Written By: Katherine Brown-Siebenaler
Model-based definition (MBD) practices are streamlining and redefining downstream manufacturing and service processes. Now, attention needs to turn to engineering, which remains hampered by siloed tools and disjointed workflows.
While engineering has been a champion of 3D models for the rest of the enterprise, it’s been slow to embrace a model-centric mentality in its own house, across the full design workflow. Outside of the core CAD model, engineers have been free to pick and choose best-of-breed software for critical adjunct functionality in areas like simulation, generative design, surfacing, tool path creation, and documentation.
While a robust tool bench is essential for creating today’s innovative products, a best-of-breed approach creates complexity and inefficiencies that can slow design cycles and potentially lead to costly errors. The reason is simple: A best-of-breed design tool portfolio doesn’t share a native file format, which means there’s an over reliance on manual, unproductive workarounds to translate data and models between applications. It also means engineers waste too much time and energy context switching between their tools, limiting their ability to attend to higher-value tasks like experimentation and innovation.
3D CAD programs like PTC Creo ushered in best-in-class parametric modeling that is deeply associative. Read More
