The Development of an Assessment Tool for Successful Product Development Based On DFMA and AHP Approach: Automotive Industry Case Study

Abstract

Successful product development is critical in the automotive industry, offering benefits such as optimised manufacturing, reduced costs, and faster market entry. Despite available tools, the complexity of design resources makes the process challenging. This study aimed to develop an assessment tool for evaluating successful product design in the automotive sector, starting with identifying success criteria from reputable research. Expert Choice software was employed to analyse the significance and weightage of the identified criteria. As a result, there are 19 criteria were prioritised across four key categories. The requirements such as product design, cost-effectiveness, safety, and environment. Notably, the most crucial criteria identified were recyclable materials (0.139), end-of-lifecycle considerations (0.118), and sustainable manufacturing (0.108984), while the least important were standardisation (0.0155), cabin ergonomics (0.022), and fire safety (0.0158). The resulting assessment tool, validated by four industry and academic experts, showed promise in helping practitioners self-evaluate successful product design within the automotive industry.