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© Tech-Clarity 2018
Is Your CAD Tool Ready for the 2020s?
The Pace of Innovation Has trusting that what has worked in the past while profit margins suffer (see graph).
Accelerated will carry them into the future, may find
As companies plan for the 2020s, there is themselves at a competitive disadvantage. You Will Need the Right Software
They risk losing out to those who are Tools
even more to consider than before. Many
new technologies have created strategically planning for their company’s While the right strategy around cutting-
opportunities for innovation, making it an success in the 2020s. edge technologies is critical to avoid these
exciting time for product developers. In negative impacts, you must also empower
fact, Tech-Clarity research finds that 83% New Technology Will Be a Major your teams with proper processes and
of Top Performing companies rate new Driver of Innovation technology. You also need capabilities to
technology as very or extremely important Companies must continue to innovate to manage the resulting complexity. This
to their innovation goals. As such, stay competitive. Tech-Clarity's research research reveals what the most successful
companies will need the right design study, Seven Practices to Achieve Great companies do to help them succeed and
processes and tools to help them take Innovation, finds that if companies do not stay ahead of the competition while they
advantage of the latest technology. meet their innovation goals, they prepare for the next decade.
will lose both revenue and market share,
Those who ignore the latest trends are at
risk of not surviving. Just over half of the IMPACTS IF YOUR COMPANY DOESN’T MEET ITS INNOVATION GOALS
companies that were on the Fortune 500
in 2000 have already disappeared,1 and
the failure rate will only accelerate. A
Lost revenue 63%
study conducted by Innosight2 projects
that nearly 50% of the current S&P 500
will be replaced over the next decade. Lost market share 58%
Decreasing corporate lifespans can be
attributed in part to disruption from
Poor profit margins 44%
technology, failure to invest in growth
areas, and slow responses to disruptive
competitors. Tarnished brand reputation 32%
With IoT, companies can stay connected with their products which in turn
means connecting with their customers. Consequently, engineers can get
insight into how customers actually use the product. With this insight,
engineers can base their design decisions on proven customer use cases.
The Value of Smart Factories modular designs. Other changes will come from
Smart factories use data, automation, manufacturing requirements, which will also
connectivity, IoT, sensors, and other grow in complexity. With manufacturing relying
technologies to rapidly respond to changes in on more data, engineers may need to embed
production and demand. They then adapt and more data into their CAD models. Thirty-three
optimize processes in real time. This leads to percent of Top Performers already embed
greater flexibility, efficiency, higher quality, manufacturing details into their CAD models,
repeatability, and the ability to better meet but another 44% would like to, indicating that
customer needs. Products get to market faster CAD capabilities like Model Based Definition
and at a lower cost. Also, machines can "self- (MBD) should see a significant increase in
monitor" so they proactively send notifications adoption over the next decade. Further, 40% of
when maintenance is required, minimizing Top Performers say that MBD is a top way that
downtime. All of these efficiencies lead 48% of CAD tools will help to manage the expected
Top Performers to identify smart factories as increase in complexity of products developed in
the top technology to improve competitiveness. the 2020s. Forty-six percent of Top Performers
also report that manufacturability checks help
to adopt new technology and will be useful to
How Smart Factories Will Change catch problems before parts reach the
Design production floor and hurt the efficiency of the
While smart factories are rated as the top smart factory.
40% of Top
technology to improve competitiveness, 35% of Performers say that
Top Performers also ranked them as the
number two technology to impact design. Since
Industrial Equipment Will See an Impact MBD is a top way
While smart factories will drive changes across
smart factories can quickly adapt to change, it
all industries, industrial equipment
that CAD tools will
will become far more economical to tailor
products to specific customer needs. This will
manufacturers will likely see the most help to manage the
significant impact. They will need to engineer expected increase
allow companies to serve their customers even
the features that enable the smart factory. All
better, but to take advantage of the in complexity of
of the changes described in the IoT section will
opportunity, engineers will need to design more
be required for industrial equipment products developed
modular products. The number of
manufacturers to design the machinery for
configurations is already a top source of
smart factories, so it will be important that in the 2020s
complexity, reported by 42% and it will only
they have the right collaboration capabilities as
get more difficult so engineers will need the
well as MCAD and ECAD integration.
