A 3-D CAD modeling case study: Design for manufacturing in cooperation with industrial design

Design for manufacturing (DFM) is a service that a job shop naturally provides. Perhaps it’s not always a formal service, but shops generally give advice when asked.

The previous edition of this column “Navigating the design for manufacturing and industrial design worlds,” The FABRICATOR^®, December 2017, p. 48 introduced DFM as a task using a real-world example of a job shop project. It’s literally a sheet metal case study (see Figure 1). The heroes of our story developed a cabinet-in-CAD for fabrication. The STEP file represented the team’s industrial design goals and defined the shape and desired interior space.

The basic requirement was to use beautiful stainless steel sheet metal for the cabinets, so they were suitable for display in large, high-end restaurants. It was up to the job shop to figure out where to put seams, welds, and screws—generally figuring out how to build it. The goal was to have the shop apply its best DFM.

From the job shop’s perspective, this is a business opportunity for a perfect match of design with process, tooling, and equipment. Once the design is perfected with a one-off build, the job shop then has to wait to see if the work results in long-term batch production, which would be a nice source of income for the job shop. It would end up being a win for our heroes because they delivered great design.

The cliffhanger from the previous column left this question: What kind of cabinets do you predict will come of this? The good news is that a working machine was displayed at the tradeshow. A business goal was satisfied. To the credit of all of the contractors in this story, they did their best, and much of it was excellent.

The School of Hard Knocks

I met Voga Coffee Inc. after its first machines were in operation. The company is graciously sharing details of its product development with us, particularly as it relates to subcontracted manufacturing. Over the past several years, Voga has successfully installed machines, adjusted its business plan, and added the right suppliers to its business network. The company has learned the joy and agony associated with constantly improved design in a regulatory environment.

Voga Coffee’s willingness to delegate the DFM for its first cabinet was a plan that fit a fleeting opportunity. That opportunity was defined by time and experience. As a startup business, the company’s cash flow was entirely from debt, and it needed to retire that debt promptly. The way to do that was to sell machinery for income. That was the first stage of the business plan. World domination by elimination of bad coffee would come later.

The company’s management knew they had a great invention. The patented brewing process was—and remains—acclaimed by certified gourmets, as well as regular coffee drinkers. The long-term business plan called for a contract manufacturer capable of dealing with food safety audit requirements. First the company needed a proven design for a future contract manufacturer to begin mass production.

The short-term business plan included the retention of an industrial design firm to translate the early bench prototypes into something suitable for display. A friendly machine shop helped Voga Coffee translate the images from the industrial design firm into a cabinet-in-CAD suitable for competitive bidding.

For the first tradeshow project, final assembly happened simultaneously with invention, development, and refinement. Needless to say, a few false starts occurred along the way.

This first build was only for show, not for resale. Funding was barely available. The schedule was desperate from the get-go. If the company could get three machines ready, that was going to be ideal. The minimum for success was to get one working machine on display.

A tactical decision was made to send the cabinet-in-CAD for one-off production to three different shops. Not only did that diversify the supplier base, it also allowed our heroes to pick the best of the three cabinet designs for future manufacturing.

The Monkey’s Paw

Obscure literary references in this fabrication journal are my wont. This leads me to reference a short story (“The Monkey’s Paw”) by author W. W. Jacobs that focused on the negative ramifications that come to those that want to alter their fate. In short, be careful of what you ask for because it might come true!

I’m suggesting that you might wish for a customer like Voga Coffee. I’m glad I did. The company’s first foray into DFM resulted in some penalties. Perhaps you might skip some of its horror in your version of product development by learning from what Voga Coffee did or did not do.

Startup companies fall into the high-risk/high-reward category of business opportunity. As a contrast, stable firms with compelling engineering and better financing coupled with worldly experiences are relatively predictable as consumers of contract-based manufacturing; with the lower risk comes the lower reward, however.

