Cost engineering for variation management during the product and process development

Abstract

Variation Management during the Product & Process Development can profoundly impact the quality, the cost of the product and the number of scraps in mass production... Designers want tight tolerances to ensure product performance; manufacturers prefer loose tolerances to reduce manufacturing and assembly cost. To analyse compromise solutions, the primary aim is to establish an objective function. This paper presents a model for the key indicators assessment to the relevance of variation management: cost, and investigates which model used in decision analysis is the most appropriate to prioritize and aggregate the predetermined performance measures. The applications of this model are demonstrated through an industrial case study where tolerance allocation, product development, problem is firstly addressed. Once optimized tolerances are attained, inspection planning, process development, problem is approached to ensure the optimized awaited quality level for the least cost.