Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Put simply, if you are serious about competing and remaining competitive, then 3D CAD
should be a key part of your technology tool box. For small manufacturers who develop
products, it is as straightforward as that. Likewise, for supply chain manufacturers who are
mainly production based, but want to increase their flexibility and capability to handle cus-
tomers' CAD data, the ability to understand CAD files and organise their production set-up
accordingly, is crucial. Larger customers (prime manufacturers and their tier 1 suppliers)
are driving the adoption of 3D CAD further down the supply chain.
Now more than ever, Small Manufacturers are under commercial pressure to bring quality
new products to market quickly. Also for many manufacturing businesses, production
needs to be high quality, efficient and fast. 3D CAD-based engineering has the power to
help you deliver better quality, better functioning products to market, faster, as well as
boost your manufacturing productivity. For the individual engineer, they are quite simply
some of the most sought after skills in industry. Make no mistake, the names of the major
CAD software packages feature as key words on CVs. They are what employers and re-
cruitment agencies look for on resumes and when sifting applications.
For the best performing manufacturers, commercial pressures to get quality products to
market quickly have driven the adoption of 3D CAD and its derivative technologies, like
3D Printing, CAM and FEA. The real value of 3D CAD is the ability to design something
once and use the CAD data later on, in other areas of the development and manufacturing
process and beyond. The benefits it offers include reduced development lead-times, fewer
errors, significantly better quality and finally big resultant cost reductions.
2. Understand the corporate, design and analysis benefits of 3D CAD
Business benefits include quicker product design cycles and faster time-to-market. This en-
ables you to respond swiftly and beat the competition. Higher margins and profits are the
result. 3D CAD enables parts and assemblies to be designed quickly. The result is great-
er productivity, with design engineers' producing more per day. Low productivity soon
adds up when you review employee and contractor hourly rates. Geographically dispersed
design teams can work on CAD data at the same time, without duplication of effort. Rap-
idly modifying 3D CAD models provides the ability to respond to urgent client requests
and provide customisation.
3D CAD is most effective when integrated with the product development process, assisting
key stages of design and manufacturing. Corporate and productivity advantages include
greater quality and accuracy during detail design, with better fitting and tolerancing of
parts. With 3D CAD you can rapidly generate and modify 2D drawings and BOMs, as well
