This is the first part of our mini-series on New Product Introduction. If you missed the getting started post, read it here. In this post, we will talk about the first step in the NPI process: Design for Manufacturing and Design for Test (DFM and DFT). No one likes broken products. Customers hate them. Engineers scoff at them. Manufacturers don’t get paid. It just sucks when a brand new thing just doesn’t work. This is why, before even building the first one, the Contract Manufacture spends a good deal of time going over the design to make sure they can build it right and that they have a way to test all the functionality before it even leaves their doors. Design for Manufacturing and Design for Test Analysis In this step of the New Product Introduction, the CM does a review of all the files you provided, from schematics to assembly documentation to labels. While PCBs are often a big part of this process due to their complexity, the plastic enclosures and custom metal attachments must also be examined carefully. …