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mmsonline.com August 2017 MMS 77 FEATURE be the case that young engineers simply don't have much or any experience with manufactur- ing processes, and this can result in component designs that are either hard or nearly impossible to produce. Both scenarios lead them to rely more on outside machining vendors to provide such guidance. In most cases, shops tap their wealth of machin- ing experience in formulating the DFM changes they suggest to their customers. Parametric USA, a mid- to high-volume contract shop in Santa Clara, California, does this. However, it also can take DFM to the next level, applying finite element analysis (FEA) to refine customers' part designs by taking into consideration the forces and load- ing conditions that will be exerted on those parts during operation, then calculating approximate values for the displacements, stresses and strains those components will experience. Using FEA for DFM in this way effectively demonstrates that the suggested design changes that will simplify part production will not cause the par t to exceed operational limits or constraints. Ryan Teixeira, company COO and cer tified professional engineer, says FEA capability is a dif ferentiator for the shop. "It can be tough to convince customers that design changes can drastically reduce manufacturing costs," he says. "However, FEA is the language of engineers; it's quantifiable and carries weight with them. There- fore, we work hard to establish close relationships with our customers' design engineers, realizing that FEA is just as valuable to them as our advanced machining and manufacturing capabilities." In fact, Mr. Teixeira says building relationships with those engineers through DFM does more than just enable Parametric USA to win new business and retain good customers. It also The original design for this component used a rectangular shaft. The first DFM iteration changed it to include a cylindrical shaft with bull-nose yoke, reducing manufacturing costs by 75 percent. FEA showed deflection due to side loading was too much, however, so another DFM iteration was performed.