T-squares, compasses, a variety of pencils, rulers, a drafting table, and lots of paper…these were some of the tools that were a part of everyday life for those involved with product design until the later part of the 20th century.
For the vast majority of designers and engineers working today, life before computers is just a collection of stories told to them by their older peers. Computer-aided design (CAD) is so much a part of manufacturing that the revolutionary changes that it brought to design and production are considered commonplace now.
CAD allowed users to move away from hand-drawn blueprints and physical product prototypes to create digital 3-D models that show the product from all angles and depths. Before CAD, changes or errors meant going back and redoing drawings and the subsequent models repeatedly. With digital reconstruction, these modifications could be done in a fraction of the time with more accurate, consistent results.
The transition from analog to digital continues to transform our society at an ever-faster pace. Working digitally also means that the way we work within this digital world changes quickly. Within the product design and manufacturing world, these changes are highlighted by the evolution of computer-aided engineering (CAE) and how computers and data are advancing what is possible from an engineering perspective.
CAE has many uses in engineering and design. What CAD can design, CAE can test. For example, computer-aided engineering finds applications in stress analysis of machine assemblies, fluid dynamics, MES, kinematics, and process optimization. CAE has the capability to predict the integrity of a computer-generated design before physical production begins.
SEE ALSO: On-Demand Webinar - Can Your CAD Do This?
According to the most recent Worldwide CAD Trends report, which surveys CAD users such as designers, engineers, and professionals, including managers and senior executives, many enterprises rely on CAE technologies to enhance design productivity and shorten time to market. Seventy-nine percent of manufacturers surveyed are investing in CAE, including 7 out of every 10 small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
As CAE adoption increases, its impact on the competitive landscape continues to advance as well. When you can drive increased sales through greater efficiencies, it is understandable that adoption will continue to accelerate.
CAE also allows for the development of more efficient communication across the production chain, which brings with it a variety of benefits. For example, a new EPLAN product, Syngineer, takes a mechatronic approach to machine production. Mechatronics is a unification of the various disciplines of engineering: systems engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, telecommunications engineering, control engineering, and computer engineering. It is a design route that brings synergy to the production process.
Syngineer portrays the requirements and functions of the machine in a clearly defined structure so that the core information for all disciplines is documented, which is then used to derive the technologies and specific machine functions required. This use of data to drive insights and improve production methods brings manufacturers that much closer to the idea of a batch size of one—truly personalized manufacturing.
The structure of a machine can be individually created and processed in Syngineer according to customer requirements. EPLAN and its Syngineer partner CIDEON have already developed concepts and templates to portray customer products within such structures.
Computer-aided production has brought a lot of changes to how things get made and that transformational process is set to only accelerate. If your company wants to discover what the future might hold for your manufacturing needs, give EPLAN a call. We not only produce CAE software that is defining the future of production—we offer consultative services that can guide you on a path that is attuned to your needs and goals.
