Cutting costs with design automation
Manufacturers are increasingly looking for ways to cut costs to maintain profit margins. Reducing headcount or switching to cheaper materials isn’t a viable long-term strategy, and design automation delivers an effective alternative solution for manufacturers to reduce costs.
Design automation removes much of the manual work associated with traditional CAD workflows. By automating time-sensitive and repetitive upfront activities, manufacturers produce more designs in less time, reduce bottlenecks and errors, and significantly cut their costs.
What is design automation?
More designs in less time
Design automation is the use of software tools and technologies to automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks within the design process. For design engineers in custom manufacturing, it means creating systems that can automatically generate CAD models, drawings, BOMs, and additional manufacturing documents and data, all based on user-defined inputs.
Rather than re-drawing the same component with slightly different dimensions for every new design request, design automation automatically creates the new design.
Design automation reduces design cycle times and enables manufacturers to produce more custom designs in less time.
How does design automation cut costs?
While there is an initial investment for design automation tools, the long-term cost savings are substantial. Streamlined workflows, minimized errors, faster project completion times, and efficient use of materials can all contribute to significant cost savings.
Faster design time
Manual design processes for custom products can be time-consuming. Generally, engineers spend a lot of time on “same but different” designs.
With design automation, once a rule has been set up, multiple variations can be automatically generated. This reduces design lead times and enables manufacturers to produce more designs in less time.
WEG, based in Brazil, manufacture custom electric motors, generators, transformers, and coatings. They employ over 4,700 engineers.
WEG reduced engineering design time by 75% using DriveWorks design automation for SOLIDWORKS®.
Fewer errors & revisions
Manual errors in the design process can lead to longer design cycle times, incorrect quotes, and unnecessary rework.
Design automation tools work with rules and conditions set by design engineers, design revisions are automatically generated according to those pre-set parameters.
This reduces errors and improves accuracy and quality.
EBD Steel Doors, based in the UK, manufacture custom industrial and commercial steel doors. Using DriveWorks design automation technology, they improved efficiency and reduced costly data errors.
Efficient use of materials
Inefficient material use and supply chain disruptions can drive up costs, particularly for specialized features requiring unique materials. Design automation optimizes material selection through rules-based processes, reducing waste and controlling costs.
Manufacturers in the furniture and fixtures industry use DriveWorks design automation to quickly adapt furniture configurations without extensive manual reengineering. Subsequently, they can reduce the impact of materials shortages and maintain production efficiency.
Streamlined workflows
Traditional design processes often involve multiple revisions and inter-departmental exchanges, which can lead to bottlenecks.
Design automation technology removes inefficiencies from the design workflow by automating repetitive tasks and reducing reliance on manual input.
ESLA, based in Spain, design and manufacture tailor-made ladders, work platforms, and scaffolding. With DriveWorks design automation, their manufacturing process has reduced from 3 days to 3 minutes.
Learn more about design automation
Read our recent design automation blogs to discover how design automation is transforming manufacturing.
5 practical examples of design automation
Explore practical examples to see how design automation tools deliver business benefits for manufacturers worldwide.
- Automated CAD modelling
- Product configuration
- BOM generation
- Error reduction
- Free up engineering resource
Is design automation right for your manufacturing business?
Key signs your business is ready for design automation:
- Design engineers wasting too much time on repetitive tasks
- Struggling to meet demand
- Slow design and quote turnaround times
- Errors are increasing
- Increased configuration complexity
Get started with DriveWorks design automation today
DriveWorks design automation technology enables manufacturers to capture and reuse design, manufacturing, and cost estimation knowledge to deliver custom products faster and with greater accuracy, without using complex macros, design tables, or configurations.
Exclusively designed for SOLIDWORKS, DriveWorks is the ideal choice for any manufacturing company using SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD. DriveWorks is committed to delivering innovative solutions and has been recognized with SOLIDWORKS Certified Gold Partner status since 2002.
DriveWorksXpress entry-level design automation is included free in every seat of SOLIDWORKS®.