Value Engineering: The Art of Balancing Cost and Function

At NeuronicWorks, we treat Value Engineering as an element in every stage of our design process, and our engineers are constantly looking for ways to maximize this ratio for our clients. Our methodology requires the team to consider requirements, production process, materials and testing methods from the very beginning so the design can be optimized and easily transition to manufacturing.

Value Engineering in product development focuses on integrating a few DFX principles like: Design for Manufacturability (DFM), Design for Supply Chain (DFSC), Design for Cost, Design for Assembly (DFA), and Design for Testing (DFT) to the design process to enhance efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and manufacturability.

In this blog post, we focus on the following dimensions of Value Engineering in Product Design: design optimization, material optimization, and testing and evaluation.

I. Design Optimization:

The key to successful design optimization lies in balancing functionality with manufacturability while minimizing waste and complexity. By carefully refining schematic designs, evaluating the Bill of Materials (BOM), optimizing PCB layouts, and streamlining mechanical assemblies, engineers can create products that are high-performing and cost-effective. The following section delves into specific strategies for achieving these goals.

1. Schematic and BOM Optimization

Optimizing the schematic design and BOM to ensure cost efficiency and manufacturability is an integral part of Value Engineering. Some common pathways for optimization are:

• Evaluate alternative chips with more integrated features to minimize the number of components and simplify the design.
• Engage with suppliers early to negotiate the best component pricing and availability for high-volume manufacturing.
• BOM Optimization and Redundancy Checks
  • Identify and reduce unique components in the BOM to streamline inventory and procurement. It is advisable to purchase more of the ‘same’ components at a higher volume for a lower price.
  • Components consolidation aligns with the Design for Manufacturability principles, emphasizing simplicity and cost savings. This approach helps to:
    • Minimize component inspection time
    • Reduce inventory complexity and maintenance
    • Simplify kitting requirements
    • Simplify machine programming setup and tuning

2. PCB Layout Considerations

Proper PCB layout plays a vital role not only in the proper functioning of the product but also in soldering yield and manufacturability. Some key considerations include:

• Ensuring the correct footprint (size, shape) and connectivity for each component
• Maintaining appropriate spacing between components to facilitate assembly
• Optimizing component placement relative to the board edge for mechanical integrity
• Allocating space for automated testing pads
• Designing efficient panelization for better board orientation, improved material utilization, and optimized thickness selection
• Choosing the right board finishes to balance cost and performance:
  • Low-cost finishes may lead to poor soldering quality with complex components.
  • High-end finishes may not be necessary for simpler designs.

Note: Cable and Harness design follows a similar methodology to the Schematic and BOM design and optimization.

3. Mechanical Design and Assembly Considerations

The mechanical components of a product will contribute significantly to the BOM cost, assembly time/effort, and lifecycle considerations of a product; and as such they should be carefully analyzed for value engineering opportunities. Two common pathways for improvement are:

a. Optimizing for product lifecycle and repairability

All components eventually degrade but mechanical ones often fail first in electromechanical systems, VE is about optimizing this wear period. Some considerations are:

• Systems with moving components should carefully consider the wear mechanisms at play and determine if cost or function could be affected by a small change in the choice of lubricant, surface finish, or wear surface material.
  • Consultation with an expert in tribology can often yield significant lifecycle gains for minimal BOM cost increase (or even a decrease).
• Perform the appropriate lifecycle simulations in your FEA software to ensure that the endurance limit safety factor is within design bounds.
  • Substitute lower-cost materials/components for overdesigned areas.
  • Substitute higher quality materials/components to areas that limit fatigue performance.
• If a product has defined maintenance intervals or common wear/damage surfaces consider designing easier repair pathways to decrease lifetime product cost, increase customer satisfaction, and increase product sustainability.

b. Improving assembly through design

In manufacturing, the assembly process can dictate cost in two key areas: Rate and Yield, and both are heavily affected by the choices made during the design process of the product. Two key things to look out for are:

• Assembly features and components
  • It may seem counter-intuitive after reading about BOM optimization, but having features or components that are more expensive or exist only to aid assembly may end up decreasing total product cost through increased rate and decreasing yield.
  • Examples of this could be guide pins, captive fasteners, or mold features (snaps, clips, etc.) that eliminate a fastener.
• Tolerance maximization
  • Often overlooked and under-optimized, tolerances in rate manufacturing make a large difference in fabrication yield and component cost.
• Ensure that a tolerance stack-up calculation is done and work with your assembly and fabrication teams to make sure yield is being correctly managed through the lifecycle of the product.

