New subject on  optimizing  plumbing  for  complex  systems, next section  below:  

 How to design high strength / weight structures 
for greatly reduced weight, steel cosupt9ion, cost, skill demands or mechanized tooling.

Case Study Example # 1: Low-Cost Rectangular Machine Frame

     This low-cost machine frame can be bolted together rigidly and precisely from parts fabricated on ordinary CNC machine tools. 

    The nodes (at the corners) would be CNC fabricated blocks through which bolts connect their struts and mounts for all machinery components that need to be anchored in that area.  

    The outer edges of a rectangle frame are made of machined rectangular tubing, to which covers or doors could be easily attached to.

    Interior components and sub-frames would be supported by struts coming from the he main frame nodes discussed below and triangulated to other existing nodes. 

        It is important to realize that such a frame  can replace both the existing frame AND all the existing brackets to support components and sub-frames,                Trusses   str   omjrtrmy   stiff3

                                                            Warped weldments  are  the  opposite

workshop topics to optimize wiring, plumbing. amd Upgrade- ability.

The principles for both are presented in Section 3.1.12: Design Strategy for Electrical Systems and Sectiom 3.1.11 How to Optimize All Design Strategies:

Options and upgrades can be made to be easy to incorporate by adding, for instance to the framework: extra pre-drilled mounting holes and surfaces; extra signal ports;  extra power ports; extra utility connections; extra utility capacity; and convenient mounting spaces. These techniques will also  allow you to cope with late customer changes as discussed in section 2.8. 

Doing this now will add virtually no extra cost to the product, but 
if you all you people work well together, the benefits will be enormous.

"Wiring and cables are key elements of product architecture and should not be left as an afterthought." Complete electrical systems should be optimized at the concept / architecture level. Cheers have gone up when this was said in a seminar

For plumbing, one proven technique can quickly show the opportunities in he flowing exercises:

1. Project an image of the current plumbing physical layout as a clear three-dimensional drawing, photo, scale model, or actual hardware. The presenter should point out al the complicating effects of locating the "crown jewels" first, and then designing the frameworks and structural members, maybe somewhat arbitrarily. Plumbing in complex systems tends to be routed "over ,under around and through" alll of that ,usually in a octagonal grid, like plumbing in a house,  sometimes worse.

esults:

Usually, the optimized scenario has about half the joints, although it may look different and may have some installation or serviceability challenges.

However the, the net result may be half the joints, this may be very valuable and worth the effort, especially for fluids that are leak-prone in situations where such leaks are hazardous, wasteful, inefficient, polluting, or depleting fuel capacity. The smallest molecule – hydrogen -- can be all of these.

 

Now that we the timely subjects of   wiring and plumbing optimized,

Back to the Assembled Frames

Eliminating problems of welding

This eliminates all the problems of welded frames: skill demands, warpage, and post-weld machining on a mega-machine big enough to machine all mounting holes into a warped frame.  One ten foot cube semiconductor fab machine frame has to do this
 twice!

This site shows how to use these principles  to replace   skill-intensive welding with
 rigid assembles of CNC machined parts  as done in  this workshop 
as mentioned in all the clients that con train hyper-links referring to this page.

STRATEGY 

Replace high-skill labor welding (and high cost  hogging out heavy  stock)   with assemblies of parts that are automatically  fabricated  on  CNC  machine tools  and then assembled  rigidly and  precisely  by low-cost labor.  

The parts can be built on local CNC machine tools wherever the stell cost is lowest and assembled  by local low-cost labor.  Or more specialized machine tools can make parts which are then shipped in crates, not in bulky products!

Avoid the  Problems, delays, and Costs Caused by Welding

The American Welding Society predicts a welder shortage of 400,000 by 2024.  Since the average age of welders is 55, that means that new welds are not being trained!  

Ask  your HR or production managers.  One client said: 
"You  would not believe  how hard it is 
to find good welders in northern Minnesota!"

Fortunately, large or complex  weldments  can  be  replaced by backward-compatible "drop-in: replacements of assemblies of CNC - machined parts that are assembled rigidly and precisely by DFM techniques, below.

