John Deere & Co. (Moline, IL) set a company goal to reduce the cost of parts purchased by its major equipment divisions.
There were two ways to meet that goal: buy less expensive parts or buy fewer parts. The first way required legwork and shrewd bargaining. The second required better product designs. And for that, Deere's engineers were helped by Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DFMA) software from Boothroyd Dewhurst Inc. (Wakefield, RI).