DFA-Tool®
Step-by-step based software
DFA-Tool® is a PC software designed for conducting Design for Assembly analysis and for designing the assembly process. With this software tool the product and/or manufacturing designer receives numeric information about the assembly like assembly time, part count, tools and equipments needed and most potential construction changes. Based on user defined characteristics of each part and added assembly operations and tools, DFA-Tool® makes an estimate of assembly time and costs.
1 - Import/create BOM
Import the Bill of Materials (BOM) directly from your CAD system or Excel file or create a new BOM in DFA-Tool®.
4 - Define assembly characteristics
Set handling and insertion characteristics for parts, subassemblies and operations in order to calculate the individual assembly time of the part. If the duration for an operation or assembly time of a certain part is available from actual time studies, the time estimate calculated by the software can be replaced by own measurements.
2 - Set production basic data
Set company related basic data, such as annual production amount, assembly costs per hour etc. Or use the default settings.
5 - Review and compare analysis results
DFA-Tool® provides real-time information of the current assembly, such as assembly time and costs. While defining part characteristics, the real-time assembly information will be immediately calculated and the results of certain design decisions is visible at any time.
Apart from the real time assembly analysis results, DFA-Tool® is able to output more detailed statistics in form of a report in different formats, such as excel or web-browser based.
3 - Define/edit assembly sequence
Drag parts around in order to define the right sequence of assembly, define subassemblies, and add operations required for assembling a product.
6 - Repeat cycle for optimization
DFA-Tool® provides the option to compare and define different assembly sequences in a single file. This way it is easy to improve and update the product design, while updating the assembly sequence simultaneously.
Functionalities & Specifications
Assembly process and dfa-analysis
Product assembly process is defined and in-depth DFA analysis is carried out:
- Assembly Bill of Materials and sequence
- Assembly time estimation
- Assembly risks detection
- Reports into Excel
Review of risks
Found DFA risks can be recorded into every assembly phase, subassembly, part or operation. The risk level is defined using FMEA assessment criteria. A summary of the risks can be output to an Excel file or stored in the common company library.
Automatic Manufacturing instructions
From ABOM and part characteristics, the user can automatically generate assembly instructions:
- Needed tools
- Used fixing parts
- Document revision
- Assembly steps with images
Common library
Company DFA library can be built from a completed analysis:
- Parts and screws
- Operations, tools and equipments
- DFA risks / Lessons to Learn
- DFA Guidelines
Integration with other systems
DFA-Tool® can seamlessly be integrated with major 3D design systems like Creo, Catia, Solidworks and NX. The Bill of Materials and part characteristics are imported directly from CAD to DFA-Tool®. Characteristics are ID, File name, Description, Lenght, Width, Height. Additionally an thumbnail of the part will be visible in part CAD Model Properties.
Well thought-out and cost saving
assembly design
DFA-Tool® is developed for Design for Assembly analysis and assembly cost reduction to help designers and manufacturing engineers improve the manufacturability and assembly of the products already early in the design stage. Assembly difficulties and challenges are systematically analyzed and potential parts for elimination are identified. Proven with actual manufacturing processes the accuracy of assembly time estimation can be up to +/- 10%. Using DFA-Tool® you can speed up the assembly design process and reduce the number of prototyping rounds, resulting in a significant decrease in the product´s assembly cost.
A free version of DFA-Tool® is available for download from the menu.
About us
DFA-Tools Oy provides a full range of Design for Manufacturability software and services for the analysis of electromechanical and mechanical products.
Contact
email: sales@dfa-tools.com
phone: +358-50-3377736
Our expertises
- Design for Assembly Software (Box-Build)
- Design for Manufacturing Software (PCBA)
- Assembly process development
- Design for Assembly consulting & training