We’re taught that failure helps us learn. After all, behind every great success is a string of failures. And, when it comes to design testing, nothing beats trying to break a physical product. It confirms weak points and prompts modification better than any design on a screen. However, it can be a very costly design methodology. When it comes to mechanical engineering final product design, reliability and durability are non-negotiable. So, if you’re a CAD engineer, the thing you most want to avoid, when creating and designing a new product, is too much reworking of the original design against desired outcomes. It’s frustrating, it’s costly, and, done too frequently, it’s highly damaging to your reputation.

Product design planning hacks

It sounds obvious, but so many people miss two obvious hacks:

1. look at the product design brief and try to understand what could go wrong before it does;
2. follow proven systems tested in high risk environments. New isn’t always better.

See examples below:

Failure analysis systems

• Back in the 1940’s the US military wanted a way of pre-empting failure and reducing variation in the production of ammunitions. So they started using a Failure Mode analysis system and had been using that same system for almost 70 years with very minor adjustments – until 2019.
• In 2019, following three years of work to revise and improve the Failure Mode & Effect analysis system, a DFMEA (Design Failure and Effect Analysis), was developed to help OEM manufacturers and Tier 1 suppliers. This system has proven a very effective tool and allows product designers to reduce potential failures. It is a system used by NASA, Ford Motor company, Nissan-Renault alliance, the VAG group and many other automotive manufacturers across the world.
• In essence, DFMEA determines what might go wrong, the scale of the impact, and how to prevent or mitigate it. It helps engineers detect failures at the earliest possible moment so they can be corrected early, without significant cost.

At Convert Design we use this system regardless of the industry we design for. Whether it is Marine, Oil & Gas, catering, etc., it is an integral part of our design process. We remove all potential points of failure to ensure robustness, reliability, and quality of the products you entrust us to design.

Which industries benefit from DFMEA?

It is especially useful for disciplines in which risk reduction and failure prevention are crucial, including:

• Manufacturing.
• Software.
• Business processes.
• Healthcare.
• Service industries.
• Regulated industries.

To learn more how we can help you convert your concept to reality without losing quality, please contact us for a free consultation by filling the contact us form.

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