**2.2 Reverse Engineering (RE)**

190 Reverse Engineering – Recent Advances and Applications

To Rozenfeld *et al*. (2006), develop products consists of a set of activities through which we seek as of market needs and technological possibilities and constraints, and considering the competitive strategies and the company´s products, to reach the design specifications of a

Innovation is the key to societal development, rejuvenation and business growth; critical for the long-term survival of a company if it is to operate in the business world. It is also recognized that innovation is more than the invention of new products, but a complete multidimensional concept, which must be viewed from different perspectives in their

Many products are made of a variety of components which, taken separately, have no influence on the final consumer; for example, in the automotive industry, some components, such as the engine, brake and suspension systems, are used to produce various car systems, provided the relevant interfaces are standardized. That is why different companies (which may or may not be competitors) often agree to cooperate in developing components

On product development models, Ogliari (1999) mentions that various available types can be found in the following literature: Back (1983), Rosenthal (1992), Vincent (1989), Wheelwright and Clark (1992), Cooper and Edgett (1999), Pahl *et al*. (2005); Rozenfeld *et al*. (2006) and Backet *et al*. (2008), where the primary difference between them are denominations of their phases,

Pahl *et al*. (2005) mentions a product development model (see Figure 3) which highlights the important aspects for the implementation of concurrent engineering; basically considering the anticipation and intersection of the beginning phases to reduce the necessary time for the development of a new product as well as tracking costs. Figure 3 highlighted the use of

While creating a product from the perspective of concurrent engineering, the activities of each department of the company are, largely, synchronized. The product is also

product and its production process for the manufacture is able to produce it.

but with their sequences and concepts remaining almost constant.

specific context (Hüsing and Kohn, 2009).

(Bourreau and Dogan, 2009).

Source: adapted from Pahl *et al*. (2005) Fig. 3. Reference model for PDP

permanently monitored until the end of its life cycle.

DFMA.

Reverse Engineering is a very important tool and this technique has been widely recognized as an important step toward developing improved products as well as reducing time and costs in order to achieve profitable production of the new product.

In contrast to the traditional sequence of product development, RE starts typically with the measurement of a reference product, deducing a solid model in order to take advantage of existing technology. The model is later used for manufacturing or rapid prototyping (Bagci, 2009).

According to Kim and Nelson (2005), countries with recent industrialization have used, mainly in the 1960´s and 1970´s, reverse engineering. Zhu, Liang and Xu (2005) argue that the Chinese process of technology acquisition follows the following line: lines of purchasing and manufacturing techniques from developed countries, modifications and identification of parts and components to achieve product development through RE and, finally, optimize the products.

The innovative process in South Korea is through RE, awaiting for the developed countries to generate new technologies and marked, and then indeed develop their own products (Hobday, Rush and Bessant, 2004).

The RE is useful to guide in understanding the system of interest and allows comparison to be made with similar design models, to see what can actually be used from the technology (Kang, Park and Wu, 2007). Ingle (1994) defines the RE as a process of gathering information in a reference product through its disassembly, in order to determine how it was developed, from its separate components till the final product. His approach clearly supports the application of RE in order to produce as similar as possible to the original, with a level of investment that can guarantee the generation of profits to the enterprise.

The main application of RE is the redesign and improvement of existing parts, wherever improvements are desired, such as reducing costs or even adding new features to the product. In addition, an RE project allows, through the construction of replacements parts, off-line or inaccessible, keep up obsolete equipment in operation (Mury, 2000).

Although widely cited in the literature, Ingle´s model (1994) doesn´t include the design integration for manufacturing and assembly with rapid prototyping in a reverse engineering approach to the product redesign. This is a scientific contribution that this work seeks to offer.

Integrating Reverse Engineering and Design for Manufacturing

**2.5 Integration of RE with DFMA** 

(1994).

Figure 4.

Source: Souza (2007)

Engineering process

same final results.

possible improvements to be made in the end product to be developed.

permanent monitoring of the product by the end of its life cycle.

and Assembly in Products Redesigns: Results of Two Action Research Studies in Brazil 193

The wires for the model are normally made from ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene), while the brackets are a mixture of ABS and lime. From the generated prototype, the team can: review the adopted product as a reference; test its specifications; test manufacturing or assembly scenarios; propose dimensional or constructive amendments; and establish

In the process of creating a product, from the perspective of concurrent engineering, the activities of each department of the company go, largely, in parallel. There is also a

Based on the model analyzed by Pahl *et al*. (2005) (see Figure 1), Souza (2007) proposed a modification on the model in order to include considerations by Ingle (1994), so as to

After implementing the Reverse Engineering process, it is necessary to allow the phases to unfold logically within the model. When analyzing Ingle´s proposed work (1994), it can be noted there is a major deficiency when considering the need of manufacturing and assembly; thus, Souza´s proposed model (2007) contends that the fundamentals of DFMA, when included in the analysis of Reverse Engineering, complements the proposal by Ingle

For the analysis of these need, Souza (2007) generated an eight steps model, as illustrated in

Fig. 4. Model proposed for the development of products with DFMA in the Reverse

This model does not seek to replace all the phases originally proposed by Pahl *et al*. (2005), but the specific phases of the design development and the process, i.e., the adaptation seeks to optimize the technical process of developing a product, in order to be applied to the existing models, including the redesign of a product, with the expectation of achieving the

contemplate the development of products using the Reverse Engineering method.

Another approach that, integrated with RE, can help analyze the redesign of products, is the design for manufacturing and assembly (DFMA).
