How can you balance design complexity and ease of assembly?

2 Minimize the number of parts

One of the simplest ways to reduce the assembly complexity is to minimize the number of parts in your design. Fewer parts mean fewer operations, less inventory, less waste, and less chance of errors. You can achieve this by integrating multiple functions into one part, eliminating unnecessary parts, or using standard or modular parts. However, you should also consider the trade-offs between part reduction and other design criteria, such as performance, durability, and maintainability.

3 Design for alignment and orientation

Another way to simplify the assembly process is to design your parts for easy alignment and orientation. This means that your parts should have features that guide them into the correct position and orientation, such as chamfers, pins, slots, or snap-fits. You should also avoid symmetrical or ambiguous parts that can be assembled in multiple ways or in the wrong way. Additionally, you should design your parts to be self-locating, self-fastening, or self-aligning, so that they do not require additional tools or fixtures to hold them in place.

4 Use common and simple fasteners

Fasteners are essential for joining parts together, but they can also add to the assembly complexity and cost. To avoid this, you should use common and simple fasteners, such as screws, nuts, bolts, or rivets, that are easy to handle, apply, and remove. You should also use the same type and size of fasteners as much as possible, to reduce the variety and number of fasteners. Furthermore, you should design your parts to have easy access to the fastening points, and avoid hidden or hard-to-reach fasteners.

5 Consider human factors

Human factors are the physical, psychological, and social aspects that affect the human performance and well-being in the assembly process. You should consider how your design affects the ergonomics, safety, comfort, and satisfaction of the assembly workers. You should design your parts to be easy to grasp, manipulate, and insert, and avoid sharp edges, heavy weights, or awkward postures. You should also design your parts to be visually distinguishable, clearly labeled, and color-coded, to avoid confusion and errors.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?