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Results show strong agreement that DFM is a key professional skill, with emphasis on cost reduction and partial gaps between teaching and practice needs.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/design-for-manufacture-dfm-within-professional-practice-and-its-relationship-to-design-education/599897/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/design-for-manufacture-dfm-within-professional-practice-and-its-relationship-to-design-education/599897.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"PakDamar76","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-29","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":33},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"What is the research purpose regarding DFM in design education and professional practice?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"The study aims to assess how important Design for Manufacture (DFM) is in professional practice, and compare that importance with how DFM is taught in undergraduate education to prepare students for industry.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"How was the data collected for the study?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"The research uses a mixed-methods approach with two questionnaires: one for current and graduate students, and another for design companies that previously employed those students in placement or graduate roles.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"What do the study findings suggest about the value of DFM?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"Students and companies agree that DFM is a key skill in professional practice and is regarded as more important than sketching and sketch rendering. 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A mixed methods approach was applied in, collecting a combination of both quantitative and qualitative data through two questionnaires. The first questionnaire was directed at current and graduate students from the Industrial Design (ID) and Product Design (PD) courses at Loughborough Design School. The second questionnaire targeted design companies that had previously employed Loughborough students in either placement or graduate roles. The results of the two questionnaires were then analysed individually before comparing a selection of directly corresponding results.  \nThe results from the primary research showed that both students and companies agreed that DFM was a key skill utilised within professional practice. In both cases, DFM was regarded as more important than sketching and sketch rendering, supporting findings within the literature review that the role of the designer has changed. It was discovered that the main benefit of a professional designer implicating DFM during the design process was an overall reduction in cost. It may be concluded that, although the teaching of DFMat Loughborough Design School supplied the students with some knowledge, it does not entirely meet the requirements for professional design practice.  \nKey words  \ndesign for manufacture, professional practice, design education  \nIntroduction  \nIt has been well recognised that the role of the designer is changing (Gemser & Leenders, 2000) . However, it is not yet fully understood whether this change is reflected within design education. Although there are many skills that the designers require for their role (Hurn, 2006), it has been found that one of the most important areas within the design industry, is Design for Manufacture.  \nDesign for Manufacture (DFM) is the relationship between design and manufacture in order to improve performance and quality whilst reducing cost (Corbett, Dooner, Meleka, & Pym, 1991) . This research will use this working definition, to find out whether DFM is being taught sufficiently within undergraduate education to prepare students for professional practice.  \nThe aim of this work was to assess the importance of Design for Manufacture (DFM) within professional practice, comparing how it is taught within education to prepare students for industry. In order to fulfil this aim, the following objectives were achieved: a review of literature on the role of DFM within both professional practice and education; an investigation into the understanding of students’ knowledge of the importance of DFM; an investigation of the skills that design-based companies require from placement or graduate students; a comparison of the opinions of the students and companies to fully understand if the teaching of DFM is relevant to professional practice.  \nDesign For Manufacture (DFM)  \n‘Industrial Design is the professional service of creating products and systems that optimize function, value and appearance for the mutual benefit of user and manufacturer’ (IDSA, 2016) . It is often mistakenly assumed that an industrial designer is only focused on the aesthetics of a product (Norman, 2011), however, recently it has become apparent that designers need to have an understanding of engineering, production processes, Computer Aided Design (CAD), as well as the more typical design techniques (Nichols, 2013) . This is backed up by Gemser and Leenders (2000) who state that the role of the industrial designer focuses not only on aesthetics but on other areas, such as ease of manufacture, ergonomics and efficient use of materials. Initially, it was confirmed that the role of the desig","cbCairMPqasijLDE","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCairMPqasijLDE","pdf",1876399,21,"English","# Introduction\n# Design For Manufacture (DFM)\n## Definition and role of industrial design\n## Prior research and DFM benefits","[{\"question\":\"What is the research purpose regarding DFM in design education and professional practice?\",\"answer\":\"The study aims to assess how important Design for Manufacture (DFM) is in professional practice, and compare that importance with how DFM is taught in undergraduate education to prepare students for industry.\"},{\"question\":\"How was the data collected for the study?\",\"answer\":\"The research uses a mixed-methods approach with two questionnaires: one for current and graduate students, and another for design companies that previously employed those students in placement or graduate roles.\"},{\"question\":\"What do the study findings suggest about the value of DFM?\",\"answer\":\"Students and companies agree that DFM is a key skill in professional practice and is regarded as more important than sketching and sketch rendering. The main identified benefit is an overall reduction in cost.\"}]","Design for Manufacture (DFM) within Professional Practice and its Relationship to Design Education | PDF",1792089650,53]