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There are number of benefits of using computer aided design or CAD software. Som
e of the benefits are tangible for they are visible in the design and production
process, while the other benefits are intangible which may not be visible direc
tly but result in improvement in the quality of product, better control over des
igning and production process, reduction of stress on the designers etc. Let us
see some of the advantages of using CAD software.
1. Increase in Productivity of the Designer
By using CAD the professional designers can do the designing work faster thus th
e firmâ s overall requirement of the number of designers reduces. This helps the co
mpany to maintain competitive edge in the market where the trend is towards low
cost and high quality products. Since the productivity of the designer is increa
sed the company can carry out the changes in the products faster and bring them
into the market faster before the competition.
As per the various studies carried out on increase in productivity due to comput
er aided design, it has been found that at lower ends the increase in productivi
ty is in the ratio 3:1 and in many cases it is 10:1. This increase in productivi
ty is measured against the traditional designing process in which most of the ca
lculations are done manually and drafting is done by using the drawing board. Th
ere have been some cases where the increase in productivity has be by the factor
of 100, but this is not the general figure.
There are number of factors that decide the increase in productivity by using CA
D compared to using traditional designing process. These factors are:
1) How complex the engineering drawing is: For highly complex drawings the tradi
tional drawing process consumes lots of time.
2) The details required in the drawing: If more details are required, it can be
done much faster with CAD.
3) The number of repeated parts in the drawings: There is a feature of saving th
e repeated drawings in CAD software and they can be used in any other drawing wi
thout having to draw them again. There is also library feature in CAD software,
where a number of readymade drawings of most frequently used components is avail
able readily.
4) Symmetry required in the drawing: The symmetry feature in the CAD software he
lps drawing symmetrical parts faster.
On the whole, all these factors lead to increase in productivity of the designer
. Due to lesser time required in drawing the designer feels lesser stress, which
indirectly leads to further increase in the productivity of the designer.
2. Short Lead Times
By using CAD systems many processes becomes faster thus reducing the lead times.
The computer aided design and drafting process is inherently faster than the tr
aditional process. Making the drawings, preparing reports of assembly and part d
rawings, making specifications, preparing bill of materials etc are all much eas
ier and faster by using the CAD systems. Here are the processes in which lead ti
me is reduced compared to traditional designing and drafting processes:
1) Launching new product: If the company has to launch new product the designing
and drafting process can be completed faster, which also translates in to faste
r manufacturing of the product. Thus the company can launch the new product fast
er than the competition and gain competitive edge in the market. In fact it is d
ue to fast designing by using CAD that the companies are now launching the new p
roducts at the speed much faster than ever before.
2) Faster completion of orders: Some companies receive orders for designing the
components and then manufacturing them. Fast designing by using the CAD software
helps the designer to send the product drawings and specifications at much fast
er speed to the production engineer at the shop floor who can start manufacturin
g the product in shorter times. Thus by using the computer aided systems complet
ion of orders becomes faster.
3) Reduction in overall time of manufacturing: The total time required for manuf
acturing the product includes the time required for designing, engineering analy
sis, drafting and actual manufacturing of the product. In the traditional design
ing process the designing, engineering analysis and drafting time are major time
consuming processes and thus very critical. Due to CAD systems these processes
require much lesser time, hence they become far less critical in overall product
manufacturing lead time.
These days even the manufacturing processes have been almost completely computer
ized and they are called computer aided manufacturing (CAM) processes. The integ
ration of CAD and CAM has further greatly reduced the product manufacturing lead
time since the manufacturing time has also reduced and it has become less criti
cal.
3. Improvement in Design
In the traditional designing process the designing and analysis are two differen
t groups. But with computer aided design the design and analysis can be carried
out by a single person or single group of people. The use of computer aided desi
gn systems helps in betterment of the designing because it improves the design a
nalysis process. Design analysis with CAD systems helps in achieving optimum des
ign and reducing overall time for designing the product. Let us see these benefi
ts in details:
In the traditional designing process the designing and an
alysis are two different groups. Design group designs the object while the se
cond group carries out its analysis. This creates time lag between designing and
analysis and also back and forth exchange between the groups. There are also ch
ances that the analysis group may be busy with analysis of the other designs so
the designers will have to keep their job in queue. If the feedback of the ana
lysis group is not communicated properly, there are chances that the design grou
p may not be able to carry out required changes. Thus there is lots of waste of
time and the optimum design may not be obtained eventually.With the computer aid
ed design and drafting systems the working system change completely. The CAD sys
tems are equipped with not only the designing tools but also the analysis tools.