right design tools to manage configurations and
Ensure Your Design Tools Will automation, you can automate the WILL YOUR DESIGN TOOLS MEET
YOUR NEEDS IN THE 2020s
Meet Future Needs creation of configurations based on
To support the needs for new technology design rules, which saves time and
reduces the chance of errors. 74%
and manage the resulting complexity,
Reuse Yes
you need the right software tools. The 52%
upper graph shows that most Top CAD tools that make it easier to reuse
Performers are happy with their design older models also save time and reduce Flexibility
17%to scale user
tools and believe their tools will meet errors. You can take advantage of proven No 19%
their needs in the 2020s. On the other and tested design details without wasting
counts, the most
Top Performer
hand, their peers are less likely to feel efforts recreating work that was frequently
Not 10% reported
Others
this way. previously done. benefit.
Sure 29%
Interestingly, 93% foresee CAD tools as
helping to manage product complexity.
However, some key CAD capabilities will
make the most difference. The lower TOP WAYS CAD TOOLS WILL HELP MANAGE EXPECTED
graph shows the top five capabilities Top PRODUCT COMPLEXITY IN THE 2020s
Performers rate as most important for
managing the complex products they
expect to develop in the 2020s. 55%
Improved software performance
Performance
48%
Software that has the right performance Design Automation
enhancements will make it easier to work
with complex models and large 48%
assemblies. This means the software is Easier reuse
not slowed down by large models and
engineers spend less time waiting to 40%
Multi-CAD capabilities
retrieve models or features to
regenerate.
Model Based Definition (MBD) 40%
Avoid Tedious Tasks
The number of configurations is a top
source of complexity. With design Top Performer
Leverage Intelligence
As discussed earlier, improving collaboration with other departments is a top
strategy to develop more competitive products. MBD supports better
collaboration with manufacturing, a top challenge. It makes it easier to take
advantage of the intelligence embedded in the CAD model and streamlines
access to manufacturing details, minimizing the risk of miscommunication and
errors.
Manage Complexity and Extend To avoid duplication of efforts and errors, work, and prevent errors due to
CAD Model Value especially for complex products, it helps misinterpretation and translation. You can
In addition to the right CAD tool, to manage versions and understand also share ideas more easily and identify
dependencies. design problems that will cause issues
complementary software tools can further
help to manage complexity. The graph later on. As a single integrated solution,
Native Production Support you can also streamline the handoff
shows the top complementary and
Support for production processes will across different teams or disciplines.
integrated options that Top Performers
expect will be the most helpful to manage make it easier to manage different
manufacturing techniques and leverage Visualization Tools
complexity as they design products in the
2020s. the intelligence in the CAD model to Visualization tools make it easier to share
support production. 3D models with others, especially non-
Collaboration Tools technical stakeholders while keeping data
Integrated Design Solutions secure. Plus, the recipient doesn’t need
Collaboration tools are the top way Top
Performers manage complexity as MCAD solutions that integrate with other access to the native CAD tool to view it.
reported by 56%. Manufacturing solutions such as industrial design tools or This makes it easier to share with others
techniques and more electronics and ECAD make it easier to collaborate. and solicit feedback. The result is better
embedded software are top sources of Bringing the complete design together in communication.
complexity. With collaboration tools, one model saves time, avoids duplicating
engineers can connect more easily with
manufacturing and other engineering COMPLEMENTARY SOFTWARE CAPABILITIES TO MANAGE COMPLEXITY
disciplines to make it easier to work
together. Improved collaboration is also a
critical requirement for incorporating new
technology.
Data Management
Product data management (PDM) and
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
provide a way to centralize data and
control access to it so that it is easier to
find. PLM extends the value of PDM by
also supporting processes such as change
management and managing workflows.
