The importance of integrating design and manufacturing becomes apparent when the increase in the degree of difficulty of change is observed as the product development proceeds from concept to production in a serial engineering process. The greatest opportunity in design for manufacture occurs at the initial design stage before any commitments to tooling and equipment have been made. This research develops a framework and an implementation system dealing with integration of design, manufacturing and economic aspects in the development of a product. The objective is to evaluate process technology for a specified product design and to identify the best work/tool material combination and production conditions to optimize the production process. A commercial CAD/CAM package (SmartCAM) playing roles as a part design tool, a processing time simulator, and a NC code generator is integrated with a manufacturing database, and a machining cost model. This integrated system runs in Microsoft Windows environment under an external program which not only coordinates the activities of various modules but also enhances the capabilities of SmartCAM. This system allows product design evaluation for economic and technical criteria and recommends best manufacturing environment. An NC program containing recommended machining parameters is generated. Furthermore, the system reports on tool wear on each tool per part manufactured. This information is useful for cost analysis as well as for producing a tool replacement schedule. / Graduation date: 1995