Concurrent Engineering Blog

In every field of engineering, calculations are essential. Sometimes these calculations are simple, and performed using a notepad and engineering calculator or, more likely, a spreadsheet program like Excel. But, engineering calculations, much like life, are not always simple. Calculations have to take into account more than just the technical aspects of the task in hand and also consider other aspects such as efficiency and cost. Lets take, for example, the complex calculations needed to design an electric motor or transformer. You need to consider the type of lamination iron to be used, the size of the core, type of insulation, and chose between aluminium or copper conductors. During the calculation process, you have to tie all these elements together to optimise the design, taking into account efficiency, cooling, and cost.

Today we’re going to look at consolidating CAD software. We’re going to take a look at some of the benefits of moving to a single, consistent CAD platform. While there will be cases when this isn’t a feasible option, for instance customer requirements, it a large number of cases it is a solid strategy for your company.

You’re researching Creo Parametric 2.0, but not sure whether it’s the right CAD tool for you? While it is important to understand the capabilities and advantages of a CAD solution (there’s plenty of detailed information available about the advantages of Creo Parametric 2.0 - you can download our guide here), sometimes you just want a quick-fire summary.

Engineering calculations are at the core of successful product design. And, when it comes to engineering calculations, Mathcad Prime 3.0 is the industry standard. This latest release of Mathcad Prime comes with fantastic new features, including global definitions, math formatting in text, templates for advanced numerics and new custom functions. This isn’t your standard spreadsheet; it’s an essential tool for successful engineering calculations:

Having to use a CAD tool that doesn’t match your needs isn’t just frustrating; it can lead to serious problems with your product development. Think about it, if you have an unsuitable tool, delays and mistakes become almost inevitable.

In recent years, a number of leading high tech companies have found themselves suddenly following the competition. They have lost their place as market leaders of the pack to younger upstarts. Partially, this can be explained by the ability of the competition to leverage and optimise their product development processes to beat the leaders to the market with the most innovative products.

Product Lifecycle Management enables companies to manage all the data, information, and communications for the entire product lifecycle – covering all stages from concept development through to product retirement. But, actually knowing when the time is right for your organisation to take the steps to implement a PLM solution isn’t always easy. Recognising the signs that PLM is the right move for your organisation can make the difference between remaining competitive and falling behind in your market.  Here are 5 of the common indicators that PLM could be the next move you need to take.

Projects are more complex. Products are becoming more advanced. So, it comes as no surprise that business processes, engineering, software development, design, analysis and the other responsibilities that are part of an enterprise’s operation need a better model to support product development.

Nobody is surprised by the fact that innovation is the key to business success. It is the magic sauce that keeps your company leading the pack. But as your company grows and develops, there is a real risk that innovation can often take a backseat. Part of the problem is that the level of data you are handling increases, so it becomes ever more challenging to manage it. Successfully implementing Enterprise Product Data Management can change this.

There was a time, not so long ago, when businesses relied on manual documentation to control their manufacturing operations. These manual systems were cumbersome and prone to errors.