Why is CAD integration important in modern product design?
How does CAD integration improve the design process?
CAD integration offers significant improvements to the design process. By integrating the CAD system with other systems that manage product information, such as PDM, PLM, and ERP, the flow of information within the company is significantly enhanced. Integration enables efficient sharing of design data, which reduces errors and improves design accuracy. When information is entered manually only once, the number of human errors naturally decreases. The reliability, consistency, and traceability of product data are key productivity factors in a digital system environment.
CAD integration not only improves the quality of design but also speeds up project completion. Products and product changes can be designed faster and with less effort. Additionally, CAD integration also provides a good foundation for implementing various other automations in the design process. Increasing automation further standardizes and enhances design processes.
How does CAD integration affect cost efficiency?
CAD integration brings significant cost savings. By integrating CAD with the company’s other information management systems, the duplicate work caused by different systems is reduced, saving valuable engineering time. At the same time, the quality and transparency of information between different systems are improved. This also means fewer errors and misses in procurement and production.
Faster lead times are another significant advantage of CAD integration. When the design process is streamlined and integrated, production can start faster, reducing delays and enabling products to reach the market more quickly. This is particularly important when seeking competitive advantages.
What other positive impacts does CAD integration bring to the design team?
CAD integration frees designers from many repetitive information management tasks. They can focus more on innovative and value-producing tasks. Few highly trained engineers actually enjoy the time-consuming work of copying and checking information between different systems. Thus, CAD integration also has a positive impact on designers’ motivation and well-being.
All manual information management work requires detailed instructions and training. Although a large portion of information management errors are due to the instructions not being up-to-date, an even larger portion is because the instructions are not read for some reason. A disproportionate amount of time and energy is spent on creating and maintaining information management instructions compared to the benefits achieved. Since CAD integration specifically reduces manual information management tasks, it directly reduces the amount of required instructions, and thus the resources needed for creating and maintaining them.
What challenges can CAD integration face?
Successful implementation of CAD integration requires expertise in both processes and various integration technologies. Integration often involves eliminating overlapping functions and processes in different systems. It is important to understand which function or process is sensible to perform in which system from the perspective of the overall system. This can be the most challenging part of integration. Often, representatives of different systems, either from within the company or from the supplier, view integration through their own system and interests, and may not be able or willing to view the overall picture neutrally. Without good insight into the integrated whole in project management, there is a risk of ending up in a prolonged definition phase and eventually with a technically and usability-wise unnecessarily complex solution.
CAD integration can be done in many ways and with various technologies, and choosing the appropriate integration solution should be done carefully. The choice is influenced by the systems and processes to be integrated, as well as the number of users and data transfer volumes. As with many other things, it is advisable to invest in finding the simplest and most understandable solution possible in integration. A sensibly defined and implemented CAD integration with suitable technologies brings significant benefits to small, medium-sized, and large companies.