5 Blogs to Increase Profit Margins in the Design Stage

Key Takeaways:

• The design engineer’s traditional role has evolved to heavily influence profit margin outcomes
• Manufacturing insights enable design engineers to reduce cost during early development 

The Full Article:

Traditionally, design engineers aren’t thought of as central to unlocking savings in product designs. With manufacturing insights, they can play a pivotal role in improving both the quality of their designs and the bottom line. The following five blogs illustrate how the design stage can help increase profit margins.

1. How to Unlock Speed and Savings with DFM Software:

   The adage, “Great things take time” is nice in theory but isn’t always practical. The reality is that most manufacturers don’t have an infinite amount of time. How can they make new products quickly and keep costs down – all without compromising quality? Three letters: DFM. Design for Manufacturability (DFM) software can bridge the gap between design, cost, and manufacturability.

2. What is Design to Value vs. Design to Cost?

   Product development can be a game of “Which came first – the chicken or the egg?” In other words, which should come first – design or cost considerations? The good news is that it doesn’t have to be an either/or proposition. With manufacturing insights like aPriori, both can be achieved efficiently, striking the optimal balance between product value and increased profit margins.

3. How Green Energy Manufacturers Can Turn the Tide and Regain Profitability:

   It is possible to “be green” while remaining “in the green” (operating at profit). Manufacturers are facing increasing pressure to strengthen their environmental, social, and sustainable governance (ESG) policies. Design is the seminal point in determining how well the manufacturer can rise to the ESG occasion. Employing an effective should-cost process enables design engineering to help establish cost benchmarks that support increased profit margins while also meeting sustainability initiatives.

4. Striking a Balance Between Green Design and Cost Efficiency:

   Manufacturers often can relate to Kermit the Frog’s lament that “it’s not easy being green”. How do you find the sweet spot between lowering your carbon footprint and remaining prudent with product development costs? Digital manufacturing platforms provide an automated, simulation-driven process for quickly gaining cost insights while ensuring sustainability and increasing profit margins.

5. How Target Costing Can Be Accelerated by Design Engineers:

   What do product development and target costing have in common? It’s the design engineer (especially one that uses a manufacturing insights solution for precise target costing). Discover how early design feedback can serve as a north star for the design engineer in shaping the final product and increasing profit margins.

Design engineers are at exciting crossroads right now. They have a prime opportunity to intersect form and function with profit margins and sustainability. Learn more about how design engineers can become major players in their organizations’ bottom line.