Mechanical Engineers and CAD/CAM
October 25 2001
Only a small minority (5%) of the UK's mechanical engineering CAD/CAM users view data exchange as problematic. At the same time, half of them view it as no problem at all whilst the balance view exchange as only a relatively minor problem. This is according to recent Business Advantage Group research.
Interviewing mechanical engineers about their attitudes towards data exchange last month, the survey also found that:
- Nearly four out of five CAD/CAM users engage in the exchange of CAD data with other companies in the supply chain.
- Of these, half said exchange always involves translation and a third said translation was sometimes involved.
- Of those involved in exchanging data, three out of ten said they always took responsibility for data translation themselves.
- Nearly half said that they sometimes took responsibility themselves.
- A quarter also said that they pass the responsibility of any translation work to the other party or parties with whom the exchange takes place.
Reflecting on these new findings, Chris Turner, managing director of The Business Advantage Group Plc, observed that "It's surprising to find that only 5% of those actually responsible for CAD data translation view the issue as a major problem (representing only 2% of the overall sample. With the practice of CAD data sharing on the increase, attitudes may change as more companies need to exchange more complex data sets throughout the design cycle. Half our sample are using standard formats (eg. STEP) for translation and these sites will find themselves more exposed to the limitations of this method. Data interoperability is undoubtedly a major challenge for the CAD industMRS Conference 2002 Info & Registration the majority of UK MCAD users, it does not appear to be perceived as such at present."
The survey findings were drawn from telephone interviews conducted in September 2001 on 210 UK CAD/CAM user mechanical engineering sites. The sample was taken from Business Advantage's own database of 20,000 UK CAD/CAM users.
All articles 2006-22 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.
