Design for manufacture of a cost-based system for molded parts

This article describes the procedures for rapidly estimating the approximat e manufacturing cost of a molded part through the utilization of a computer program developed specifically for this task. The estimated cost includes the costs of material, mold, and processing. The procedures involve identif ying those manufacturing-related features or design attributes that tend to significantly increase manufacturing costs so that costly features can be avoided. The procedures developed are not dependent on the creation of a ge ometric model, and can be used to assess quantitatively a preliminary conce pt sketch. A ease example is presented to illustrate the application of the cost-estimating procedures developed. (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.