II. Material Substitution:

By carefully selecting components and materials that simplify assembly, reduce waste, and enhance production efficiency, engineers can achieve significant cost savings without compromising quality. The following strategies focus on optimizing component selection and material choices to streamline manufacturing while maintaining product reliability.

1. Optimizing Component Selection

• Choose ICs with lower complexity footprints or choose BGAs with higher pitch to ease PCB layout constraints and reduce the need for complex PCB technologies (e.g., buried vias).
• Use pick-and-place-friendly components
• Limit the use of through-hole components to simplify assembly
• Ensure the selection of alternative components for critical parts that can help mitigate supply chain risks, allowing for smoother manufacturing.

2. Material Selection for enclosure and assemblies

• Consider waste in your manufacturing process
  • Analyze flat patterns for optimal nesting configurations (for example better layouts of PCB panels, or sheetmetal blanks)
  • Determine if scrap can be reformed reducing cost and environmental impact (for example forging scraps, sheetmetal plugs or recut runners)
• Substitute high-performance materials where possible
  • Consider whether high-performance materials can be replaced with lower-grade ones with surface treatments or hardening
  • Analyze whether such materials are needed at all, or whether the performance requirements can be met with a lower grade material
  • If possible, select plastics with recycled content to reduce environmental impact

3. Process Optimization by Design

By structuring designs for modularity, ensuring seamless integration of subassemblies, and considering mass production constraints early in the design process, engineers can streamline manufacturing, reduce costs, and improve product reliability. The following strategies highlight key approaches to designing with production efficiency in mind.

• Modular Design for Easy Scaling: Develop products with interchangeable or upgradable modules to allow for future changes without redesigning the entire product.
• Structure the design so subassemblies can be manufactured and tested separately, then integrated into the final product.
• Pre-Designing for Mass Production: Avoid features that work well for prototyping but won’t scale efficiently in production.

III. Testing and Evaluation:

By implementing pre-functional checks, selecting the right testing methodologies, and balancing board-level and final product testing, engineers can streamline the validation process without unnecessary redundancy. The following sections outline key considerations for effective testing and evaluation in product development.

1. Pre-Functional Testing Checks

• Automated Optical Inspection (AOI) and X-ray testing are often performed before functional tests.
• If manufacturing yield is consistently high, AOI and X-ray testing may be optimized or reduced to sample testing to serve as protection rather than verification.

2. Optimizing Testing Methods

• Determine the appropriate level of testing required as the extent of testing and inspection varies based on product complexity. It is important to balance test coverage with cost efficiency, considering not only the expense of test equipment but also the additional time and labor required for each unit tested.
• Determine whether to create specialized test jigs or implement built-in self-test (BIST) within the system itself.
• BIST can reduce test jig development efforts and support future field testing.

3. Board-Level vs. Final Product Testing

• Testing every sub-assembly (board-level testing) will provide high confidence in the quality of the product shipped (e.g., 99% or even better), though this will be at the expense of a higher manufacturing cost.
• In some cases, skipping board-level testing in favor of final product testing is more efficient if the manufacturing process is tightly controlled, guaranteed to provide good output.

While Value Engineering seeks to optimize the cost and efficiency of product manufacturing, it can also raise concerns about planned obsolescence and dangerously reduced safety margins. Excessive cost-cutting may lead to products with shorter lifespans, increased waste, and ethical concerns around sustainability. Also in some cases, minimizing material usage can compromise durability or safety. Therefore, a responsible approach to Value Engineering is needed to balance cost efficiency with product longevity, safety, and environmental impact, ensuring sustainable and ethical design choices.

If you are looking for a design and manufacturing partner who can assist in identifying areas of high cost and eliminate them without compromising quality or performance, we are here to help. Contact us today to get started.