You’re chasing a product deadline and you’ve handed your designs off to the manufacturing team. But manufacturing doesn’t understand some of the key details because they’ve been working on a different version of the design. Emails fly. Drawings need to be revised. By the time you’ve sorted the problem out, you’ve lost weeks.
Even in 2025, outdated 2D design methods are still reducing efficiency and productivity in product teams. However, there’s now a solution—model–based Definition (MBD). MBD is a smarter, clearer, faster way to move from the design stage to delivery. In this article, we’ll explain how it works.
Introducing MBD
Model-Based Definition is a groundbreaking new approach to 3D design. It’s the process of creating 3D models embedded with all the information needed to define the product, including Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerance (GD&T), material data, and annotations. For designers and manufacturers, it eliminates the need to flip between 2D drawings and CAD models, while state-of-the-art MBD solutions like Creo make version control problems a thing of the past.
However, a product’s MBD can also serve as a single source of truth throughout the product lifestyle. Everyone across the supply chain, from engineers to suppliers, can see the same data, clearly and visually, in one place. It prevents errors and saves time for everybody.
MBD benefits
When you incorporate MBD into your design processes, you gain a wide range of benefits, especially when you compare it to the outdated 2D drawings way of doing things:
- Fewer errors – It’s much less likely for people to miss changes or misinterpret annotations when everything is in 3D and annotations are embedded
- Faster workflows – With each dimension in the same drawing, it’s quicker to define products and speed up supply chains
- Better communication – There’s no more dealing with PDFs or emails. Everyone is on the same MBD page
- Lower costs – With less need for revisions, fewer wasted prototypes and faster time to market, MBD instantly makes your organisation more efficient
MBD and the digital thread
When used correctly, Model-Based Definition can be the cornerstone of the entire product lifecycle. This process is called Model-Based Product Development, or MBDP.
While you’ll start creating the 3D at the concept development stage, MBD also supports many downstream processes, including detailed design, simulation, tooling, manufacturing, and even service instructions.
In this way, MBD enables a digital thread – seamless traceability throughout the product lifecycle. This is how you move from disconnected tools and siloed data to unified, model-driven collaboration up and down the supply chain.
Get started with MBD
MBD can bring a wide range of benefits to your manufacturing organisation, including reducing errors and accelerating time to market, so you can gain an edge over your competitors.
It may sound like a daunting prospect today, but getting started with MBD doesn’t mean overhauling your entire system and workflows overnight. Tools like Creo make transitioning to MBD accessible and scalable.
Start with a pilot and create some easy wins, upskill your team and build MBD momentum. As your success grows, you’ll find that MBD becomes the foundation of your digital transformation.