DfM (design for manufacture) is about creating the detailed documentation necessary to deliver accurate, easily reproducible end products. DfM is also about hitting the center of your allowed process windows so a process deviation doesn't end up ruining your yield.

DfM has been an active, ongoing topic of discussion in other CAD/EDA sectors, such as semiconductor design. In a recent industry white paper, semiconductor software firm Synopsys (Mountain View, CA) made the following observations: "Design for manufacturing is about connections ... connections within the design flow; connections within the manufacturing flow; and, most importantly, connections between design and manufacturing. These connections are required to address fundamental issues associated with yield loss in today's leading-edge ... products and are key to a robust DfM solution." Here we get the point: each step in the design and manufacture of your project has a process window. Your project's ultimate process window for DfM purposes is the intersection of all the process windows in your design flow.