CAD is primarily relevant to the manufacturing and design development sector of the economy. Within manufacturing, CAD is as relevant to SMEs as it is to multinationals. But it is only within the last five to ten years that the cost of CAD software and hardware has become viable for almost all areas of the manufacturing economy
The primary business drivers for early adoption of CAD technology have revolved around the speed of product development. Manufacturing companies discovered that they can use CAD to generate better products, in faster timescales, which generate higher margins.
Despite the cost reduction in the product creation process, the real business gains for manufacturing are to be found in outsourcing manufacturing to lower-cost areas of the world. The use of CAD has been increasingly important in this shift. The ability to translate design without interpreting drawings has helped maintain design quality even when the parties involved face language barriers. The increasing use of free web-based CAD viewers has been an essential step in the global sharing of data.
Most SMEs can now enjoy the benefits of rapid product development and cost-effective outsourced tooling and manufacture utilising CAD data. Business managers are now asking the question: what is the next step in this technology? Simulation of product failure and intelligent testing systems evolving from FEA crash tests used by auto manufacturers will soon be commonplace in desktop tools, helping to reduce product failures and warranty costs.
The translation of form from CAD data to physical models is where progress has really been made and has effected real change in the speed of the design and development process. Rapid prototyping technology such as Stereolithography Apparatus (SLA), Computer Numeric Control Machining (CNC) and new wax-based desktop printing using Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) have concertinaed physical development timescales and costs.
If we take the development of a new mobile phone as an example, a designer can cheaply print models to evaluate form, go back to the CAD system with full construction history interactively update the model and physically print again to check the changes - all in an afternoon.
This process allows companies to gain rapid tactile feedback on overall form and proportions in a very cost-effective way. Combined with photorealistic visuals and animations, the CAD data is the bridge between the image of the product and its physical reality.
SLA models can be used as a pattern for a silicon block tool. The subsequent vacuum-cast prototype can be an accurate injection-mould simulation with full acoustic, colour, textural and mould flow properties.
This technology can be used to refine the design at low cost prior to compressing and encrypting the CAD data and emailing it to injection moulders and toolmakers anywhere in the world. From there the same data is used to generate tool paths and spark eroder electrodes to cut the core and cavity of the injection mould tool to the exact specification of the CAD model.
While these practices are reasonably commonplace today within large conglomerates, it will be the UK's SMEs who will benefit most from the reduced cost of CAD equipment in the future.