Globalization of the design for manufacturability/assembly process within the automotive wiring assembly business

摘要

Automotive wiring assembly design and manufacturing has evolved from a locally based business to a global business. It is common today to engineer the design of a wiring assembly in one region of the world, to manufacture it in a second region, and to assemble it into the vehicle in a third region. This creates a need for global collaboration, training and communications. Design for manufacturability (DFM) is a tool that can aid in this, in developing common processes globally, and reducing the cost and design complexity of the product in the early design stages. To develop a global DFM process, an organization must develop and implement a strategy. This paper will review the approach that an automotive wiring assembly supplier adopted. It will enumerate the benefits of developing a global design for manufacturability process, selecting a champion, and using a twelve-step plan to integrate DFM into each region. This paper will summarize a systematic approach for integrating, implementing, and tracking DFM globally.