Why implement CAD?

At present, computer-aided design (CAD) systems of various types are commonly used at machine-building enterprises. Over the long history of use, they have proven their effectiveness and economic feasibility. However, most system manufacturers cannot give a clear and unambiguous answer, what economic effect will the purchase of their software bring?

When choosing one or another system, it is difficult to unambiguously understand which solution will be the most suitable for an organization and why the introduction of CAD is generally necessary? To answer these questions, it is necessary, first of all, to determine the factors by which the economic efficiency of the implementation and use of the system is achieved, as well as refer to the world experience of using CAD systems.

One of the leaders conducting research in this area is the international research agency Aberdeen Group, which, together with Autodesk, since 2007, has issued a number of reports on this topic:

• Additional strategies for building digital and physical prototypes: how to avoid a crisis situation when developing products?
• System design: Development of new products for mechatronics.
• Technical Change Management 2.0: Intelligent Change Management to optimize business solutions.
• Design without borders. Revenue growth through the use of 3D technology.

The organizations participating in the research were divided into three groups according to how they fulfill their calendar and budget: 20% are best-in-class companies (leading companies), 50% are companies with industry averages and 30% are companies with results below average. Then a comparative analysis was conducted to understand which processes, ways of organizing work and technology were more often used by the best-in-class companies.

According to the results of research, the main economic factors affecting the economic efficiency of using CAD are time and money spent on developing prototypes of products of machine-building organizations, as well as time and costs of making changes to prototypes and manufactured products.

The participating companies were also interviewed about the main factors that, in their opinion, are the most significant prerequisites for the use of computer-aided design tools.

• 91% of respondents put in the first place a reduction in product design time,
• in second place with 38% - reducing the cost of design,
• further follow: increase in manufacturability of designed products (30%), acceleration of product modifications in accordance with the requirements of Customers (product customization) - 15%.

An interesting feature is that, despite the great opportunities to reduce costs, as in previous studies, the key factor is the possibility of reducing the design time.

Why use CAD the best engineering companies?

The functionality of CAD, which is used by machine-building enterprises to achieve the above effects, can be divided into the following main areas:

• Development of the project concept in digital format.
• Creation, optimization and approval of projects.
• Design of electrical and mechanical parts.
• Product data management.
• Visualization of product solutions, reviews, sales and marketing.

It should be noted that the product data management functionality relates more to PDM / PLM solutions, however, computer-aided design systems are an integral part of them.