Can CAD Foster Digital Transformation?

Written by Paul Gimbel on May 30th 2023.

Can CAD Foster Digital Transformation?

By Paul Gimbel

Paul Gimbel
DriveWorks Sherpa

Paul is an enthusiast for innovation and automation. With industry experience and years of accumulated technical knowledge and insight, Paul is a highly experienced DriveWorks implementor. Since joining the DriveWorks team in 2022 as DriveWorks Sherpa, Paul has shared his in-depth product knowledge through articles, blogs, events, and in the DriveWorks forum.

What Does Digital Transformation Mean for Manufacturers?

As we are well into the digital age, we have reached a stage where companies need to evaluate their processes and even their products in terms of the available technology.

The concept of Digital Transformation is not about converting hard copy or analog information into a digital representation. In fact, Digital Transformation is not even about automating the retrieval or generation of documentation, or even of products through the use of digital technologies.

Digital Transformation encompasses the reimagining of your business process, and even your products and offerings, once you consider the technologies that are now available to you (and to your competitors).

The advent of technologies like additive manufacturing, have literally enabled the creation of parts that could not be manufactured by conventionally available means. Likewise, new technologies and tools abound to revolutionize the way that products, services and business processes can be designed.

One such technology area is the humble Computer Aided Design (CAD) system. Once nothing more than a digital drafting board, CAD has expanded in both scope and power to change the way that mechanical products are designed.

In the past, the product has always been something that we as engineering designers would develop. Our market research would frame the needs of our clients, but ultimately, it was up to us as designers to create the product that the sales team would then go out and sell. But Digital Transformation is all about rethinking the customer experience, your business processes and even your products to leverage the power of your available technologies. And now, with CAD systems able to create customized designs, and send those designs straight to manufacturing, the days of “assembly lines” and “economies of scale” need to be re-evaluated.

When a CAD system is combined with a rules engine, like DriveWorks, your customers can gain the power to design their own custom solutions that address their needs, while still guaranteeing that they satisfy the engineering design principles and manufacturing insights built into the rules. An intelligently designed interface can allow your clients (alone or alongside your salespeople) to be guided through the process of making all the relevant design decisions. The technology can take care of the tedium of outputting the required documentation, like Bills Of Materials, routings, CAD models, and drawings.

Digital Transformation is not about automating the same processes that we’ve been mastering over decades. Digital Transformation is not electronic carbon paper. Digital Transformation is a reimagining of the products and services that you offer, the interactions and experiences that your clients have, and the leveraging of the technology at your disposal. How far are you willing to let your vision soar?