Streamlining Design Processes for a Major Data Center Manufacturer

The client is a major Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) in the Data Center industry. The company operates under constant pressure to maintain high efficiency, reduce costs, and meet stringent deadlines due to the highly competitive nature of the industry.

• Challenges

  The client faced several challenges impacting their design and manufacturing processes:

  1. Inconsistent Standards and Best Practices: Organization-specific best practices were detailed in manuals, but suppliers lacked access to these guidelines. This led to inconsistencies in designs, as components produced by suppliers often followed different standards compared to those manufactured internally.
  2. Distributed Design Teams: Design engineers were stationed at different locations, while design analyses were conducted elsewhere, creating
     communication gaps and complicating the standardization of design guidelines across the organization.
  3. Supplier and Internal Standards Mismatch:Components sourced from suppliers followed different standards than internal ones, necessitating separate analyses. This created additional challenges in maintaining uniformity and required frequent repeat analyses due to ECOs.
  4. Manual to Automated Transition: The client’s design guidelines were historically managed through manual processes, which were prone to human error and inconsistencies. There was a need to transition to an automated system to enhance accuracy and efficiency.

• Solution

  To address these challenges, the client implemented HCL DFMPro, a CAD-integrated software solution designed to enhance design for manufacturing and assembly
  processes. The key elements of the solution included:

  1. Critical Assembly Issue Detection: HCL DFMPro enabled the client to identify and address critical assembly issues, such as missing rivet holes and component collisions, that would have otherwise prevented proper assembly of complex designs. This early detection minimized downstream errors and ensured designs were correct on the first attempt.
  2. One Standard for Suppliers and Internal Design teams: Organization-specific guidelines were incorporated into the DFMPro software, ensuring thatstandardized DFM/DFA activities were conducted consistently across all global manufacturing sites. This step was crucial in reducing discrepancies between supplier and internal standards.
  3. Automated Design Analyses: The transition from manual to automated DFM/DFA processes allowed the client to perform simultaneous analyses at both the assembly and component levels. This approach not only saved time but also improved the accuracy of the checks, reducing the frequency of ECOs.
  4. Improved Coordination Across Distributed Teams: The standardization of design guidelines and the use of automated DFM/DFA analyses helped bridge the gap between design engineers stationed at different sites and the central analysis teams, fostering better communication and coordination.

• Results and Conclusion

  The implementation of HCL DFMPro resulted in substantial improvements in the client’s design and manufacturing processes:

  1. Significant Reduction in ECOs: By streamlining DFM/DFA analyses and ensuring early detection of critical assembly issues, the client experienced a noticeable reduction in the number of ECOs, leading to fewer design modifications and increased project efficiency.
  2. Enhanced Design Efficiency and Deadline Success: The reduction in design rework and iterations allowed the client to meet project deadlines more consistently, improving overall efficiency and productivity.
  3. Consistent Standards Across Global Sites: By embedding organization- specific best practices into the DFMPro software, the client achieved consistent application of DFM/DFA guidelines across all global locations, minimizing discrepancies between designs produced by internal teams and suppliers.
  4. Automated Design Processes: The shift from manual to automated design analyses improved accuracy, reduced the likelihood of human error, and enabled faster decision-making throughout the design phase.

  In conclusion, the adoption of HCL DFMPro allowed the client to streamline their design processes, enhance coordination between distributed teams, and achieve significant time savings in design checking and report creation. This digital approach to DFM and DFA not only standardized practices across the organization but also provided the client with a competitive edge in the fast-paced data center industry.