Design shift redefines CAD

It’s often been said that form follows function. I prefer to think that function drives form. Unfortunately, just the opposite is true for modern CAD tools – function is a slave to form (or geometry). Given the current climate of intense global competition, and its associated requirements for increased innovation, form can no longer stand between an engineer and the functional problem they are trying to solve. Instead, it must support the engineer on their journey to innovation. And the fastest road for that journey is paved by Functional Design – a paradigm shift that is ushering in the redefinition of CAD. Take the case of a Cincinnati-based manufacturer of food processing and automation machinery, Planet Products. Its current line of food processing loaders was at risk of becoming outdated. It needed a redesign to reduce costs, increase efficiency, and meet the more stringent demands of the food industry. The ability to easily disassemble and clean the machinery was a critical requirement. Planet Products used a functional approach to design in order to develop digital prototypes that allowed them to rapidly test new ideas that redefine the industry standard. The company put function before form to design the SP3 Next Generation Loader, helping Planet Products become recognised and honoured around the world for innovation in precision equipment design. What can we learn from Planet Products’ success? Their secret lies in the minds of their engineers and the CAD tools they use to explore ideas. To replicate Planet Products’ success, we must look at the way engineers bridged the gap between form and function. In other words, how the software they used helped them focus on functional requirements first and geometry second. This enabled them to drive innovation while the software helped them drive productivity. This is the change Functional Design brings to the market. This shows a relentless focus on the functional requirements of design – not the geometric modelling requirements of the CAD tool. Software should not distract the engineer from their design process – it should enable it. In addition, in order for manufacturers to continually drive productivity and innovation, CAD software should make it fast and easy to create and use digital prototypes throughout the entire design through manufacturing process. XHEAD: Harnessing digital prototypes The power of such digital prototypes is well established. Along with enabling the engineer to explore the complete function of their design over and over again without a costly physical prototype, it reduces the number of physical prototypes required to get to the final design. In the end, this lowers the cost and complexity of manufacture. Every engineer, in every manufacturing enterprise, should be able to exploit the power of digital prototyping at all stages in the design process. Unfortunately, most modern CAD applications don’t make that possible. The singular focus of CAD on creating 3D model geometry distracts the engineer from the most important work they do – functional problem solving. Engineers are forced to become 3D modelling experts in order to document ideas they usually have to solve with pen and paper. Beyond that, they are often forced to use specials modelling methods and tools in order to “repair” geometry so it is useful. Getting to a digital prototype is even more complicated – often requiring the engineer to completely recreate model geometry. The result? No time to exploit the power of the digital prototype. Focusing on geometry not only costs engineers time, it also costs them opportunities to innovate. On the other hand, Functional Design keeps the engineer focused on solving design and manufacturing problems, not 3D modelling problems. Beyond that, it makes it easier to exploit digital prototypes across the entire design through manufacturing process. More simply, it represents a shift in how engineers use CAD to bring new products to market. Software with Functional Design capabilities allows the engineer to work with simple (or schematic) representations to validate a design based on its real-world requirements. The software then generates 3D geometry automatically, or makes it simple to create, in order to deliver a digital prototype easily and reliably. The powerful convergence of visualisation, simulation, and automated modelling embraced by Functional Design blurs the distinction between CAD and CAE and makes it possible to dramatically decrease the number of physical prototypes while increasing an engineering team’s ability to innovate. Competition is increasing for manufacturers all over the world and customers are demanding increasingly unique solutions to drive their own competitive advantage. This means manufacturers have to focus on both productivity and innovation in order to succeed. Manufacturers should expect their CAD tools, and the design processes they support, to evolve in a direction that helps them meet this increasingly complex challenge. CAD tools that make function a slave to geometry create barriers to productivity and stifle innovation. Function must drive form and manufacturers should expect nothing less from their CAD tools. The next generation of best-in-class manufacturers will be exploiting Functional Design to drive their design through manufacturing process.