Every business manager knows that you need to meet your deadlines if you want to make money.
Every CAD user knows that in order to meet your deadlines, you need to get to an error-free model as quickly as possible so real work can begin. That might be easier said than done in some cases.
And I'm sad to say that time spent making CAD usable isn't helping your business. And it sure isn't helping you meet deadlines.
According to the 2013 3D Collaboration and Interoperability Study, 52% of engineers spend between 4 and 24 hours a week fixing geometry. That's fixing the file. It's not time spent designing tooling, estimating costs, preparing job bids or doing other value-add work. There's no other way to put it: that's just time wasted. Thrown away. Lost forever. Gone for good. Good and gone.
I'm sure some of you are saying, "Well, duh. Of course CAD plays a major role in meeting deadlines." You build design time into your proposal anyway. Fair point.
But what happens if you don't build in enough time? What happens when you get a file that needs, for lack of a better word, work? How often does this happen? And how does that affect the manufacturing workflow and meeting deadlines?
This lost time also starts to creep into other aspects of your work, making it harder to get work done correctly, on time, the first time. Many shops report they order incorrect parts (27%), need to perform extra rounds of prototyping (23%) and miss project milestones (25%). All of this because a CAD file needs "work?" What is wrong with this world?
If you're perplexed like me, you should check out a new eBook from Chad Jackson over at LifeCycle Insights. The eBook details not only how too few companies actually work well with 3D models, but how 3D models can negatively impact other areas of your business. The eBook isn't all doom and gloom. The good news in all of this is that 3D models really are the key to meeting your deadlines, and in turn, achieving profitable growth - something all businesses want. You'll find out more... (you guessed it!) in the eBook.