 Skill  Demands

Welding requires skilled labor cost to make consistently good welds plus other labor to position, fixture, clamp, straighten  warpage, and grind, and "touch up" (re-weld) as necessary.   Trying to reduce welder cost may raise all of these other welder support costs, especially grinding, which is the first step of rework of welding before re-welding.

Further , skilled labor shortages can reduce scalability and limit ability to handle peak demand and growth
 

 Loss  of  Strength

• Welding causes loss of strength in the "heat affected zone" from welding  and  annealing, thus requiring more metal ato be neede if the welding  weakens the raw material's "cold-rolled" strength or heat-treated strength or hardness  enhancement.
 

Residual   Stresses

• Welding induces residual stresses. The choices:

worsen  structural failure modes or  lower the payload   or have to  add more metal for the same payload.

• Residual stresses may also cause warping after metal removal, especially large amounts of metal removal.

• An expensive, slow way to try to  deal with heat warpage and metal removal warpage is to anneal all the raw materials or  work-pieces  before welding or before machining, which  may require a large furnace that will also have expensive hourly charges, transportation and queuing delays, especially if different jobs require time to change to different  annealing temperatures. But, don’t forget that annealing weakens all  metals.

Copyright ©2022 by David M. Anderson

 

HOW TO DO this for Large Structures

Large structures, like antennas, solar reflectors, machine frames, or any large structures can be challenging to build if they must be precise.

The design techniques presented on this page (and more formally on Section 9.6 of the 2020 DFM book) will result in large structures that are not only precise, but also rigid, very low cost, have low skill demands, and will ultimately be scalable without  shortages. As shown in the trade group cited below, skilled welders are getting harder to recruit, especially in out-of- the-way locations.

The usual approach to this is welding, which can not do any of these very well. Some weldments can be rigid, may too much so, which might induce stress concentrations which may ultimately weaken the structure.

Precise assembly  methodologies recommend designing strictures –

, or replacing large weldments – with precise assemblies made automatically on ordinary CNC machine tools and assembled precisely with variously DFM techniques and guidelines.

Most of workshops done on this (noted with blue hyper-links on the client page) have been on replacing weldments with more manufacturable backward-combative "drop in" replacements retrofitted onto current product designs for major short-term savings without needing a full product development cycle.
       These design templates could also be leveraged to other similar current products or used as a basis for any new designs or product families. This would also encourage a leap-frog strategy where these low-cost parts couldthen become the basis for new generation products or the approach could be applied to new low-cost products

Replacements can easily be compared to precise assemblies, which is usually worth the effort. Of course new designs can, and should, start with this approach – just learn the welding shortcomings for anyone who might ask "why don’t you . . . " questions.

Generic Examples

Although most of the generic examples on this page replace welded orthogonal frames,
Dr. Anderson has also created 3D models to replace welded sheet-metal frames,
large welded gimbals, channels, and I-beams
He has also done workshops to replace frames made of welded plates, welded tubes, and castings. 

REPLACEMENT FRAMES FOR MACHINES AND LARGE STRUCTURES

How to design low-cost replacement frames for substantial cost savings now on existing products and/or base next generation products on these low-cost parts..

Text and illustrations Copyright © 2019 by David M. Anderson 

Case Study Example # 2: Low-Cost Machine Frame to Support an Object or Machinery

   The low-cost machine frame concept shown bolts to the existing framework of the supported object or machinery   either directly through adapter blocks, shown on each corner of the grey  framework.

    This truss is built as shown and the trusswork is a fully triangulated space frame that mounts to the floor on three points to install and align quickly and avoid the overconstraints common in all four-point frame mounts.  This truss frame could be backward compatible with an existing four-point mounting arrangement, with one new floor mount.  If the supported object can be  supported by three mounts, then the frame would be the simpler octahedron, as illustrated below in the comparison to a square welded frame.

 For large trucks, there are so many weight saving opportunities because the thickness of  a channel frame is determined by the loads around the bolt holes, but since the channel plate must have constant thickness, most of this steel is "loafing" and thus much heavier than necessary.

How to Design Structures for the 
absolute Minimum weight, Steel Usage, and Cost

Spread out the "load path"  from the supports to the loads bearing  down.

 

LOAD PATH STRATEGY FOR STRUCTURES OF LEAST WEIGHT AND MATERIAL USAGE

This applies to all opportunities, but will be discussed in the context of the pair of drawings below  In the simplified truss beam example shown in the lower illustration, the colored  truss struts follow the “load paths” for the most efficient structure possible, resulting in the lowest weight, and cost, possible for a given load. 

