Designtomanufacture
Designtomanufacture, often written as design-to-manufacture or D2M, is an engineering approach in product development that seeks to align design decisions with manufacturing capabilities from the earliest stages. The aim is to produce products that are easier and cheaper to manufacture at scale without compromising function or quality. D2M emphasizes manufacturability as a design constraint and integrates input from design, manufacturing, and supply chain teams throughout development.
Historically, it emerged alongside design for manufacturability (DFM) and concurrent engineering, as industries sought to shorten
Key practices include early cross-functional collaboration; escalation of manufacturing constraints into the design brief; use of
Benefits include lower production costs, shorter development cycles, higher first-pass yield, fewer late-stage design changes, and
Challenges include the need for organizational culture change, significant up-front modeling, data management requirements, and potential
Related concepts include DFMA, design for assembly, design for cost, design for reliability, and digital thread.