Justifying 3D CAD 3

[AeroNucDef]

Hi All

I've got a bit of a problem at work, wondering I could get some advice.

The company I work for have recently started using Solidworks, but they have been using Autocad for years. The production manager is getting annoyed that it takes longer to do manufacturing drawings in Solidworks than in Autocad. So the manager spoke to the MD to say that Solidworks is no good for our type of work (heavy engineering) and they should stick to Autocad. So next week I have been summoned to a meeting where I have to justify the continued use of Solidworks.

I've tried to explain to the manager the huge benefits of Solidworks, but he see's it as a waste of time. He's just want's his manufacturing drawings immediately.

The company doesn't do any R&D, or present models to clients.

I'm not sure what to do. If I don't come up with a good explanation, then I'm out of a job.

 

[JohnRBaker]

Well we didn't make 'slicers', but we covered pretty much everything else that one might find in a large commercial bakery.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[beej67]

I'll ask him.

From listing to my brother talk about it, there's a lot of corporate incest (no offense intended) in that industry. Everyone buying everyone else out, then breaking up to form new companies to compete with each other, inside a very small business space. ~3 companies doing most of the business.



Hydrology, Drainage Analysis, Flood Studies, and Complex Stormwater Litigation for Atlanta and the South East -

http://www.campbellcivil.com

 

[TheTick]

I want to know how a company justifies the expense of buying 3D CAD and then tolerating blatant obstructionism.

 

[MikeHalloran]

I almost forgot; I worked for an outfit that did 'heavy engineering'. So they said, anyway.

The way I translate it is:
- The workpieces and basically all in-house produced components are too heavy for a person to lift, thus 'heavy'. The products comprise large and small assemblies purchased outside, all brought together on a locally manufacured skid welded from rolled sections.
- Since the salesmen do all the """engineering""", they just budget a coupla weeks, literally, for the engineering staff to produce shop and assembly drawings, P&IDs, etc. These pre-production drawings are usually inaccurate and/or incomplete, because:
- When final assembly begins, it's discovered that some pieces are the wrong size or the wrong sex or don't do what the salesmen/engineers thought they did, so redesign occurs continuously on the shop floor, in hardware, and the drafties are left playing catch-up with the "as-builts", which is tricky because the units normally ship on the first day they are demonstrated to sort of work.

IOW, >nobody< does any real engineering, so I don't know where that comes from, except that the practitioners of all the silliness sincerely believe that some portion of it should be described as 'engineering'.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[trainguy]

In my experience,

It takes about the same amount of time to produce a design with 2D than with 3D, if there are no iterations or mods required (when does that ever happen...).

The big benefit of 3D parametric is when you need to make a design mod - it's hugely beneficial to be in 3D. Painful? Yes. More time focusing on software issues than good old technical content? Yes.

But when it works, it's really neat.

I suggest you hire a SW hotshot, who has worked in a bona fida manufacturing environment to help ease the transition. Every company needs a goto guy for any of these issues.

tg

 

[KENAT]

trainguy - seems the OP is the 'go to guy'.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​