Design For Manufacturing Class

One of my favorite classes I have taken is “Design for Manufacturing.” We learned about the three main manufacturing forms, Subtractive, Formative, and Additive. Throughout the semester, we built a quick reference chart with common primary, secondary, physical, and finishing processes.

We started the class with a reverse engineering project for an inspection fixture for which the documentation had been lost. We determined the primary, secondary, physical, and finishing operations for each component of the fixture assembly. We created a drawing for the base component.

We then moved to a commercialization project. We took a prototype product that was machined from a billet and determined formative processes that would be suitable for varying levels of commercialization. We then made suggestions for modifications to the design for each selected process.

We also did work with Seth Thorn on his Active Shoulder Rest product. That work is covered by NDA.