When should you run a DFM review?

Before tooling is cut and ideally before the first contract manufacturer quote. Changes that cost $200 in CAD cost $20,000 once a mold exists.

Who should own DFM at a small hardware company?

Until you have a full-time manufacturing engineer, the design lead owns it with a fractional manufacturing engineer reviewing each revision.

What's the difference between DFM and DFA?

DFM (Design for Manufacturing) optimizes parts so they're cheap and reliable to produce. DFA (Design for Assembly) optimizes how parts come together. You need both.

Blog

Notes on getting hardware ready to manufacture

Practical articles for hardware teams and small manufacturers on DFM, tolerance, supplier vetting, BOM control, and what it takes to get to a clean first production run.

May 23, 20267 min read
The Manufacturing Readiness Checklist to Run Before Tooling
Most teams discover their DFM problems after the tooling check clears. Here's the checklist to run before that happens.
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The Manufacturing Readiness Checklist to Run Before Tooling