The 5
Most Common
Time Wasters
for CAD Designers

Reducing Non-Value-Added Time in CAD Design

The average engineer averages 15% of time spent on non-value-added tasks.

Product and product development complexity has increased while time-to-market goals have become more aggressive. This puts a significant squeeze on the time available for engineers to design and document data. How can engineers enable better performance and reduce up to 25% with non-value-added tasks?

We'll walk you through the 5 most common time wasters and how you and your team can increase engineering productivity.

  1. Can't Reuse Data, Take Detour
  2. CAD Data Overwritten, Go Back 3 Steps
  3. Prepare Design Data for Team, Lose a Turn
  4. Unmanaged Complexity, Roll Doubles to Continue
  5. Change Management
  6. In Summary / What Works for My Team?

39%

At least 39% of companies report slow search and data retrieval.

Time Waster #1 | Can't Reuse Design Data, Take Detour.
The most basic data requirement is keeping that data under control. The common challenge engineers are facing, however, is the inability to easily search and retrieve data. Once the frustration and wasted time reaches a boiling point, they are most likely to start from scratch and redesign a part or assembly - adding additional cost downstream.

Solution | Add Ability to Control, Access, and Share Design Data.
When CAD data is under control and can easily be retrieved, so will your workflow. The ability for engineers to quickly access information based on a range of criteria is essential to effective design productivity. Once found, data should be readily available for reuse to meet new design criteria without the need to reinvent the wheel.

41%

At least 41% of manufacturers experience an issue with conflicting document versions.

Time Waster #2 | CAD Data Overwritten, Go Back 3 Steps
The most basic requirement for data management is keeping it under control. Without control, hours or days of design time is being risked for potential loss. How frustrated would you be if a design was accidentally deleted or overwritten?

Solution | Ensure You Don't Recreate a Design.
The top performers in the industry are 37% more likely to practice product data management solution in to avoid rework / recreation of a design files. PDM systems - like Teamcenter - ensure your CAD models are secure from deletion while providing access control rights to only those that need access to it. Having an effective way to ensure others can't inadvertently overwrite data is an absolute necessity to prevent accidental loss of design data.

21%

At least 21% of time is being spent on collecting data for others.

Time Waster #3 | Prepare Design Data for Others, Lose a Turn
As engineers prepare their CAD models for design reviews and status meetings, they are also finding themselves having to manually create drawings, translate models for downstream use, and prepping visuals to ensure effective communication to all parties involved.

Time Waster #3 | Prepare Design Data for Others, Lose a Turn
As engineers prepare their CAD models for design reviews and status meetings, they are also finding themselves having to manually create drawings, translate models for downstream use, and prepping visuals to ensure effective communication to all parties involved.

23%

At least 23% of engineers are using design data management to manage revisions.

Time Waster #4 | Unmanaged Complexity, Roll Doubles to Continue
When revision requests come back to the engineering department, it's most likely a complex demand. With products becoming more complex due to incorporating new materials and leveraging new manufacturing techniques, it increases the chances for inefficiency and errors. Customization is on the rise while the product lifecycle is getting shorter.

Solution | Automate Common Data Sharing Tasks
68% of top performers are successful due to their use of design data management. It allows them to collaborate not only with internal teams but also customers, OEMs, and suppliers involved. With the many advancements made in PDM technology, automating the most commonly shared data and tasks can ensure the information needed is being delivered to those who need them.

For example, design check-in can trigger the creation of thumbnails and design formats downstream. Ultimately, it eliminates the need for manual effort to prepare and share while increasing more engineering time to tasks that matter most. What could you do with all that time saved?

26%

At least 26% of engineers are using design data management for engineering change control.

Time Waster #5 | Change Management.
Nothing is more important (and more time consuming) than managing engineering changes. The need to keep all parties involved and informed takes significant time and effort, and if/when something goes wrong, it can put a big dent in the workflow, cause avoidable time-to-market delays, and customer dissatisfaction. So how are you handling increased complexity, shortened lifecycles, and customization requests?

Solution | Stay Ahead of the Game with PDM Solutions.
The key to avoiding non-value-added tasks and gaining more productive design time is adopting design data management practices. Putting these practices in place gives companies an increased chance in meeting product development goals and the ability to see the full scope of the project. Mature design data management goes hand-in-hand with PDM technology and is essential for companies to control, access, and share CAD data effectively.

In Summary

Provide structure and value to your design and manufacturing process with an effective product data management system that helps you conquer complexity, product development, and other data management challenges you may be facing.

We believe that one size doesn't fit all. Whether you're a small, medium, or large business, we help companies realize what makes sense for their processes and how it helps drive better design and business performance.

What Works for My Team?

Ready to tackle the five most common time wasters in CAD design? Fill out the form below to get a report on which of our PDM solutions is perfect for you.

*Required Field
*Required Field
*Required Field
Select all that apply.
without
https://www.swooshtech.com/wp-content/themes/maple/
https://www.swooshtech.com/
#5a7c96
style1
scrollauto
Loading posts...
/home/customer/www/swooshtech.com/public_html/
#
on
none
loading
#
Sort Gallery
off
no
off
off
on