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DFA – Design for Assembly

DFA (Design for Assembly) is about designing products with fewer parts and simpler assembly. For each part, ask whether it truly needs to be a separate piece, or could be merged with another. Fewer parts means shorter assembly time and lower cost.

Δt=(nbefore−nafter)⋅tpart\Delta t = (n_{\text{before}} - n_{\text{after}})\cdot t_{\text{part}}assembly time saved by reducing part count

Symbols

nbefore, naftern_{\text{before}},\ n_{\text{after}}number of parts before and after DFA
tpartt_{\text{part}}assembly time per parts

Example

A DFA analysis reduces the part count from 16 to 6, at 20 s per part:

Δt=(16−6)⋅20=200\Delta t = (16-6)\cdot 20 = 200 s saved per product.

Ask "does this part need to be separate?" for every part — that is the core of DFA.
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Part of Product Development: Design for X and production.