Design for Maintainability (DFM)

Introduction
The pressures of a global market continue to force companies to consider all aspects of product performance in an effort to remain competitive. An important aspect of product performance is maintainability. This START Sheet provides some insights into designing a product for maintainability. Many durable products require maintenance throughout their useful life. Thoughtful consideration of a products maintenance features early in the design process can reduce or eliminate maintenance costs, reduce downtime, and improve safety. hat is design for maintainability! "irst, design is the transformation of an idea into a product, process, or service that meets both the designers requirements and end users needs. Second, maintainability is the degree to which the design can be maintained or repaired easily economically and efficiently. e can now define design for maintainability as a design strategy, involving both the designer and end user, with the following ob#ectives. $dentify and prioriti%e maintenance requirements. $ncrease product availability and decrease maintenance time.

$ncrease customer satisfaction. &ecrease logistics burden and 'ife (ycle (osts.

The effectiveness of a design for maintainability strategy can be measured using maintenance metrics and industry benchmarks. This START Sheet covers design for maintainability principles, benefits, and measurement.

Principles of Design for Maintainability

The notion that a products maintainability should be given strong consideration in the initial product development stage is driven by the fact that maintenance and the associated costs are accrued over the entire life of the product. )ecause maintenance costs can be a significant factor in a products overall cost, it is essential that maintenance be considered early in the design when fle*ibility is high and design change costs are low. As shown in "igure +, design fle*ibility is

greatest in the conceptual stage of the product and design change costs are low. As the product nears production, design fle*ibility decreases and design change costs rise. Some companies report that changes made in production cost +,, to +,,, times as much as those made in the early concept stage.

Figure 1. Product Phase vs. Product Costs/Flexibility (Click to Zoom)

Addressing maintainability during design reduces the end users maintenance costs over the products life. $t may, however, increase the costs to manufacture. "or e*ample, it is cheaper and faster to spot weld panels together rather than use many fasteners. )ut welded panels would make it very difficult and e*pensive to make repairs in the field. )y increasing product availability, a manufacturer can increase market share and en#oy a higher production run and higher profits over the life of the product. (ustomers get a product that is economical to operate and is available when needed. &esign for Maintainability -&"M. is a closed loop process using the following principles/ +. 0se a team approach with &"M as a goal. A companys product development team should include individuals involved with design, manufacturing, product maintenance, and customer support. 1. 2ather maintenance data and develop into information. Maintenance data can be gathered from the companys service people, field data collection system, customer surveys, and warranty information. The data is then developed into information that supports decisions. 3. &evelop4identify maintenance concepts using information. Some customers will dictate the maintenance concept they will use. $n other

cases, the manufacturer must develop the maintenance concept. The product development team can generate product maintenance concepts based on the information from Step 1. The selected maintenance concept is an important design constraint. 5. &esign product using selected maintenance concepts. The design process begins using a systems approach and a variety of design tools, design rules, and approaches. At this stage, fle*ibility is great and design change costs are low. 6. &esign, analy%e, test, and improve the product. )ased on the results of analysis and test -a prototype of portions of the product or even the entire product may be built., the design evolves. Maintenance concepts are reviewed and possibly revised. "le*ibility is decreasing and design change costs are rising. 7. Manufacture the product and release to market. 8ngineering finali%es the design and releases the product to manufacturing. At this point, fle*ibility to modify the product maintenance features is low and the change costs are high. 9. (ollect field maintenance data and develop information. (ollect product field data in the form of customer feedback, warranty information, surveys, and service work. The information derived from this data can be used to evaluate the performance of the product in the field -Step :. and in designing new products -Step ;.. :. Make field improvements as required by safety, economics, and other factors. $nitial field performance may be lower than anticipated and additional changes to the design, procedures, or maintenance concept must be considered. At this point, modifying the product is very difficult and e*pensive. <nly those changes dictated by customer acceptance or safety, or that are economically attractive will be made. ;. &"M process repeats with ne*t generation product. )ased on information generated from the field data, the design for maintainability process is repeated for the ne*t generation product. &esign rules may be revised, new tools developed, and design approaches validated or revised.

