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<b>Designing Plastics Parts for Assembly</b> 
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<p align="right"><b>Preface to 3rd Edition</b></p>      
<p align="right"><i>Glenn L. Beall</i></p> 
<p align="right">President,</p>      
<p align="right">Glenn Beall Plastics, Ltd.</p> 
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<p align="right">January 1998 Libertyville, Illinois</p> 
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         <p>I am delighted with the opportunity to endorse this &quot;Third Edition&quot; of Paul Tres&#39<i> 
         Designing Plastic Parts for Assembly</i>.</p> 
		 <p>For
         the past forty years, the use of plastic materials has increased at an
         average annual rate of 8.5%, which is more than double the growth in the
         GNP (Gross National Product). The plastics industry now employs 1.2
         million people in over 20,000 facilities, producing over $225 billion
         worth of products.</p> 
		 <p>In
         spite of plastic's impressive past and present growth, and its future
         prospects, teaching institutions have not responded in a responsible
         manner. There are not enough universities offering plastics technology
         curriculums. An unacceptable number of engineers receive their degrees
         without learning basic plastics technology. On the job, these new
         plastics industry professionals are, all too often, left on their own
         to master the technology by the laborious trial and error method of <i>sink or swim.</i> The old design adage that <i>form should follow
         function</i> is all too often replaced by <i>form following failure</i>.
         These inexperienced engineers can shorten the learning process with
         plastic technology seminars, conferences and texts such as <i>Designing
         Plastic Parts for Assembly</i>.</p> 
		 <p>The
         manufacturers of durable products are desperately trying to improve
         their efficiency in order to compete and survive in a global economy.
         Many new management procedures are being tried. One system that has
         proven to be effective is DFMA or Design for Manufacturability and
         Assembly.</p> 
		 <p>DFMA
         is all encompassing, but there are two important aspects that are
         addressed by Paul&#39s book. Design for Manufacturability translates into
         keeping the design simple so that the product will be easy to
         manufacture. All manufacturers have to endorse this philosophy.</p> 
		 <p>The
         assembly part of DFMA encourages the designer to also consider ease of
         assembly while designing the part for its intended function. All
         manufacturers can also endorse this philosophy.</p> 
		 <p>The
         surest way to simplify assembly is to eliminate it. Assembly can be
         eliminated by combining the function of two parts into a
         single component. Designers pursuing this approach have seized upon
         plastic's ability to produce complex parts. Replacing two or more
         pieces with one always produces a more complex part. These complex
         parts are more difficult to produce, and that is in conflict with
         keeping it simple so it will be easy to manufacture.</p> 
		 <p>Eliminating
         assembly is desirable, but financial management&#39;s fixation on
         downsizing by eliminating assembly workers has pushed this approach to,
         and sometimes beyond, the limit. This problem is intensified by
         inexperienced design engineers who, due to no fault of their own, do
         not know when assembly is better than parts consolidation.</p> 
		 <p>All
         assembly cannot be eliminated. <i>Designing Plastic Parts for Assembly </i>explains how to optimize
         assembly in those situations where assembly is the best approach. This
         is not just a book on assembly. This is an engineer&#39;s handbook on both part design and assembly. In fact, the first four
         chapters do not address assembly, but dwell on the basic plastic
         materials technology that allows a designer to understand the whys and
         the hows of designing for each of the assembly procedures that are
         detailed in the rest of the book.</p> 
		 <p>It
         is important to note that this book is an excellent blend of the always
         important basics and the latest in plastic design technology. Paul goes
         beyond the standard rule of thumb examples and introduces the reader to
         the newer, high&#8211;tech methods of designing via stress analysis. This allows the reader to go into as much depth as
         is required for a given project. This updated and expanded Third
         Edition provides design engineers with the knowledge necessary to optimize
         assembly procedures, while designing plastic parts that are properly
         proportioned for efficient manufacturing.</p> 
		 <p>I
         have no reservations in recommending this book to the plastic product
         design community.</p> 
		 
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 <td>Copyright ©1994-2003 Carl Hanser Verlag. All rights reserved.</td> 
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