NX Design Brochure - Siemens PLM Software - #2

Manufacturing companies are driven by increasing pressure to develop innovative products in shorter time frames, while maintaining high levels of quality. Even with mature, capable 3D CAD technology, many companies have failed to significantly reduce waste or improve product quality in design.The benefits of lower costs and shorter cycle times remain elusive.This poses new challenges for many discrete manufacturers and requires radical re-thinking of processes to gain a competitive advantage.

Transformation of product development begins with the design process. Design fuels the entire development effort. Between the initial concept and the physically realized product, designers create and refine product models that drive the whole process - from simulation and analysis through tooling design and manufacturing.

CAD modeling technology alone does not address significant sources of waste in the design process: the time spent searching for information or waiting for test results, resources spent developing unnecessary documents and prototypes, effort wasted designing products or features that customers don't need, money spent correcting manufacturability errors or time spent re-inventing the wheel. Companies seeking leaner development processes need design technology that goes far beyond solid modeling to aggressively support their business transformation initiatives.

Point solutions for design also fall short in the effort to improve product quality. Quality must be "designed in" rather than "inspected in" to yield business benefits of lower cost and faster cycle times. Design teams need tools that help guide the design process toward products that optimally meet customer needs and fulfill performance and manufacturing requirements. Six Sigma and other business process initiatives aimed at quality improvement limit their results with a focus on manufacturing only.