Thus the designer or the group of designers that carries out the designing proc
ess of the object also carries out the analysis of the object. The designer does
not have to depend on the other people for analysis so there is no wastage of t
ime in starting the analysis process. The designer wonâ t have to keep the design i
n queue for analysis, thus savings lots of precious time.
Since the designing person carries out the analysis on its own they will know in
better way what changes in the design of the product are needed to get the opti
mum design and there wonâ t be any communication problem. With the computer aided d
esign system the designer works in a real time manner simultaneously on designin
g and analysis process of the object.Thus the design and analysis carried out by
using CAD software by a single person helps in reducing the overall time of des
igning and improving the design. Faster designing reduces the overall time of th
e manufacture of the product and better design helps manufacturing highly reliab
le and functional product of high quality at low cost.
4. Fewer Errors in Design and Drafting
In the traditional design and drafting process there are some errors on number o
f occasions in design and drafting which get ampified by the time design reaches
production shop floor. These errors are minimized with CAD systems.
In the traditional design and drafting process there are some errors on number o
f occasions. It is a common scene that the production engineer complains that th
e product that has been designed and drafted just cannot be manufactured because
the dimensions, material specifications and fits are absurd. In such cases the
drawings are sent back to the draftsman or the designer who point out the mistak
es made in the design or drawing and make necessary corrections so that the manu
facturing of object is feasible. While all these changes are being carried out l
ots of time is wasted. Though the object was designed properly, the specificatio
ns and dimensions were not passed on correctly down the line due to human errors
of designer or draftsman.
How Computer Aided Design and Drawing (CADD) System Helps Reduce Errors
This is no more the case with companies using computer aided design and drafting
. There are intrinsic features in CADD software that help avoid design, drafting
and documentation errors. One of the most common errors with the manual process
is related to compilation of the bills of materials, since this is lengthy and
time consuming process. CAD systems virtually eliminate these errors simply beca
use no manual handling is required once the initial drawing has been made.
The CAD systems can automatically carry out a number of repetitive tasks like pl
acing multiple symbols, use drawings from the library and stored drawings, etc.
This not only increases speed of the work but also reduce stress caused on the d
esigner due to repetitive tasks. This combined with the fact that the standard p
arts are free from errors, help in overall reduction in errors in design and dra
wings. Further, the CADD systems are highly interactive systems hence they can b
e programmed to ask the questions wherever there are chances of making errors th
us further reducing the errors.
The reduction in errors helps reduce the precious time that would have gone into
finding the errors and nullifying them. It increases the overall productivity o
f the designer and the firm.
5. Ease of Manufacturing
One of the greatest benefits of using computer aided design and drafting softwar
e is the ease of manufacturing. As mentioned earlier, the integration of compute
r aided design and computer aided manufacturing (CAD /CAM) greatly reduces the t
ime required for production planning and allocation of jobs to various resources
. Present day CAD and CAM systems have become very well suited to each other and
in many cases they look as a single unit instead of two different systems.
6. Benefits of CADD Software
This is the last article in the series of articles on benefits of computer aided
design and drawing software. Some more important benefits of CAD software are:
greater accuracy in the design calculations, standardization of the procedures,
clarity of the drawings, and ease of making engineering changes. Let us see all
these one by one:
1) Greater accuracy in design calculations: The accuracy of mathematical calcula
tions offered by the CADD software are much more than that can be done manually
and there can be no real comparison between the two. The accuracy offered by the
CAD systems can be useful in number of ways. The parts can be labeled by certai
n nomenclature and numbers that can be identified easily throughout the drawing.
In some CAD systems, the change made in name of the item can appear in all the
drawings that use that part. The accuracy in CAD systems is also reflected in ac
curate estimates of the materials and costs, and better scheduling.
2) Standardization of procedures: The interactive CADD systems help in standardi
zation design, drafting and documentation procedures. This removes all the confu
sions regarding the procedures to be followed for design, drafting and documenta
tion and they will be similar for all objects.
3) Easier to understand drawings: With CAD interactive systems you can see the d
rawings in various views. One can see the drawings in isometric vies, oblique vi
ew, orthographic view and others. Most of the CAD systems also have animation ef
fects, which makes the understanding of drawings far more easier. These are very
important features for the newbie or those who are seeing the drawings first ti
me.
4) Improvement in procedures for making engineering changes: Many times some cha
nges have to be made in the design of the product. This can be done easily in th
e CAD systems since all the drawings and reports are located within the CAD syst
em of the computer. Drawings and reports from the CAD system can be accessed muc
h faster than those kept in the drawing vault. With CAD system one can also keep
track of all the changes that have been made in the design of the product and o
ne can revert back to any previous design very easily. One can also easily compa
re the previous and present engineering designs.