The introduction of a new product or changing an old model involves reaching economic decisions, making designs, selecting materials and choosing manufacturing processes. These activities are interdependent and should not be performed in isolation from each other. This is because the materials and processes used in making the product can have a large influence on its shape, cost and performance in service. If a certain design and economic analysis are based on a particular material and process it will be difficult to introduce widely different alternatives. The further the product development activities progress the more difficult it will be to consider alternative materials and processes.
With the increasing pressure to produce cheaper and more reliable components and with the greater number of new engineering materials and manufacturing processes that are now available, there is a growing need for an integrated approach to economic analysis, design, and materials and process selection. The integrated approach will make it easier to achieve the optimum component that will combine the functional requirements with reliability at a competitive cost.The increasing use of computers in the various aspects of product development has made the integrated approach easier to attain. Computer aided design, computer aided manufacture, computer aided economic analysis and computerized material properties data banks are among the tools that are now available to the engineer.
This paper presents a proposed integrated approach to the processes of design, economic analysis, manufacture and materials selection that are involved in introducing an engineering product. A simple case study is presented to illustrate the proposed approach.