Teaching cost awareness in design for manufacture

For Industrial Design undergraduate students an awareness of manufacturing capabilities and costs is important in designing for and selecting production processes. It is often difficult to include accurate cost information and set problems in a realistic context. To overcome this the Boothroyd and Dewhurst Design for Manufacture Toolkit has been used to support teaching in a Level 2 Design for Manufacture module. This is a suite of cost estimating software that incorporates an extensive database of materials, machines and processing information. The paper outlines two tasks, using the sheet metalworking and the injection moulding modules of the software, that enable students to gain an understanding of the various factors involved in manufacturing costs. After analysing a part, a full breakdown of costs for material, tooling and processing of the part can be obtained. Students can then change particular parameters and note the effects on the cost. The introduction of the software has helped students to gain a better appreciation of how their design decisions on the form influence the making of a part and the manufacturing costs. Use of the software is to be extended to Level 3 and postgraduate teaching.