   Detailed Description.  Specifically, the approach would be to replace the usual heavy welded frames with a three-dimensional truss, consisting of struts and nodes.  Struts would be sized for their specific  tension / compression loads.  

    Development time can be quick because the struts cross-sections can be specified thicker for prototypes and early evaluations with detailed stress analysis following to reduce weight and material usage for production units.

        A truss would provide the lightest
possible frame for a given strength because
 its struts would align with all the load paths 
between the loads  themselves and their 
supports on the floor.

The nodes would be placed at all of 
these mounting locations and the struts 
would connect them, even if they 
are not co-planar. This would 
eliminating all the separate brackets 
now needed to do this 

Backward compatible "drop in" replacements

            In all applications, the low-cost truss frame replacement would be backward compatible and designed to "drop in" to your current product, thus providing early cost, steel, and weight reduction now and then the design work would become the foundation for next generation and fture designs/
            Because the truss would follow the load paths, it would be the lightest possible structure for a given strength, called a constant-stress structure with no excess material that is 'loafing."  To see this graphically, look at  the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of your current designs.  The highest stress zones are usualy shown in red.  These zones are "constant stress"  zones, which provide the highest streanth per weight.  By contrast, zones of lighter colors have less stress;  these  are  where the material is loafing.   Load-path trusses eliminate inefficiently utilized material and, thus, provide the highest strength per weight.

THE   WORKSHOP

Most of the workshops that  Dr. Anderson has done were for big structures with big loads, like the underground mining front-loaders for Caterpillar, four-axle missile trailers for Italy's Finmeccanica’s DRS division in the U.S., and many large machine frames, like the first two CAD models above. Clients that held these workshops, or the consulting equivalent, are indicated by blue hyperlinks to this page at the client list page.
              

tHE vALUD OF BACKWARD-COMPATIBLE REPLACEMENTS

Since the low-cost manufacturable replacements can be designed to be back-ward compatible with expensive versions, this offers the following leap-frog strategy:

• It can providing near-term cost reduction without spending the cost, resources, and calendar time for a new product development cycle.

• The design can then becoming the basis for a next-generation development.
   

This one-day workshop applies very effective DFM principles to large, heavy, or hard-to-build parts for major reduction in cost, material usage, and build  time. These improved designs could then be retrofitted onto current products or used as a basis for new designs.  

The workshop will show how to develop backward-compatible substitutes that will replace expensive weldments, castings, or unnecessarily heavy machined parts with more steel-efficient parts comprised of precise assemblies of CNC-machined parts that are rigidly and precisely assembled by various DFM techniques.  

Such a manufacturable structure could be based on assembled plates or, for larger structures, look like the illustrations on this page, which will be described below in the discussion of trusses that follow the load paths for the highest strength per weight ratio.


Major Cost Reduction for Welded Structures

Dr. Anderson is in a unique position to facilitate workshop trade-offs between welding and machining, having owned three welders and his own machine shop.

The most applicable large welded structures should be analyzed for opportunities at the conceptual level with the goal of avoiding the following costs:

• high-skill labor cost to weld plus other labor to position, fixture, straighten warpage, and grind.  Skilled labor shortages raise costs and can delay production and lower quality.  Note that welding acute angles (e.g. in welded trusses or diagonal bracing) requires extra skill to get enough heat between diverging members.   For military and mission-critical applications, these  kind of welds require a special certification.
  
  • high steel usage and cost at a time when steel prices are rising and will continue to rise for raw material and transportation costs both for incoming materials and outgoing products.
  
  • the cost and delays for annealing the weldments or the risk of fractures from residual stresses.
  
  • the imprecise and labor intensive practice of mounting parts in slots or large holes and then aligning them manually, or
  
  • machining large parts after welding, which may require large, expensive machine tools and furnaces to anneal them, which:

• • are very expensive to buy or have high hourly charges to outsource
  
  • usually involve labor-intensive on-line setups which adds more time to expensive machine charges and delays the flow
  
  • may involve transportation and queuing delays.

