6 Key Approaches to Engineering Hidden Value

When evaluating production processes, companies across industries often begin with the same fundamental question:

How Can We Cut Cost Without Sacrificing Part Quality or Performance?

Some manufacturers opt for the lesser of two evils, partnering with a low-cost supplier at the expense of part quality and production longevity. Others choose suppliers who produce the design exactly as provided, with little regard for efficiency or repeatability, resulting in costly secondary manufacturing and extended lead times.

Fortunately, there's a better alternative. By adopting a practice focused on uncovering and eliminating hidden costs, you can make manufacturing more efficient without sacrificing performance.

Balancing Design with Cost-Effective Production

To overcome the cost-versus-quality paradox, manufacturers must continuously innovate across the entire production supply chain, from initial design and prototyping to full-scale production and final delivery. Sustained innovation at every stage ensures not only product quality but also long-term manufacturing efficiency and profitability.

Companies that fail to balance innovative design with cost-effective production often fall into what's known as an innovation "two-step." In this cycle, creativity is focused only on product design and sourcing, leaving key opportunities for improvement and optimization untapped throughout the rest of the manufacturing process.

In the first step, companies invest heavily in new product development—experimenting with emerging technologies, advanced materials, and breakthrough ideas to drive market differentiation and create a competitive edge.

Once a product has been in production for several generations and its design has proven successful in the marketplace, attention typically shifts to the second stage of the cycle. At this point, sourcing and procurement teams seek to reduce expenses by finding lower-cost components, while global supply managers analyze the bill of materials for line-item cost reductions. This repetitive pattern becomes the design–procurement two-step: a cycle that limits true production innovation.

While innovation in any form benefits a company, these two stages alone do not capture the full potential of manufacturing process optimization. To break out of the two-step rut, manufacturers must learn to engineer value throughout the entire production cycle from concept to completion.

Here are six key strategies for discovering and incorporating hidden value in your manufacturing processes to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance part performance:

Material Selection

Exploring different material options for parts can deliver significant cost savings and performance improvements. Many alternative alloys offer comparable strength and durability to traditional materials but at a lower cost. By testing and evaluating alternative alloys that you may not have previously considered, you can dramatically reduce overall production expenses while maintaining part quality and structural integrity.

Choosing the Optimal Process

Selecting the right manufacturing process is often the key to achieving substantial performance and cost improvements. Even if your current process is functional, exploring alternative methods can uncover more efficient production options that minimize or eliminate secondary operations, increase throughput, and shorten time-to-market. A process optimization strategy can often deliver faster cycle times and higher output without added investment.

Extending Die Life

In high-volume manufacturing, die durability is a major cost driver. A poorly optimized part design can cause premature wear on tooling, leading to frequent die replacement, downtime, and production delays. By designing parts with extended die life in mind, manufacturers can minimize maintenance interruptions, lower tooling expenses, and ensure consistent part quality throughout production.

Eliminating Secondary Operations

When components are designed with complex geometries that exceed the limits of traditional mass production, secondary operations such as trimming, machining, or finishing become necessary. These extra steps can account for up to 80% of total component costs. By leveraging advanced manufacturing methods like net-shape or near-net-shape casting, companies can eliminate costly secondary processes, reduce waste, and streamline production.

Part Consolidation

Part consolidation is a powerful cost-saving strategy that merges multiple components into a single, efficient design. By integrating adjacent parts within an assembly, manufacturers can cut down on labor, assembly time, and potential failure points. Modern technologies such as high-precision die casting make this easier than ever, enabling lightweight, high-strength parts while eliminating the need for complex assembly operations.

Preventative Maintenance eduction

The most measurable benefit of value engineering is that it allows manufacturers to reduce costs without compromising quality. Value engineering isn't about discounts—it's about engineering value in and expenses out. By systematically evaluating product design and manufacturing processes, companies can identify areas to improve performance, durability, and ROI.

The impact of value engineering can range from material changes on small components to complete tooling and process optimization. The result is a measurable return on investment, often within the first year, that continues over the entire product life cycle. Ultimately, the only missed opportunity is failing to adopt the practice of engineering value into your manufacturing process.