Design for manufacture and assembly (DFMA) does well as a stand-alone methodology for simplifying product designs and lowering production costs. However, DFMA should also be hailed as a pathway to lean manufacturing.
To explain, let’s consider the main goal of lean manufacturing. It’s not cost reduction. Lean is mainly about reducing lead times and cycle times. It’s about responding quickly and flexibly up and down the value chain. Lean manufacturing attempts to harness the pull of customer demand to set operational activities in motion back through the chain.