• loss of strength in the heat affected zone from welding and annealing, thus requiring more steel compared to steel used at its full cold-rolled strength.

The Strategy

The strategy would be to commercialize proven parts with backwards compatible replacements with the same functionality and strength (possibly enhanced) with much less total cost and weight. This would provide cost reduction now on existing products. This would also encourage a leap-frog strategy where these low-cost parts could then become the basis for new generation products.

The specific strategy to eliminate the abovementioned costs would be to create an optimized concept/architecture for constant-stress trusses and structures (which, by definition, use the least material) with the following steps.

The Approach

The approach would be based on the following premises:

Fabrication. All machined parts would be small enough to be set up and made quickly on readily-available CNC machine tools in a single setup (Guideline P14 in the DFM book, which specifies that all operations should be done in one setup on versatile CNC machine tools).
            Welded parts would be limited to those that are small enough to be machined after welding by the typical in-house machine tools. This may be appropriate for bearing blocks and other junction parts if not feasible to machine from a single block.

Assembly. Precise alignment of these assembled pieces would be assured by the programmable part manufacture.

Mass Customized Tooling.   Dr. Anderson has written two books on mass customization, and had experience designing flexible tooling as Manager of Flexible Manufacturing at Intel's Systems Group and his own Anderson Automation, Inc.  Based on all this, his workshops show how to design flexible processes that can programmably offer variety with less cost, time, space, weight, and material usage.
        The general principles of mass customizing process design are  summarized on the web article  shows flexible processes for electronics (Figure 1) and  flexible processes for fabricated products (Figure 2)  at http://www.build-to-order-consulting.com/mc.htm .  Another big benefit of flexible tooling is that it enables spec changes or customer-induced changes to be implemented faster than with inflexible designs built in hard tooling, thus keeping them off the critical path.

Steps for Reducing Cost on Large Parts and Assemblies:

• Identify existing loads, directions, and attachment points, which would then be graphically represented. In a workshop setting, these could be projected from a active CAD screen or printed on several sheets of large paper with dark lines for the next step.

• Brainstorm on various ways to support these loads, with many ideas sketched on many printouts.

• Then optimize the design of these parts for manufacturability and currently engineered manufacturing strategies for trusses, assembling plates and bar stock, and "space frames."

Trusses consist of struts and nodes:

Struts. Purely tension members could be made of rods; compression struts must be  axisymmetric with the load path and wide enough to resist buckling. This favors tubing with threaded holes at the end to bolt to the node blocks.

A  clean, inexpensive strut could be made by swagging down the ends to just past the tap diameter for tapping threads that could then be bolted to the node blocks.  

Swagged tubes are shown in the illustration below (in grey), which can be inexpensively procured from a swagging shop.  In one application, a swaged tube cost $40 for a 25 inch long tube, 2.5" OD, with an 1/8" wall that that included drilling-and-taping and facing off for a precision length (wall thickness can go up to 1/4" and higher).  

         The nodes would have bolt holes for the struts and all hardware that bolts to the structure.

Node Blocks. Each node block would be designed and dimensioned so that all operations for node attachment and and object mounting holes would be made in one setup (Guideline P14) on an ordinary CNC machine tool. 

Rectangular truss with two spheres at nodes

   Dr. Anderson helps companies lay out the strut center-lines and bolt hole centers  through consulting, working with the client's top CAD engineer on a  frame, who first lays out the attachment mounting geometries.  These would be either small brackets or a  small washer that represents a larger sub-assembly bole  mount.    That CAD engineer would project this to the team at the second workshop afternoon  meeting/

Comparisons with welded frames. The usual orthogonal welded frame (like the one on the right) needs much skilled labor to weld, which results in a warped structure that must have holes drilled after welding on an expensive mega-machine used for large structures.  Plus all 8 corners would have to be ground for appearance or sanitation.  And this is without diagonal bracing, which would require 6 more braces and 12 more welds, all of which will induce residual stresses that will reduce the load capacity or require more material.
      By contrast, the octahedron truss (on the left) has all parts machined automatically on ordinary CNC machine tools.  The struts are assembled to 6 nodes precisely and rigidly by unskilled labor.  The simplest truss, the octahedron, is shown, although trusses can be designed to any shape,  like existing rectangular frames, as shown above. 

