a Closer Look at Design for Manufacturing

Design for Manufacturing (DFM) philosophies tell us to design our products proactively, optimizing all manufacturing functions. The right process involves creating a productization plan before digging into the engineering and design, which forces us to address all requirements and trade-offs early on. But even though we all know we should be doing this, turning it into practice is a whole other story.

Let’s be honest. We only want to work on the “cool” and interesting parts of a design. We absolutely love creating things that add value to the lives of others, yet don’t want to do the grunt work to make it real. And it gets even harder when we’re working on a product that really piques our interest.