Innovation beats efficiency

Best-in-class manufacturers make fewer prototypes says Mike Lucas of Autodesk Manufacturing.

Some businesses have learnt the hard way and some through the negative experiences of others.

Real competitive advantage comes from generating more new and profitable ideas, not more high-volume components at record speeds.

Consequently, many companies that have transferred some or all of their production processes offshore have retained a design office in the UK.

However, this means the pressure is really on for designers to keep coming up with the goods to suit increasingly capricious markets.

And, with fewer young engineers coming up through colleges and universities, existing talent will feel the weight of these demands all the more intensely in the years to come.

One development that could help ease this burden is the growing sophistication of mainstream manufacturing design software.

Readily available, industry-standard solutions are now bringing together and simplifying tools that previously could only be used as disparate technologies or as expensive, complex products.

For example, not only do they allow users to see their design as a 3D model, but they also enable them to experience on screen how it will work and perform.

Of course, these solutions don't come up with the actual ideas needed.

Just as you don't become a first-class engineer merely by owning a top-of-the range calculator, you don't automatically create an innovative and highly productive design team just by using 3D solid modelling tools.

However, the most advanced solutions do help manufacturers streamline their design processes and develop best practices, giving engineers more time to concentrate on actual design.

They also make it easier to experiment, try out different scenarios and create a loop whereby test results feed straight back into the design.

Industry research firm Aberdeen Group made this clear in "The Digital Development Benchmark Report", a study of top-performing manufacturers published earlier this year.

The report cites best-in-class manufacturers' ability to meet revenue, cost, launch date and quality targets for 91% or more of their products.

These companies were up to 22% more likely to use a single digital prototype at every phase of development.

For years, design engineers have been asked to address functional problems with applications that represent geometry.

Often, they solve these problems with one set of tools and then work with CAD specialists to translate their functional solutions into geometry.

But the Aberdeen Group's research suggests that the best firms equip their engineers with applications that don't require them to adapt their problem-solving to suit their tools.

Rather, they use software that automates creation of models and then test designs throughout development.

This software can include FEA, full dynamic motion simulation and the automated transference of motion load results to FEA.

Some solutions also enable users to quickly design cable and harness layouts with wirelist data from the electrical design with automatic path generation and update as the 3D model changes.

In fact, top performers were four times as likely to use design models for manufacturing documentation and also tended to forego creation of engineering drawings entirely.

They also used electronic methods to notify multiple stakeholders in the production process when information was available, helping to streamline tasks such as materials ordering and change orders.

Once design drawings make it to the manufacturing phase, production teams often rely on email or paper-based communication to clarify questions with design teams.

They also use physical prototypes for insight too.

However, a better way is simply capturing more information digitally and making it more available upstream and downstream - in other words, by opening a "digital pipeline".

This can be further enhanced by software tools for data management.

The Aberdeen Group found that this was beneficial to both design and production teams.

Design engineers were able to use production's insights into the manufacturability of the product and the shop floor had better knowledge of design intent and vision.

For example, the British-owned family run company Stannah Lifts has 20 seats of Autodesk Inventor.

CAD Development Engineer Martin Lee says that one of the main advantages of working this way is the freedom it gives you to work on new concepts.

"We have a very large range of lifts and we are always looking at new ideas".

"Having a 3D model means there is no need to make early prototypes".

"You can get complete accuracy on the screen and so see how everything fits together and will work".

"Because of this, our work is not just quicker, it's more accurate too", he says.

So why is digital prototyping still the exception, rather than the rule?.

According to Chad Jackson, Research and Service Director for Aberdeen's Product Innovation and Engineering Practice, best-in-class manufacturers may not even use 3D solid modelling in all aspects of their design process.

But they are using digital simulation.

However, most solid modelling software focuses on 3D geometry - just one aspect of a digital prototype and not necessarily the aspect that product engineers need to solve functional problems.

In contrast, the most advanced applications available that simulate functional 3D designs can both complement and contribute to a digital pipeline, helping to bridge the disconnects between conceptual design, engineering and managing, carrying insights from one stage to the next and reducing dependence on physical prototyping in search of design phase answers.

Whether the tools are used for rapid prototyping to clinch a sale, or to reduce the number of physical prototypes made and then destroyed, it seems clear that they benefit not just the engineer under pressure, but the total business too.

Whether they mark the beginning of the end of the physical prototype depends on the individual industry and product.

However the Aberdeen Group report shows that just by building one less physical prototype, manufacturers gained as much as a 14-week edge on time to market.

They also saved anywhere up to half a million pounds, depending on product complexity.

Significant gains - and savings that could help firms striving to stay competitive with fewer staff.

The UK still needs strong new talent, but working this way will help make the most of the resources we do have - and ensure that the UK retains its name for good design.

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