A systematic Design for Assembly Method through the Combination of Subassemblies in Product Family

The main objective of the research presented in this paper was to develop a systematic design for assembly (DFA) methodology for the product development from the subassemblies in the Product Family (PF). This methodology first decomposes the PF around the functional modules, and secondly, each functional module requires subassemblies to accomplish the required function. Thirdly, product design is done through the combination of subassemblies, resulting in the functional modules. The assembly precedence diagrams being based on geometric reasoning are applied for the combination of subassemblies. Considering systematically, the research introduces an information structure for per part in the product, the structure contains part No., part name, material, manual assembly time, and connector No. for shape adjusting through the parts from different products in the PF. The connector No. is from a compatibility table which also contains connector name, and shape complexity rank. The application of the methodology is illustrated by a case study which is based on the PF of three different kinds of staplers. The case study finally produces an ideal product through the proposed three stages of the methodology.