Boothroyd Dewhurst, Inc., to Host 2010 International Forum on DFMA

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Boothroyd Dewhurst, Inc., to Host 2010 International Forum on DFMA

Tuesday, 30 March 2010

DFMA can help manufacturers navigate today’s economic turning point and successfully steer towards a new future

WAKEFIELD, R.I., USA, March 30, 2010 – Boothroyd Dewhurst, Inc., today announced it will host the twenty-fifth annual International Forum on Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DFMA®), on June 14-16, 2010. The Forum, “Turning Point: Preparing for a New Manufacturing Future,” will take place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Providence-Warwick, R.I., USA.

“We chose this year’s theme because, with the economy shifting upward, manufacturers can now have the confidence to act on new strategies,” says John Gilligan, president of Boothroyd Dewhurst, Inc. “Whether these strategies are in automation, lean or returning production to home countries, DFMA can make the product and processes much more efficient and profitable.”

This year’s DFMA Forum speakers will present their successes using early design analysis software and methods to unlock savings, foster innovation and improve product performance. DFMA has helped companies cut total product costs 50 percent, on average, across the 25 years since the Forum began. From labor (42%), to part count (54%), to assembly time (60%), to product development life cycle time (45%), DFMA has served as a foundation for savings and for design and manufacturing excellence.

Manufacturing companies on the list of presenters include aerospace heavyweights Boeing, Pratt and Whitney, and Bell Helicopter, as well as consumer electronics leader Motorola, among others.

About the DFMA Forum

The Forum is the foremost conference worldwide on DFMA methodologies and software. DFMA structures team knowledge and guides collaboration efforts from the concept stage onward, allowing for feature-rich products at less cost. It does this by providing comparative “should cost” estimates for manufacturing processes and materials, and by targeting opportunities for product simplification.

Each year the Forum offers valuable insights and practical strategies to managers, strategists, financial decision-makers, design engineers, manufacturing engineers, purchasing personnel, and supply-chain managers. Topics will include continuous improvement on the factory floor, using lean design to make lean manufacturing succeed, DFM as a business process, and an historic look at DFMA as a catalyst for product affordability and customer value.

Nick Dewhurst, executive vice president of Boothroyd Dewhurst, Inc. will address the Forum with a talk on the close relationship of lean and DFMA titled “DFMA the Product, then Lean the Process.” The presentation will explore the synergies that can be obtained by combining a DFMA product design mindset with a lean production approach. While lean manufacturing has significantly altered the way designs are brought through the production stage, implementation of lean principles usually starts after the product design is already set in stone. “DFMA is designed to help engineering teams look at the assembly efficiency and manufacturability of their products upfront in the development cycle,” says Dewhurst. “Reducing, or leaning out, a product’s complexity and part count in design carries benefits through to production and beyond, having tremendous impact on the product life cycle cost."

In addition to the presentations listed below, there will be a pre-conference workshop on “Systematic DFMA Deployment” led by Dr. Mike Shipulski of Hypertherm, Inc.

For information on the 2010 International DFMA Forum on Design for Manufacture and Assembly, and the pre-conference workshop, go to http://www.dfma.com/forum/index.html .