This article proposes a methodological statement and a design procedure based on an integrated approach combining finite element analysis (FEA) tools, and an instrument oriented at improving the design solutions in terms of ease of production, according to the principles of design for manufacture and assembly (DFMA). The result of an overview on product development theoretical models, with particular regard to the evolutionary mechanisms for converging on the final solution which characterize the design process, and of a review on the implementation of concurrent engineering principles, the proposed approach was expressly devised to introduce integrated and simultaneous interventions into design practice, in a way that makes the use of FEA and DFMA instruments as proactive as possible, consequently favoring the effectiveness of design choices, in order to limit the iterative processes of improvement and thereby reduce the burden they present. As evidenced by the results of a case study, this approach can allow the principal constructional characteristics of the preliminary design to be redefined in a way which simplifies manufacture and assembly processes, while guaranteeing and sometimes improving the structural functionality of the product, to the full advantage of product quality and the containment of production times and costs.
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