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Boothroyd Dewhurst Announces New Version of Design for Manufacture and Assembly Software

Added features in the software help product developers expand cost-management practices during design

Wakefield, R.I., USA, December 15, 2004 – Boothroyd Dewhurst, Inc. (Wakefield, R.I.), today announced a new release of the company’s internationally recognized Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DFMA®) software. The new software release is DFMA® 2005A, which includes upgraded versions of both modules in the integrated DFMA suite: DFA Version 9.2, and DFM Concurrent Costing® Version 2.1.

DFMA software from Boothroyd Dewhurst identifies the major cost drivers associated with manufacturing and finishing parts. The software helps engineering supply chains understand the cost structure of products and supports the development of innovative designs that are easier and more economical to produce. The software takes a quantitative, multidisciplinary approach to cost assessment. A key benefit is the quick generation of an initial cost estimate at any stage of design in just a few simple steps.

“The goal of DFMA analysis is to determine what a product should really cost to make,” says John Gilligan, president of Boothroyd Dewhurst, Inc. “Our new software gives engineers unsurpassed tools for deciding where cost is necessary in a design and where cost can be removed without compromising product function. Because it provides an objective basis for comparing costs across different manufacturing processes, DFMA software is also useful to cost-estimating and purchasing departments as an aid in negotiating supplier contracts.”

This version of DFMA offers many new features that help engineers create cost-effective, highly manufacturable products. Of particular importance for design cost estimating are two new manufacturing processes: deep drawing and assembly fabrication.

• Deep drawing is a major addition to the range of sheet metalworking processes in DFMA software. Engineers are now able to cost out their designs using all the common manufacturing processes for sheet metal parts. The new cost model also estimates costs for subsequent press operations with deep-drawn parts, such as trimming, ironing, restriking, punching, bending, and so on. With the addition of deep drawing, engineers can investigate costs for a broad scope of alternative shape-forming processes, including sheet metalworking, machining, plastic injection molding, metal injection molding, diecasting, and powder metals.

• Assembly fabrication introduces an entirely new capability in DFMA software that will greatly aid decisions about parts consolidation. For the first time, engineers can estimate the cost of a small welded subassembly and compare it to the cost of a single part. The new assembly fabrication process makes it easier for engineers to compare manufacturing processes for designs with a different number of parts and select the most cost-effective design from among them.

Other major improvements to the software include libraries of machine costs for manufacturing hot-forged, powder-metal, and foam-molded parts. New libraries for the various types of furnaces used in powder metal and hot forging processes have also been added.

About DFMA® software

DFMA consists of complementary Design for Assembly (DFA) and Design for Manufacture (DFM) software. Engineers use DFA software to reduce the cost of a product by consolidating parts into elegant and multifunctional designs. DFM software then helps engineers quickly judge the cost of producing the individual components of the new design.

Used together, DFM and DFA software give engineers an early cost profile of product designs, providing a basis for planning and decision making. When performed in the earliest stages of concept design, DFMA analysis has the potential to dramatically reduce manufacturing and other product life-cycle costs before they are locked in. DFMA software operates in Microsoft® Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Windows XP.

About Boothroyd Dewhurst, Inc.

Boothroyd Dewhurst, Inc., is a winner of the 1991 National Medal of Technology Award, presented by President George H. Bush. Other recipients of the award have included William Gates of Microsoft Corp. and Robert Galvin of Motorola Inc. Boothroyd Dewhurst is dedicated to continually developing the DFMA knowledge base through its integrated software programs, workshops, consulting services and international conferences. For more information, contact Boothroyd Dewhurst, Inc., 138 Main Street, Wakefield, R.I. 02879, USA. Tel. (401) 783-5840. Fax (401) 783-6872. Web site: www.dfma.com. E-mail: info@dfma.com.

Windows is a copyright of Microsoft Corp. DFMA is a registered trademark of Boothroyd Dewhurst, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.