Foreword to 8^th Edition

Douglas E. Patton,

SAE 2017 President, (Society of Automotive Engineers)
Executive Vice President/Chief Technical Officer
DENSO International America, Inc.

Southfield, MI

In this eighth edition of Designing Plastic Parts for Assembly, the addition of the "Fasteners" chapter provides a great update to an already indispensable resource for design engineers. Paul Tres starts with an introduction to plastics, covering many topics from the basics of resin to what makes up a plastic, to a variety of plastic properties. This is fundamental for anyone working with plastics and Paul presents the information in a concise, organized manner. By providing the basis of plastic materials, he is able to lay the foundation for solid design. Of particular interest to DENSO as a global automotive supplier, Paul covers both the principal and detail of safety factors, essential in both today's automotive environment as well as within other industries. Additionally, an overview of plastic material strength is provided, which serves as both a refresher for some, as well as a detailed calculation guide for all.

The main focus of the book, of course, is assembly techniques and the needed design considerations for plastic parts. Clear explanation for numerous types of joining techniques and the desired design features to ensure appropriate product quality can be easily found by the reader while also providing the design engineer a general understanding of the manufacturing process. Paul covers detail for the design of press fits, snap fits, and living hinges. In particular, Paul's approach for the case studies using a “right way” and a “wrong way” allow for ease of understanding from the novice engineer through management. The book does a great job in illustrating real life examples and case studies to make the key points clear for nearly every topic that Paul presents. The easy-to-follow text provides a standardized approach and step-by-step calculation methods and examples for a wide variety of assembly techniques.

As a global manufacturer of numerous automotive parts, DENSO utilizes many of the topics presented in this book which has been a go-to resource, along with Paul's local training class. In addition to the book, Paul's supplemental training course has been of benefit to numerous DENSO engineers. While Paul's enthusiasm during the Automotive Plastic Part Design class is difficult to put to paper, the book Designing Plastic Parts for Assembly incorporates the essence of Paul's enthusiasm for this subject. In all, Paul's explanation and expertise in this area is highly recommended for those involved in plastic product development.