      For mounting loads, orthogonal frames, like the one shown on the right, usually need many extra brackets to attach hardware to the frame.
       With trusses, the nodes also serve as all the mounts for all the mounted hardware, since all the struts and  nodes can be uniquely fabricated (this is called mass customization)  so that a node is next to every hardware mount. Trusses have inherent diagonal bracing and can support loads without any warpage, overconstraints, or residual stresses.   

Case Study # 3 Example: Commercial vehicle frames. These principles could apply to "work vehicles" whose frames have to support heavy loads, like engine/transmission units for work trucks, engine/generator units for locomotives or portable power plants, buckets or dump bodies for earth-moving equipment, combines, engines for farm equipment, or the loads for heavy-haul trucks or trailers.

The illustration compares the typical heavy, expensive flat frames with light, inexpensive truss framework: The typical flat frames (shown on top) may be supported by I-Beams or channels (in the  case of Semi-trucks) that would have to be very heavy to support heavy loads in the middle of long frames, especially if they were only a few inches high.  Welded frames could be thicker, but at a high cost for steel and skilled labor; for instance, one wheel-loader frame is made from 300 pieces welded together to form the two pivoting frames (a 3D CAD model of a low-cost replacement is available on request).

Case Study #4 example: Low-cost Backhoe Boom Replacement for Weldment

The low-cost assembly (upper CAD model) replaces the heavy welded boom (lower photo)

The assembled replacement is a truss, which is the lightest structure for a needed strength, so it uses a fraction of the steel, and material cost, compared to a structure made of heavy plate. The truss is built automatically on ordinary CNC machine tools and assembled by non-skilled labor.  Note that the heavy load exerted by the boom piston is connected to the thick "elbow" structure with the load supported at the ends of two tetrahedrons.  This CAD model and more machine frames  below were drawn by Dr. David M. Anderson, copyright © 2018.  He also has to-scale CAD models for other layouts, like front and rear wheel loader frames, which he will work exclusive with the first mover to contact him

The conventional design in the photo is made by welding many large heavy plates, which has high skill demands and weakens the steel in the heat-affected-zone.

In order to provide accurate mounting holes and surfaces, which is essential for industrial machinery frames, the warped weldment must be machined on an expensive mega-machine with very high hourly costs for positioning, machining, repositioning, and inspections, not to mention transportation and queuing delays.

MORE EXAMPLES AND CONCEPTS

Truss Frame with Bearing Mounts for Shaft.  
© 2018 by Dr. David M. Anderson.

Two "tripods" can be bolted to any truss (in this case, the above octahedron) to mount other structures like mount bearing blocks to rigidly support machine shafts, axles, pivots, or any rotating members.  The bearing blocks have bearing mount surfaces bored and reamed and also tapped holes on the outer surface on which to bolt the struts.
      The tripod mounts result in fully triangulated rigidity and is much stronger per weight than the usual techniques us using heavy plates or weldments to mount bearings
    If a single structural mount was needed, one tripod could be utilized with an appropriate mounting surface.
       Any subassembly could be bolted to any side or multiple sides of any basic truss frame for functionality, for instance, bearing blocks, in any plane.
 

The Catenary Truss.  Structurally, the catenary truss is the ideal beam because the catenary shape matches the load curve for beams that are supported at the ends, thus providing the greatest strength for the least material, the lightest weight, and the lowest cost.  This type of truss is utilized in the most advanced bridges   The inverse of this is a suspension bridge in which the catenary is a long cable with smaller cables connected to the bridge surface.  Catenary trusses, as shown below, can be utilized as cost-efficient frame work that need to support weights (loads) over challenging distances, especially for sub-frames that need to be light for accelerations. This may be the best design approach for long beams like large machinery or frames for the lightest railroad tracks.

            Like all trusses discussed above, all the parts can be built automatically on ordinary CNC machine tools.  assembled by non-skilled labor, and retain neat treatments or cold-rolled strength of the raw materials.

            This illustration shows a physical model, which can produce many ideas quickly and can be passed around in meetings..  These model parts are made by ZomeTool, which was designed by PhD mathematicians for molecular biologists and structural engineers in addition to being widely available as toys (see http://www.zometool.com/science/ ).

