ERP A MANUFACTURING PERSPECTIVE

Chapter-4

COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN / COMPUTER AIDED MANUFACTURING (CAD / CAM)

1. Computer Aided Design (CAD) is a popular tool for product design and is major focus area for manufacturing sector.

2. CAD systems are computer programs or integrated packages for work station hardware and software that allow the user to draw and easily modify product designs on a computer screen.

3. Eg-aerospace & automotive are largest user of CAD/CAM. Advanced CAD systems provide designers with at least three major benefits: -

A. GRAPHICS CAPABILITIES:

CAD systems allow the designer to view a product from different perspectives, including three-dimensional rotations, and various cross-sections.

The designer can also make proportional changes in scale, or change the angle of an arc with the click of a computer mouse rather than having to redraw the entire product.

B. DESIGN, STORAGE & RETRIEVAL:

1. Some CAD systems can store the design characteristics of existing products & components.

2. Example, if a company needs a gear for a new product, the designer can enter relevant information about the gear, such as it diameter, tooth pattern and required hardness, into the CAD system .

3. The CAD system determines whether the company is already using an identical or sufficiently similar gear, in which case a new one in unnecessary, if not, then use the design of this similar gear as a starting point for the new gear.

4. This capability not only promotes the use of common components but also reduces design time.

C. AUTOMATIC EVALUATION OF SPECIFICATIONS:1. One of the most time-consuming aspects of design for

highly technical products is calculating whether or not product specifications, such as strength, heat resistance or aerodynamic drag, are satisfied.

2. These calculations can be programmed into some CAD systems so that whenever the designer changes the design (by altering the shape or material to be used) these performance characteristics are recalculated automatically and compared to the product requirements.

3. This is sometimes called Computer-Aided-Engineering (CAE)

The overall benefits of CAD systems can be substantial. The features described above reduce the development time and cost, and they improve product quality because more design options can be evaluated in greater detail more quickly