Concurrent engineering is a good way to accelerate development of new products by minimizing the need for formal conference room gatherings and streamlining the entire process from design through engineering to the finished device or component. The concept provides a fluid approach to product development by fully integrating all department functions at all stages.
 
For any new project, the decisions made at the earliest stages of planning and design largely determine the overall direction and cost of the project—which is why it is critical to get key partners with special technological expertise involved during the earliest design and production meetings.  
 
In a world of tight budgets and fast time to market, accelerating the design process through concurrent engineering can mean the difference between introducing a new device in 12 months or 18 months.
 
“Much has been written about concurrent engineering, mostly about the technical science and conceptual model,” said Joe Rotino, vice president of QA/RA and acting vice president of engineering for Pro-Dex Inc., an Irvine, Calif.-based firm that specializes in the design, development, and manufacturing of powered surgical devices.“We’ve seen flowcharts and diagrams about how it works. But at its very core, concurrent engineering is about connecting people from multiple disciplines at multiple stages of a project. It’s essential to bring best technologies and processes to bear in the earliest stages.”

Pro-Dex, like many other firms, offers design for manufacturability (DFM), an approach that uses methods and equipment aimed toward maximizing manufacturability and speeding time to market without lag time caused by redesigning to make a product to make it more manufacturing-friendly. This system is applied to early concept designs, model shop first prototypes, revised product designs, production bridge cell runs (preproduction), final design, and then first production validation runs.

“This approach brings in multiple inputs from designers, prototype machinists, and production machinists throughout the process to ensure the concepts/designs can be manufactured in high -volume production runs,” said Rotino.

Pro-Dex uses a dedicated engineering model shop for quick prototyping, which uses the same equipment that production does.

“This means the model shop machinist is evaluating what cutting tools will be needed to run the parts, what special fixtures will be required to hold and index the parts during manufacturing, what the set-up time will be, and how difficult it will be to manufacture the features and hold the specific tolerances,” said Rotino. “If the answer to these questions are discussed and evaluated early in the cycle, chances are quite good that the manufacturability of these parts will be greatly increased.”

By making its engineering model shop, bridge cell capability (for preproduction runs), and plenty of concurrent reviews of designs and manufacturability key parts of its DFM process, an overall time savings of 30 percent can be achieved for most production processes.
 
Saving time, of course, also means keeping costs down for the customer.

Oberg Industries, a Freeport, Pa.-based contract manufacturer that serves the medical device industry, provides a proprietary grinding technology that removes stock up to five times faster with the ability to attain sub-micron tolerances, doesn’t introduce thermal or mechanical stress, and eliminates the secondary steps of burr removal and polishing. This technology speeds up the manufacturing process for any simple or complex part that is fabricated from conductive material, significantly reducing overall costs—especially when it is incorporated into the earliest phases of concurrent design and engineering.

Oberg Industries’ grinding technology, identified as Molecular Decomposition Process (MDP), has been helpful to the medical device market, especially as smaller and more complex devices create new challenges for meeting higher tolerances and finishes. This is where Oberg Industries has especially made its mark with MDP.

“Properties such as improved strength to weight ratios (materials formulated to increase wear resistance yet still remain lightweight) can be easily utilized without manufacturing challenges with the addition of MDP,” said Joseph A. DeAngelo, director of technical development for Oberg Industries.
 
MDP can be used with any conductive material and is especially effective when applied to super alloys. Some advanced materials, such as Nitinol, are especially sensitive to the heat and mechanical stress imparted by conventional grinding methods—this, however, is not a problem with MDP, which is a cold process.
 
High tolerances are achieved with a single pass and superior surface finishes are consistently attainable. Design requirements listing roundness tolerances up to 0.0003 mm and surface finishes of 0.05 Ra um with a six-sigma quality requirement have been achieved. Biopsy tools, for example, are produced with +/- 0.0005-inch (0.0127 mm) tolerances and precise edge sharpness.

Oberg Industries brings more than its MDP technology to the concurrent engineering table—it employs over 450 highly skilled and cross-trained craftsmen and technicians and provides experienced design and engineering support for existing tooling or design change requirements.

“MDP technology provides overall cost savings to advanced manufacturers because it is up to five times faster than conventional grinding techniques and eliminates secondary processes like polishing and deburring,” said DeAngelo. “Our ability to rapidly remove material while maintaining precision geometry and surface finishes with this advanced technology are beneficial to any manufacturer that wants to reduce costs and improve quality control.”