            In this model, the red spheres (like in the above CAD models) represent the nodes that connect the struts and are also the mounting blocks for objects.  The black spheres support the ends of the beam and anchor it.

Next Example: The Zig-Zag Truss for Long Structures.  Similar techniques can be used to create a

"zig-zag (Warren) truss for booms, masts or long structures.
       Additional truss members in a perpendicular plane can provide
lateral stiffness.  Similarly, three strut columns could provide lateral and torsional stiffness.  These will be the lightest and strongest structures possible without the cost, excess steel, and difficult machining of long channels/bar-stock and without the warpage, distortion, imprecise hole locations, and skill demands of welded trusses. 

     
The Results

The results would be much lower cost from:

• quick machining on readily-available CNC machine tools

• quick setup concurrently engineered for whole part families to further reduce machine time

• quick assembly with accuracy assured by programmably machined features

• higher strength per weight (meaning higher strength per material cost) because of:

• more structurally efficient designs (lower stresses to support a given applied load)

• all material would remain at cold-rolled strength and heat-treated strengths could be preserved
 

These truss structures would provide the absolute lowest weight for a needed strength.

Cost Reduction for Large Machined Parts

For fabricated parts now made of excessively thick steel, the workshop group would start by identifying the loads and load paths. Then we conceive of structural shapes that match the load paths, which will probably not be a constant cross-section slab that has a lot of under-stressed material that leads to unnecessary cost and weight. Then we brainstorm on optimal assemblies of CNC-machined parts whose cross-sections are matched to the load, thus approaching constant-stress parts, which have the highest strength per weight. This would be accurately and rigidly assembled by various DFM techniques in which the precision is entirely determined automatically by the CNC machines. 

These techniques include DFM Guideline A3, in which mating parts would be aligned to sub-mill tolerances by inexpensive pairs of round and diamond dowel pins in reamed holes. Parts could be designed to be self-fixturing or simple fixtures could be concurrently engineered to hold parts during alignment and clamping together for fastening.  Aligned parts would then be bolted/riveted together with appropriate bolt strength, torque settings, and retention strategies.

Cost Reduction for Large Cast Parts

Cast parts require expensive tooling and lengthy and costly setups, which usual force the OEM to order a large batch to amortize the setup costs,  but this violates lean production principles and makes it hard to do build to order (see http://www.build-to-order-consulting.com/sbto.htm).    For large or complex castings, there may be a limited supplier base who can cast them, thus increasing transportation costs, shipping delays, and possibly queues for busy suppliers.  For example, for a certain size of large Diesel engine blocks, there are only two suppliers in the world who can make them.  Further, castings all require machining, which may require an expensive mega-machines for large castings, which may also incur lengthy setups, queues, and delays to ship large castings to shops with mega-machines.

The workshop group would start by identifying the loads and load paths. Then we conceive of structural shapes that match the load paths. Then we brainstorm on optimal assemblies of CNC-machined plates whose cross-sections are matched to the load, thus approaching constant-stress parts, which have the highest strength per weight. This would be accurately and rigidly assembled by various DFM techniques, like Guideline A3 mentioned above.

The above techniques could replace many hard-to-make large parts and fasten multi-part assemblies.

Workshop

This one-day workshop will apply unique DFM principle to large parts  for half the cost or better and significantly less steel consumption.

This is the most effective way to reduce cost on existing products because it focuses the most effective half-cost DFM principles on the least manufacturable module in industrial machinery: structures and frames, which usually are hogged out of large blocks or are welded and then go to straightening, grinding, and drilling on mega-machines (see cost savings summarized below).

The workshop will show a small group of your people how to quickly design backward-compatible replacements that can “drop in” to existing product designs for significant near-term cost savings without needing a full product development cycle.
 

orkshop Format

The group would explore some of the most promising opportunities in the workshop to the point where they look feasible and it is clear how to proceed at which point responsibility could be assigned to pursue each opportunity.

The group would also identify future opportunities to be explored later based on pre-workshop research that will have identified some opportunities. Opportunities will be summarized and then the workshop group will vote on them for a baseline prioritization of opportunities.

Pre-workshop company research should also plot steel cost from the time current products were designed and extrapolate price trends into the future.

Audience. Product development team with all designated and potential members, with at least one person representing each function and one person knowledgeable about each proposed candidate structure. The workshop would benefit from close proximity to the physical structures being analyzed. 

