Design centre

Past efforts to apply computer-aided engineering (CAE) effectively were hindered by its poor integration with the design systems, the overly complex packaging of software and the specialist skills required to perform the analysis. Frequently, components would have already moved into the production phase by the time the analyst was able to complete a simulation study.

Rigorous analysis can help eliminate major design problems, but the development investment by this point in the process only allowed for small adjustments to the design, unless it proved so poor that major redesign was required. The recent trend of downsizing (or totally eliminating) the analytical departments has only compounded these problems.

It is also the case that with the trend for more general purpose, multi-skilled engineers, quality analysts are on the decline. On the plus side, the integration between CAD and CAE has improved substantially. What has been lacking is the packaging of the CAE tools so that design engineers can immediately use the technology.