Integrated Design for Manufactura-bility in Convertible-Top Vehicle

Integrated Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DFMA) is in use at Chrysler as one of the major processes in automotive vehicle development. Manufacturability as inferred in integrated DFMA includes assembly and all other pertinent state-of-the art DFX's. It was initially applied successfully with considerable benefits in quality improvement and cost reduction for the development of the PL car program. The Electrical/ electronic systems as well as the Body and interior systems of the NS (Minivan) program were the next major vehicle systems that utilized the Chrysler DFMA in the development process. The benefits also included, overall cost reduction or avoidance, improved team dynamics, internal capabilities development including knowledge acquisition and learning. This paper describes how the unique Chrysler DFMA process was extended further for use in the development of the JX-Convertible. Six major areas or systems are considered in the DFMA optimization process follows: (1) convertible top system, (2) quarter window, (3) body system, (4) exterior molding (upper deck, quarter belt and body side, (5) fascia offline assembly, (6) exterior lighting and headlamp adaptor module. The paper summarizes the DFMA processes and the resulting optimized systems for all the various areas stated above. The results confirm the importance and significance of the expanded Chrysler DFMA process in the development of automotive systems.