The siren call of delving into product development promises good rewards with long-term opportunity for a job shop. Startups are hard to ignore, and they are plentiful. The trick is to avoid those that are doomed and work mostly with those that create opportunity for success as naturally as they breathe.

Going Granola

Part of our heroes’ story includes my services. My purpose here is to show an example, not to solicit. I found it sad that our heroes had to struggle to find a contractor for DFM. Industrial design seemed to be easy to find as a contracted service. I want more DFM competition. It will lead to cooler toys for all. Allow me to introduce myself.

I have operated a successful development and design practice since the early 2000s. For a decade before that, I performed DFM work for my job shop customers. Fortunes change, and in my case fortune favored my CAD work over my job shop operation. I turned the shop over to others and hung out my shingle as a CAD jockey. I had to learn to tackle DFM for anonymous shops instead of for my own production line. Fortunately, my wife did a better job running my former job shop and kept a steady stream of leads for design work coming my way.

So that’s how I got started. What’s the biggest lesson learned so far? The world is full of nuts and “barelies”, folks that seem like they can deliver but struggle to do so. Let me explain. When you follow a healthy or a “granola” lifestyle, you learn to spot what is good for you. As a business owner, that means learning to identify those who know how to keep their promises. Honest people who do good deeds may include risk in their proposals, but these are documented business risks, not character risks. If you can’t establish and maintain mutual trust and admiration, then form a different team, work on a different project. I have been lucky to be able to accept projects that are amazingly fun to work on.

Why did I take on this brewer project? In this case, the merits of Voga Coffee’s invention—its brewing process—were well-documented. A team, rather than an individual, ran the business. I saw this as contributing to the stamina required to do this kind of job well. They had both long- and short-term plans that were both distinct and connected. The team’s character demonstrated a commitment to fair business practices: They paid their bills and kept their promises gladly.

There were warning flags, such as lack of cash flow, manufacturing experience, engineering records, and sales. Nonetheless, I found our heroes to be extremely entertaining to work with. Sadly, that is a metric that is difficult to quantify.

In the Beginning …

Back to our case study. Invention and testing went on for months before the commitment to appear at a tradeshow. In preparation for what would be the cabinet-in-CAD, Voga Coffee assembled a series of prototypes.

Early versions of the brewing apparatus resembled a laboratory bench, complete with glassware beakers. It helped the development schedule and budget to do this prototyping work in the company founder’s homes. At this early stage of the business, our heroes had full-time jobs for income. Building a business around a better brewer was their target of investment.

With the help of contracted services from a friendly machine shop, they manufactured a more portable version of the laboratory brewer for operation in a local commercial setting. This beta build was basically a panel with pretty stuff on the exterior, and all of the strange glassware and chemistry on the interior. Although slightly homely, the final design ended up being easy to fabricate. It also delivered a good beverage.

At no small expense, Voga Coffee retained a professional industrial design firm. As a side note, this type of investment was impressive. It was one of the reasons I was attracted to this project.

The industrial design team saw merit in some of the strange glassware. They also tried to anticipate the installations that would benefit from this brewing technology—perhaps fast-paced, upscale restaurants. Voga Coffee’s brewing process is a natural for theater and drama. The industrial design team transformed the crude bench mockup into a design concept that emphasized the distinctive unit’s glassware.

The same team looked at the cabinet and attempted to minimize the mundane structural stuff by starting with a slender rectangular column hidden behind gleaming thermal carafes. They crowned it with glass globes with foam and swirl. The design emphasized brewing and technology. Service access, seams for assembly, and method of construction were considered, but not detailed. The images that the industrial design team produced were, and are, splendid art.

Our heroes needed to translate those images from their industrial design team into a finished cabinet that ultimately would be on display at the trade show. They had no time to waste. What did they do?

Find out in our next column.

Gerald would love for you to send him your comments and questions. You are not alone, and the problems you face often are shared by others. Please send your questions and comments to dand@thefabricator.com.