DFMPro is an easy-to-use design for manufacturability (DFM) tool for designers and manufacturing engineers that is seamlessly integrated into leading CAD platforms like SolidWorks® and Pro/ENGINEER®. It facilitates upstream manufacturability validation and identification of areas of a design that are difficult, expensive or impossible to manufacture.
Currently, DFMPro has three modules: DFMPro for Machining, DFMPro for Sheet Metal, and DFMPro for Injection Molding .
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| Need for DFMPro |
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| The design stage is considered to be the most crucial part in the product lifecycle process. It is fundamental to the conception and development of new products. Approximately 80% or more of the lifecycle costs are commited by decisions taken during the design stage. Thus it becomes important to detect and eliminate mistakes in design stage itself as the costs rise exponentially if they are spotted in later stages of product lifecycle |
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DFMPro Demo Videos
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| Iterative Design Process |
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In the iterative approach to the design process, the designer needs to receive early feedback from the manufacturing department to address any manufacturability concerns before the design is frozen. This methodology is termed as “Design for Manufacturability” or DFM. However, DFM is generally feasible in an environment where the manufacturing and design departments are located in close proximity. With the advent of 'design anywhere, manufacture anywhere' practice common throughout the world today, implementing iterative design becomes a bigger challenge. Furthermore, the manual reviews in an iterative process can be very time consuming, making it very difficult to identify and fix every issue while creating complex designs.
DFMPro helps automate this design for manufacturability function, thereby significantly reducing the design review process.
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| Features |
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- Easy to learn and use
- Integrates seamlessly integrated with major CAD platforms
- Performs common manufacturability checks related to machining ( milling, turning), sheet metal fabrication, injection molding, manufacturing tolerance and part attribute
- Provides reasons and suggestions on manufacturability issues
- Ability to configure rules
- Ability to generate analysis reports - XML and 3D
- XML reports can be viewed with any standard internet browser
- 3D reports are intended for interactive DFM collaboration outside CAD environment
- Customizable framework to support user defined manufacturability checks
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| Benefits |
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- Early detection and prevention of manufacturability problems thereby reducing overall cost of the product lifecycle
- Decrease in ead-time by reducing backtracking and design iterations
- Designers are free to focus on design goals as the tool takes charge of checking compatibility with manufacturing processes
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| A lighter version of DFMPro - DFMXpress is available with every seat of SolidWorks 2008 onwards. |