Evolving 3D design technology saves time, money

What do you do when you have a great idea for a new product, or just a simple way to make a better-fitting pen cap? For generations, engineers and designers have put their ideas on paper, drawing three-dimensional items in 2D, producing as many sketches as needed to get every perspective – all so those drawings can then be translated back into 3D.
And some still design like that. But for more than a generation, computers have been the preferred tool. First there was software that replicated 2D paper design, just with extra features. Then came 3D design programs such as Pro/ENGINEER, which made 3D ideas come alive on the screen in 3D; every day now, powerful new features become available.
Richard Genga, who has worked for more than 25 years in mechanical, electro-mechanical and electronic product development, has seen the design technology evolve. Now, working with R&D Technologies of North Kingstown, he’s bringing those tools to manufacturers across southern New England.

PBN: You work with manufacturers as well as consultants such as The Item Group. What range of products are they using this software with?
GENGA: It really handles a wide range, but ideally consumer products, medical products, industrial products and industrial machinery. … We’ve got medical companies, Cross pen uses our software, Hexagon Metrology … uses it; Item Group uses it to design products for CVS, maybe a sippy cup for a child. … One of the companies we represent, SolidWorks [of Concord, Mass.], the No. 1 CAD package worldwide today, they have over 800,000 seats [or licensed installations] of their software worldwide and 300,000-plus seats in academia.

PBN: How does working with 3D software change the design process?
GENGA: If you look back when folks designed on paper, everything was in two dimensions – you had 2D sketches, and engineers always had to be trained to interpret top view, front view, side view, and picture, what does that look like in 3D? The scales have completely turned now. You design in 3D and then your output is, now that that’s done, I’ll create some drawings in 2D so somebody can make it. But the tools are so much more powerful. [Holds up a pen.] You’d call this an assembly; this might have 25 parts in it. And if you did that on paper, an engineer or tech would have to say, does this fit OK? You’ve got all these separate pieces of paper; how do they fit together? Now … you design it in 3D and hit a button to say, give me an interference check, and it’ll check the entire design and assembly and tell you … if the cap won’t fit on the pen.

PBN: To what extent is this the industry standard now?
GENGA: The companies that are successful today, you’ve got to be in 3D-CAD. If you’re not, you’re not doing it right, or your time getting products to market is going to be much longer than other companies’.

- Advertisement -

PBN: How much data goes into making this possible?
GENGA: Thousands and thousands of background calculations. Tens of thousands. On the analysis side, to analyze a pen, it’s called finite element analysis. There might be a half-million calculations. It takes into account the material, the strength of the material … they take an item like this and break it into tiny little pieces – virtually – and run all these calculations on each piece. It’s proven technology that’s been around for a while, but it’s really becoming mainstream. And while it used to be that you needed an engineer to determine whether this is going to break, now they’re making the tools so powerful that somebody who doesn’t have an engineering background can focus on the design and let the computer focus on the mathematics.

PBN: How does that affect time to market?
GENGA: Hugely. Products that 10 years ago maybe took a year and a half to get to market, you can design in three months today. [It also cuts costs.] … If you had to test this pen, it might take you two or three weeks to line up all the vendors, make the parts, and you’d break them in destructive tests, it doesn’t work, you go back and do it again, you might do that four ot five times, where in the computer I could run 10 tests in two to three hours.
PBN: At least in some areas of the market, is this software making engineers obsolete?
GENGA: I think you’ll see engineers working more on advanced pieces, but it is at a point where on a basic consumer product, a designer with no engineering experience can design the entire product and test it, with some training .. and know it’s going to work. … Plus when you’re bringing a product to market, you’re always in a rush, and you might pick one design direction and stick with it. With the tools now you can quickly evaluate many design paths and test them, and pick the best one. •

No posts to display