Prerequisite:  When a DFM class is give, workshop attendees should attend the two-day DFM seminar first.   For a stand-alone workshop, the prerequisite would be be familiarity with the original part, its brackets, and everything that attaches to them, CAD skills, and familiarity with the parts welding process, and company or vendor machine shop operations.  

Faster, lower-cost alternative: Hourly Consulting with company CAD engineer(s).

        An alternative would be ask Dr. Anderson to do the above as hourly consulting (billed in 10 minute increments with no  minimum)  working with relevant company engineers and/or a CAD engineer(s).  The joint effort would quickly  present the most promising approaches for the company to evaluate, select, and implement.  

Dr. Anderson is particularly effective for complex frames or structures that could benefit from more manufacturable design concepts and concurrently engineered low-cost fixtures (at http://www.build-to-order-consulting.com/flex-mfg.htm )  and processing.  He is in a unique position to do machining / welding tradeoffs, since he once had his own machine shop and learned how to use three welders.
        He also has to-scale CAD models for other layouts, like front and rear wheel loader frames, on which he will work exclusive with the first mover to contact him.   
           Because of his ethics code (from the Institute of Management Consultants) he will avoid conflicts-of-interest by not working with direct competitors, so that means first-come-first-serve for enlisting his considerable experience on these techniques that  he originated.  

See client engagements that included this Steel/Cost Reduction workshop, 
as indicated by blue hyperlinks on his  clients page.  
For clients with new challenges, he has a vast library of generic struts already drawn.

Workshops Done and Proposed:

     Dr. Anderson has already done workshops for low-cost frames for: underground coal mining vehicles; four-axle trailers for heavy loads; large paper converting machinery; 12' high box-makers; dock-scale natural gas compressors; fuel-cell back generator port block; framework for large ASRS warehouse; low-cost joints in a 400' long window glass vacuum chamber; cabinetry strategy to accept off-the-shelf enclosure modules; and nuclear plant worst-case scenario filters.
       Dr. Anderson has personally done both welding and owned his own machine shop, and, thus, is a good position to advise on tradeoffs between welding and machining.  See sixth paragraph of his credentials page.

       He has proposed this workshop or consulting studies for:

• Many low-cost frame and structures for industrial machinery (like CAD model above)

• Molding machinery foundations (CAD model available)

• Large medical equipment gimbals (CAD model available)

• Semi-truck chasses

• Very large dump-trucks chasses

• Wheel-loader (wheeled front loader) (CAD model available)

• framework for farm machinery

• Mobile distributed) power plant chasses

• Diesel engine blocks (concept sketch available)

• Long-span structures that support heavy loads, like railroad cars and locomotive chasses (physical model available)

• Light-weight long-span structures for high-speed motion (physical model available)

• Lighter weight airplane structures to support concentrated loads like engines and landing-gear.
  
           If your company makes any products that have similar opportunities, contact Dr. Anderson for your own proposal for workshops or design studies that will show you how greatly lower the cost of your hardest-to-design parts.  As a Certified Management Consultant (CMC), Dr. Anderson's high ethical standards  prevent  him from doing this for direct competitors, which means the first to bring him in gets a unique competitive advantage. 

All of these principles on DFM can be included in
your customized class and workshop on DFM or
 the Most Effective uct Development class 

Here is an email you can use to send this information around:

 

To: all

I just found a heavily-illustrated web page that shows how to:

a)    Design  ultra-low-cost frames that avoid the high cost, material use, and skill demands of welded frames and replace all that with automatically CNC- machined parts that can be quickly assembled rigidly and precisely by the DFM techniques described by the 50 articles on this site.

`b)    Provide immediate cost and steel reduction on existing products with backward-compatible "drop-in" replacement frames which next-generation products can be based on.

See www.design4manufacturability.com/steel-reduction-workshop.htm

 

The very first step may be to start with a few hours of  thought-leader  consulting
to help formulate strategies and implementation  planning.

 

To discuss this further, contact:

Dr. David M. Anderson, P.E.; CMC; Fellow, ASME
HalfCostProducts.com
www.design4manufacturability.com
www.build-to-order-consulting.com
1-805-924-0100; anderson@build-to-order-consulting.com

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