How aPriori's smart software helps designers reduce the cost of production

Manufacturing businesses across all sectors face a growing challenge to reduce costs and bring products to market more quickly. And an innovative software tool that helps engineers calculate the cost implications of early stage design decisions on the fly is helping a growing number of users achieve exactly that.

Developed by US software firm aPriori, the software – also called aPriori – works by introducing considerations over manufacturability far earlier in the product development process than is often the case. Existing users span a range of sectors and include Alstom, Ford, Whirlpool, Honeywell, Boeing, HP, and Cisco. Integrating smoothly with any CAD package, the software ticks away in the background as the designer makes changes, and provides instant feedback on how these decisions are likely to affect the end cost, as well as guidance and suggestions on changes that the designer might like to make to bring the cost down.

aPriori sales director James Dainty explained that the software begins its work by analysing the geometry of a 3D CAD model. “If it’s looking at a casting it will look for wall thicknesses, voids, holes, and what might be machined features,” he said. “If it’s a sheet metal part it will looking for how many bends there are going to be and things like that. If there are tolerances applied it will also look at the tolerance and surface finish information.”