DFMA is used as the basis for concurrent engineering studies to provide guidance to the design team in simplifying the product structure, to reduce manufacturing and assembly costs, and to quantify improvements.
The practice of applying DFMA is to identify, quantify and eliminate waste or inefficiency in a product design.
[2] In the early 21st century, DfMA began to be advocated by government and industry organisations[2] including, in the UK, the Royal Institute of British Architects (2016,[3] updated in 2021)[4] and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA, 2018),[5] in Singapore, the Building and Construction Authority (2016), and, in Hong Kong, the SAR Development Bureau (2018).
[9] The 2022 Playbook and TIP Roadmap subsequently encouraged procurement of construction projects based on product 'platforms' ("Platform Design for Manufacture and Assembly, PDfMA") comprising kits of parts, production processes, knowledge, people and relationships required to deliver all or part of construction projects.
[7][8] The PDfMA approach has been applied to prison projects constructed by Kier Group for the Ministry of Justice,[10][11] and to delivery of a commercial office building for Landsec, The Forge in central London,[12] constructed by manufacturing and assembly managers Mace and Sir Robert McAlpine,[12] and designed by architects Bryden Wood,[13] long-time proponents of DfMA.