Top 10 Reasons Your Business Should Opt for a 3D CAD Software

3D CAD software has revolutionized modern day engineering. Today, the market is dominated by 3D CAD design and is worth 5.1 billion U.S. dollars. By 2023, the global CAD market will easily touch 11.2 billion U.S. dollars as more industries embrace 3D computer-aided design. Not only does CAD allow for easier product development, but also is exceptionally useful for cost-effective product integration, modeling design, and even virtual networking! CAD is the perfect example of exponential productivity, allowing designers to accomplish more with less, and has the ability to store manufacturing capability through detailed plans which can then drive CAM (computer aided manufacturing) innovation.

3D CAD software is widely used today, but at the same time, many businesses are still stuck with 2D CAD software. The B2B industry has been instrumental in accelerating the transition from 2D CAD to 3D CAD, but it is still not as widely used as one would expect it to be. From architects to detailers, drafters, engineers, etc. moving from 2D to 3D CAD software is a time-consuming process riddled with new things to learn. 3D parametric modeling and simulation take time to master, but it is also true that the business benefits of 3D CAD software outweigh the negatives, and can help manufacturers expand, grow, and innovate faster. 3D CAD software can lead to direct time, cost, and material savings, while allowing you to improve your overall workflow and product quality.

10 Reasons Why Your Business Should Opt for 3D CAD Software

To survive in today's competitive atmosphere, you need to achieve productivity and efficiency gains and accelerate your time to market. This is especially true if you have an engineering department which is still using 2D CAD software to do most of the work. If you have ever wondered "Why to move from 2D CAD works to Solidworks 3D software", then in this article, we will present you with 10 reasons why.

1. Better Automation

   Design automation is taking the engineering design world by storm and is a fundamental trend which has changed the way designers work and go about their particular workflows. Automation is exceptionally useful in 3D CAD, where it removes and reduces friction caused by trivial, repetitive tasks which require a lot of time. For example, it is much easier to create assemblies in 3D CAD with automation tools, as predictive assembly creation is already being tested and will make its way to the designer's desk on final 3D Solidworks builds. Automation will give more time to the designers to think and formulate a solution, and the system will help to provide the best options based on the constraints entered by the designer.

2. Increasingly Effective Simulation

   Simulation is an extremely important part of the design process and can optimize current designs while automatically recommending optimal shapes which can then be put together. 3D CAD simulations can soon help you choose the best shape options fit for a task instantaneously. SIMSOLID, a simulation app for Solidworks has a meshless approach towards model design. Meshing is an extremely time-consuming step, is extremely error-prone, and requires specialized knowledge. But with the help of SIMSOLID, you can create a model design without meshing, shortening the design time by weeks! Another simulation tool which is creating a large amount of buzz is ANSYS Discovery Live. This tool allows you to edit the geometry of the model and see stress and fluid flow results in real time. This, in turn, allows you to quickly catch errors, thereby speeding up your design work significantly.

3. Cloud Collaboration is a Reality

   Collaboration in the engineering space has always been a challenge and is a major pain point for cross-cultural teams and those based out of different countries. Usually, there are hundreds of different stakeholders who are part of the design process, and thousands of revisions take place which then needs to sync to stick to the development timeline. Collaborating on the cloud not only makes things easier for everyone involved but also help to greatly speed up the design timeline. Some of the latest versions of 3D Solidworks are putting cloud collaboration to trial, ensuring a single, final design copy to which anyone authorized can make modifications to always remain updated and available for use.

   One of our CAD predictions for 2018 is that soon users will be able to access a playback history of the changes made to the model, such as in a video editing tool, allowing them to easily check update history and remove modifications which are not required.

4. Speedy Approvals and Design Time

   Designing and modeling require a lot of time and effort, which is further compounded by the number of reviews each iteration goes through. Obtaining the necessary approvals from management or customers is a major hurdle, and in 2D designing, it is exceptionally difficult since non-technical people do not understand 2D drawings easily. 3D designs, on the other hand, are easier to understand and can be viewed from multiple angles. This helps reduce the number of changes sought since all aspects of the design are understood equally well by everyone involved.

