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www.johnstark.com |
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It is not enough to select the correct CAD/CAM/CAE system and install it properly. The real benefits of CAD/CAM/CAE appear in the long term. They will only be achieved if ongoing use and development of the system is correctly managed. To achieve maximum benefits from the use of CAD/CAM/CAE, the system should be in productive use as much as possible. This requires good planning and organization. System hardware and software must be in working order and available, and all other resources must be in place. The system should be backed up frequently to prevent unnecessary loss of working data. Data archiving procedures must be implemented. Maintenance must be carried out without disturbing productive system use. Workstation scheduling must be implemented to ensure that users can plan their work in advance, and have access to the system when they need it. To avoid undue disturbance to system users, the system should be modified as rarely as possible, and before any modifications are put in place they should be fully tested. Efficient operations, data management, and project management procedures should be put in place as early as possible. Without CAD/CAM/CAE, projects to develop and modify the company's products require good project management. The use of CAD/CAM/CAE in no way reduces the need for project management. On the contrary, because it introduces new resources and reduces overall time cycles, CAD/CAM/CAE actually increases the need for good project management. It is particularly important at early stages of CAD/CAM/CAE use (when managers and users are unfamiliar with use of the system) that close attention be paid to the progress of projects using CAD/CAM/CAE. The CAD/CAM/CAE system vendor will supply some documentation describing use of the system. Often this documentation does not describe the exact configuration of the system that the company is using, and it cannot describe the way that the company wants to integrate use of the system with everyday operations. Users of the system need to have available up-to-date and complete information describing utilization of the system within the company environment. This information should be available in a computer-based company CAD/CAM/CAE manual in which users can rapidly access required information. Such a manual could include, for example, a description of the standard company-specific parts that have been stored in a parts library. In the absence of such information it can be seen that a loss of productivity will occur either because the user will have to look for the information somewhere else (but where?) or because the user will design a new part that may be exactly the same as an existing one. The company CAD/CAM/CAE manual should contain all necessary information, but should not be so thorough that it becomes unusable or overly restricts the creativity of users. One of the major sources of increased productivity due to the use of CAD/CAM/CAE derives from the reuse of computer-based product data. Two of the many ways to benefit from reuse of this data occur when the same data is used in manufacturing engineering as in design engineering, and when an existing product is slightly modified. One obvious prerequisite for reuse of product data is that it can be stored in the first place. Another, less obvious but also very important, prerequisite is that the stored data be readily accessible. Without proactive management intervention, data has an unfortunate habit of becoming untraceable, inaccessible, in the wrong format, and generally useless. From the earliest stages of CAD/CAM/CAE use, attention must be paid to building up the store of readily retrievable and reusable data. Unless the use of the CAD/CAM/CAE system and the use of CAD/CAM/CAE techniques are closely monitored, there is no way of knowing whether they are productive or whether they come up to original targets. Similarly, unless information is available on current use it is not possible to plan for further use. The introduction of CAD/CAM/CAE is not a one-step solution to a company's problems. Correct choice and effective implementation of a CAD/CAM/CAE system is only the first stage in a company's use of CAD/CAM/CAE. Initial use of CAD/CAM/CAE may cause a drop in productivity, with benefits only coming in the long term. As time goes on, use of CAD/CAM/CAE will spread throughout the company. There will be more users of CAD/CAM/CAE, CAD/CAM/CAE will be used for new applications, CAD/CAM/CAE systems will become more powerful, and other systems in the company will be interfaced to the CAD/CAM/CAE system. An ongoing plan, developed from the long-term strategy, must be put in place to ensure efficient and expanding use of CAD/CAM/CAE. During the early stages of CAD/CAM/CAE system selection, implementation, and use, a company will learn very quickly about CAD/CAM/CAE techniques. Afterwards, a lot more can be learned, in particular from other companies. One way to do this is to attend user group meetings and CAD/CAM/CAE conferences. Another way is to visit other users situated nearby (or using the same system, or making similar types of product), and trying to learn from the way in which they use CAD/CAM/CAE. CAD/CAM/CAE is a technology that can lead to productivity increases through better use of information. Information is a company-wide resource. For CAD/CAM/CAE to be successful, top management, department managers and CAD/CAM/CAE users from all departments must work together. |