Design for Maintainability Features and Benefits

The ob#ective of the design for maintainability is to provide benefits -value. to both the manufacturer and the end user. As quality and price differences among products diminish, manufacturers must find other incentives to convince

customers to purchase their products. <ne such incentive is a high level of maintainability. &urable products have long life cycles and many require both scheduled and unscheduled maintenance throughout their lives. (ompanies with a disciplined &"M program can design maintainability into their products and use this attribute as a discriminator, making their product more attractive to customers. Table + lists typical design for maintainability features used in the product development stage and the benefits these features provide to the designer and the customer. =ote that Table + lists &"M features and benefits found in many electromechanical products. &"M can also be used for software, service operations, and processes. hile the &"M features and benefits in Table + might seem obvious, without the design for maintainability process, many of the features that make a product maintainable might not be reali%ed during the product development stage.

Measuring the Benefits of Design for Maintainability

Table 1 lists several metrics that can be used in measuring design for maintainability benefits. This list is not inclusive and may vary depending on the product and4or industry. As Table 1 shows, maintenance metrics can be generated using a number of data sources. Table 3 lists several industry maintenance cost benchmarks collected by the >lant Maintenance Resource (enter -http/44plantmaintenance.com4benchmarking.shtml.. A company can compare its own maintenance metrics with benchmarks like these to determine the level of maintenance competency.
Table 1. Desig !or "ai tai ability Features/#e e!its "atrix

Design for Maintainability Benefits 8asy access to serviceable items

Design for Maintainability Features Maintenance time and costs reduced

>roduct availability increases Technician fatigue4in#ury reduced Maintenance time and costs reduced

=o or minimal ad#ustment

>roduct availability increases Maintenance training curve reduced Technician fatigue4in#ury reduced >roduct availability increases >roblem identification improves >robability of damage to the part or product reduced Reliability improves Maintenance training curve reduced Maintenance time and costs reduced >roduct availability increases (ustomer satisfaction improves Maintenance investment reduced (ustomer satisfaction improves Tool crib inventory reduced =o. of spare parts in inventory reduced >roduct cost reduced Maintenance time and costs reduced >roduct cost reduced Reliability improves Spare parts inventory reduced

(omponents4modules quick and easy to replace

Mistake proofing, part4module installs one way only

Self?diagnostics or built in test or indicators to find problems quickly

=o or few special hand tools

Standard fasteners and components

Reduce number of components in final assembly

Table $. Desig !or "ai tai ability "etrics

Design Attributes

Maintenance Metrics Field Costs

Field Performance

Accessibility Testability Standardi%ation @uman?factors Times to Repair

Repair (osts Total (osts Maintenance >ayroll Maintenance Mgt. (osts Training (osts

Maintenance <rders4Aear &owntime

ork

Total Maintenance @ours =o. of Maintenance >ersonnel $nduced "ailures

Table %. & dustry "ai te a ce #e chmark & !ormatio

Maintenance Costs % of Costs Best 'orst Best 'orst Best 'orst Best 'orst Best 'orst Best 'orst Best 'orst Best 'orst

Maintenance Costs % of Plant !eplacement "alue #il and $as %&traction 19.6,B 1.;+B 5;.5+B 1+.97B Manufacturing( Metal Products 1.7:B ,.:3B 6,.,,B ++.97B )tilities( %lectricity $eneration :.;:B +.35B 77.:;B +1.6,B Forestry and *ogging +1.6,B +,,.,,B +1.6,B 16,.,,B Mining( Metal #re 16.,,B 7.;;B 5,.5+B 1,.,,B Manufacturing( Food 1.6,B ,.1,B 57.+6B :+.16B Manufacturing( 'ood + Paper Products ,.;:B +.75B 33.:1B :.65B Chemical + Associated Products ,.,,B ,.,,B 63.17B +6,.,,B Manufacturing( Machinery + %,uipment

otal

Best 1.,,B ,.9;B 'orst 1.,,B ,.9;B =ote/ +. CMaintenance (osts B of Total (ostsC is the annual maintenance cost as a percentage of total annual plant costs. 1. CMaintenance (osts B of >lant Replacement DalueC is the maintenance cost as a percentage of plant asset replacement value at a given time. Reprinted with permission from the >lant Maintenance Resource (enter.http/44plant?maintenance.com4benchmarking.shtml