5. Ability to Create Photorealistic Renders and Animations

   3D designs have made it possible for young entrepreneurs and startups to accurately denote their ideas within a photorealistic depiction made using 3D CAD software. This, in turn, makes it easier for them to secure funding for their projects from investors or on Kickstarter. 3D CAD can help in creating exceptionally useful animations as well for your sales and marketing departments, which can never be equaled by 2D designs.

6. Support for 3D Printing and Rapid Prototyping

   3D Printing has revolutionized the way prototypes are created. In fact, 3D printing is often used to create final production versions as well for different consumer items. This is possible only because of the inherent support for the same within 3D CAD software. This can't be done by 2D software without recreating them into 3D versions first. 3D designing, therefore, helps to simplify product data management and enables automated inspection systems to read dimensions exactly from the model thereby eliminating human error. This is one of the best applications of 3D CAD software in business, and the exported .STL files contain all the information necessary including diverse assemblies which can show up as different colors in the prototype.

7. Design Recycling

   When it comes to product design, a little-known fact is that most new products are often variations of existing products, with tweaked designs and reconfigurations which are made upon customer or market feedback. During the design stage, 2D designs usually have to be crafted from the beginning and incorporate all the changes. This, in turn, is extremely time-consuming and bad for businesses which need to get to market faster. Reusing designs, assemblies, and components with the help of 3D software are therefore extremely important. Solidworks has exceptional search, configuration, and automation tools to simplify the reuse of existing data to create brand new designs. Designers can also leverage existing documentation while trying to reuse the designs so as to shorten the design time.

8. Easy, Quick Modifications and Design Changes

   Throughout the design process, designers will have to make gradual modifications and changes to the design. In 2D, this modification process is extremely time-consuming as it requires manual updates for multiple drawing views. In case of assemblies, it becomes even more time-consuming since an update to an existing assembly requires modification to another assembly as well, and on and on. This, in turn, can cause errors which can then hamper overall productivity. Using 3D design software allows you to circumnavigate all these issues as modifications are very easy to make and save a lot of time and resource cost.

9. Access to Rich Transformational Insights

   Design data from 3D design software are soon going to become platform agnostic and can be accessed from anywhere. With the help of cloud technology, design team leads and managers can have quick access to insights and old archives which can then help them make strategic decisions. The ability to analyze data from past projects will provide users with contextual content and while helping form data points for the future so as to reduce the number of errors. Access to such transformational insights can, therefore, become a huge boon for decisions revolving around resource allocation, design innovation, talent acquisition, etc. Therefore, companies embracing the cloud platform through the latest 3D design software will have a significant advantage over their competitors going forward.

10. Design-to-Manufacturing Is Simpler and Faster

    With 2D design software, a manufacturing engineer usually needs to convert the entire 2D drawing into a 3D CAD model, which then needs to be reviewed for completion and correctness. Only after that can the company proceed with the manufacturing. This interim step is extremely time-consuming and hampers your time to market. But such is not the case with 3D CAD software which easily integrates with CAM software allowing changes to be made to the NC tool data on the fly, and directly taken forward for manufacturing.

Get Access to Smarter 3D Engineering Designs with Flatworld Solutions

At Flatworld, we have serviced and helped countless global clients meet their goals faster by providing them with high-quality engineering services. Our ability to focus on key concepts while implementing high-tech solutions which meet the requirements of today ensure you can get-to-market on time. Our 3D modeling and rendering services leverage the latest Solidworks Premium â„¢ 3D solid modeling design software in order to provide you with high-quality final designs in short turnaround times.

Whether you are interested in concurrent design and development or need a product design which would help you meet your targets, we can help your business succeed. Contact us right away to know more about our services.