Next Steps
Times have changed. The pace of innovation continues to accelerate, and the
pressure from global competition is so significant, corporate lifespans have
shrunk. Companies must work harder than ever to stay relevant.
As we approach the next decade, staying on top of the latest technologies will
be crucial for innovation. However, while new technology will make your
products more competitive, it will also increase product complexity. To be
successful, you will need the right design tools to support it.
Old ways of working may no longer be enough so evaluate your current design
environment to ensure you have the right capabilities to empower development
teams to innovate. This may include evaluating new design solutions.
Based on this research and our experience, we recommend that companies:
• Use design tools that will support your innovation requirements in the 2020s.
• Identify the impact new technology will have on innovation requirements.
Examine the design impact of 3D printing, smart factories, new materials,
IoT, and AR/VR as these technologies will likely become increasingly
important in the 2020s. Ensure you have the tools to support these
technologies as needed.
• Facilitate collaboration, especially across multi-disciplinary teams. For the Old ways of working may no
technically advanced products of the 2020s, development teams will need to
include experts from multiple disciplines. It will be impossible for any one
longer be enough in the 2020s so
person to be an expert in everything so, effective and efficient collaboration evaluate your current design
will be critical to strengthen the expertise of the entire team.
• Consider design tools that can manage the resulting complexity of modern environment to ensure you have
products. Tools should offer high performance, automate tedious tasks,
support reuse, handle multi-CAD data, and embed intelligence into design the capabilities in place to
models.
empower development teams to
• Evaluate extended software capabilities and applications that complement
CAD to support collaboration and provide additional ways to manage innovate.
complexity.
Data Gathering Electronics, 18% Durable Consumer Eastern Europe, 10% in Latin
Tech-Clarity gathered and analyzed Goods, 14% Life Sciences, 14% America, 8% in Australia, 5% in the
207 responses to a web-based Engineering Services, 9% Consumer Middle East, and 2% in Africa. Note
survey on technology, innovation, Packaged Goods, and others. Note that the numbers total greater than
and product development. Survey that these numbers add up to 100% because companies reported
responses were collected by direct greater than 100% because some doing business in multiple
e-mail, social media, and online companies are active in more than geographies.
postings by Tech-Clarity. one industry.
Of the respondents, 49% were in
Demographics engineering or design roles, 11%
The respondents represented a mix Program/Project/Product
of company sizes, including 48% Management
from smaller companies (less than Management/Administration, 7%
$100 million), 25% between $100 Manufacturing, 4% Manufacturing
million and $1 billion, and Engineering, 4% Industrial Design,
27% over $1 billion. and the remainder were from a
variety of roles including Simulation
The respondents were comprised of Analysts, CAD Administration, IT
about one-half (51%) individual and other roles. The companies
contributors, nearly one-quarter were primarily OEMs (62%), with
(24%) manager, 14% vice president 23% suppliers, 7% contract
or director level, 10% who indicate designers, 4% contract
they are executive levels, and 1% manufacturers, and 4% others.
other roles.
The respondents reported doing
The respondents represented a good
business globally, with most doing
mix of industries, including 34%
business in the North America
Industrial Machinery, 21%
(83%), almost one-third (31%)
Aerospace & Defense, 19%
doing business in Western Europe,
Automotive, 18% High Tech and
24% doing business in Asia, 12% in
Michelle graduated magna cum laude with an MBA from Babson Tech-Clarity
College and earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering, with
distinction, from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. She is an
Michelle Boucher experienced researcher and author having benchmarked over 7000
Vice President product development professionals and published over 90 reports
on product development best practices.
Tech-Clarity, Inc.
Image Credits © Can Stock Photo / andreykuzmin (pg 2) , Neirfy (pg 4), dolgachov (pg. 6, 16), AndreyPopov (pg. 7), XXLPhoto (pg. 8), audioundwerbung (pg. 9), MarinaSk
(pg. 10), prescott09 (pg. 10), marcovarro (pg 12), rausinphoto (pg 14)