subject: Benefit of Computer-Aided Design [print this page] There are many benefits of computer-aided design, only some of which can be easily measured.
Some of the benefits are intangible, reflected in improved work quality, more pertinent and usable information, and improved control, all of which are difficult to quantify.
Other benefits are tangible, but the savings from them show up far downstream in the production process, so that it is difficult to assign a dollar figure to them in the design phase. Some of the benefits that derive from implementing CAD/CAM can be directly measured. In the subsections that follow, we elaborate on some of potential benefits of an integrated CAD/CAM system.
Increased productivity translates into a more competitive position for the firm because it will reduce staff requirements on a given project. This leads to lower costs in addition to improving response time on projects with tight schedules.
Surveying some of the larger CAD/CAM vendors, one finds that the productivity improvement ratio for a designer/draftsman is usually given as a range, typically from a low end of 3 : 1 to a high end in excess of 10 : 1 (often far in excess of that figure). There are individual cases in which productivity has been increased by a factor of 100, but it would be inaccurate to represent that figure as typical.
Productivity improvement in computer-aided design as compared to the traditional design process is dependent on such factors as: Complexity of the engineering drawing; Level of detail required in the drawing; Degree of repetitiveness in the designed parts;Degree of symmetry in the parts; Extensiveness of library of commonly used entities.
As each of these factors is increased, the productivity advantage of CAD will tend to increase.
Interactive computer-aided design is inherently faster than the traditional design process.
It also speeds up the task of preparing reports and lists (e. g. , the assembly lists) which are normally accomplished manually. Accordingly, it is possible with a CAD system to produce a finished set of component drawings and the associated reports in a relatively short time.
Shorter lead times in design translate into shorter elapsed time between receipt of a customer order and delivery of the final product. The enhanced productivity of designers working with CAD systems will tend to reduce the prominence of design, engineering analysis, and drafting as critical time elements in the overall manufacturing lead time.
