From Model-Based Definition (MBD) to the full-on Model-Based Enterprise (MBE), the engineering world has been steadily heading in this direction for years. The technology is starting to catch up to the vision, and we’re seeing industry leaders gaining the organizational capacity to make big shifts to the way their product development happens.
This post looks at the evolution of collaboration in mechanical design and engineering—from the changes that have already taken place in recent decades to insights on what’s next in the coming years.
Getting input on a design from multiple collaborators and stakeholders can be challenging on its own. Just to get it done, it takes a lot of admin work, organization, email tag, meeting requests, and all that other fun stuff. But “just getting it done” is only half the battle—the quality of the input matters, too.
While new tech solutions and modernized processes are changing the game for many teams, there are still plenty of face-palm-able moments that most engineers will be familiar with. So we’ve rounded up this list of highly-dreaded phrases that we hope will give you a little laugh and a little validation to know: you’re not alone.
There’s been talk about “going paperless” for decades. The conversation has, of course, evolved over time—but what’s really at the root of the discussion? Putting buzzwords aside, what do all these paperless initiatives mean when it comes to engineering drawings?
The idea that any engineering team today can work with one single CAD system and one single CAD system only? It’s basically a pipe dream. Maybe internally, your team can get by using the same CAD software across the company—but as soon as you start involving people outside your organization, the need for effective multi-CAD collaboration is clear.
The basic concept of co-design makes sense—getting input early and often, from everyone who needs to be involved, so you end up with the best possible design—yet it hasn’t always been easy or feasible for engineering teams to put this concept into practice effectively. With new tools and collaborative capabilities, though, new ways of approaching co-design will be key to unlocking innovation.
This post discusses ways your team can take action now to start building the organizational readiness needed to shift to model-based definition, and pave the path to becoming a Model-Based Enterprise.
This post examines key data on how the pandemic has impacted manufacturing, how businesses have responded, and how strategically-implemented value analysis and value engineering (VA/VE) can play a strong role in the post-COVID comeback for manufacturers looking to speed up their recovery
We asked Mark Morreale, our product manager and an experienced professional engineer, what tools he’d consider seriously useful for PTC Creo users. Here are Mark’s top 5 recommendations for tools you can use along with Creo.
The next time you’re kicking off a project or trying to get unstuck, try planning a brainstorm and putting these simple tips into action. You might be surprised at the difference a little bit of prep can make!
From May 3-9, it’s the 70th annual CHMA Mental Health Week. This year’s #GetReal theme highlights the importance of talking about our emotions: naming, expressing, and dealing with the good and the bad alike.
Now that the initial remote work scramble has cooled off and the global vaccine rollout is moving ahead, more and more businesses are looking beyond the immediate once again. Instead of being forced to make reactive choices, we’ve learned from the rapid shift to remote work and we’re getting back to strategic, proactive decision-making. So this seems like an apt time to consider the pros and cons of collaborating on mechanical design using Microsoft Teams.
Despite the evolution of design and manufacturing in the past few decades, design review remains an archaic process compared to the advanced CAD and PLM tools that surround it. If your organization wants the benefits of efficient, reliable design review and real-time collaboration, start here.
Why is it so challenging for engineering design teams to find simple ways to collaborate virtually? It’s a complicated question, but our team talks to engineers about this on a daily basis. Here are three broad themes we consistently hear from design teams trying to solve their digital collaboration challenges.
One year after a global pandemic forced businesses everywhere to change, what have we learned? Find out what engineering managers can take away from 2020 so their teams can work better, smarter, and more collaboratively.
Digital transformation or digital overwhelm? If those two phrases feel like they mean the same thing, maybe it's time to take a bite-sized (or "byte-sized") approach to digital transformation. After all, hesitation comes with risks: don't be one of the companies left behind.
Despite the evolution of design and manufacturing in the past few decades, design review remains an archaic process compared to the advanced CAD and PLM tools that surround it. If your organization wants the benefits of efficient, reliable design review and real-time collaboration, start here.
Effective collaboration is a vital component of the success of any program, yet the market for tools that facilitate that collaboration has just begun to recognize the massive opportunity in front of it.
After speaking to hundreds of engineers, designers and managers this year, we’ve compiled the top 7 problems in the engineering design review process and brief insights into solutions for you to implement today.
This October, CoLab hosted a webinar demonstrating the state of design review in 2020, and where we’re headed into the future. Hosted by CoLab CEO Adam Keating, Adam & the audience discussed key priorities for 2021 including improving overall efficiency, shortening review cycles, reducing change orders and enabling better supply-chain collaboration.
We’ve worked with hundreds of designers, engineers, product owners and managers this year to find new, better ways to collaborate in our new remote world. We’ve consolidated that information into 5 key practices to keep your reviews on track.
When you dreamed of becoming an engineer you probably imagined inventing new technology, building machines, and creating new solutions to solve the world’s problems. You probably didn’t imagine how many emails, issue spreadsheets, change orders, review meetings, and powerpoint decks would be involved along the way.
We are helping teams digitize their drawing review process so they can collaborate in real-time with their distributed team from anywhere in the world, including their own homes.
Now more than ever, teams are looking to go remote. With travel restrictions, work-from-home policies and disjointed supply chains, communication and productivity challenges are at an all time high.
Its become increasingly clear that remote work is here to stay and will continue to grow - flexible hours and work environment are starting to become the norm. Here are 5 tips that worked for us when we first went remote during a state of emergency in January 2020.
Design and manufacturing projects are often complex, and involve many distributed stakeholders, which can make tracking a team’s progress difficult and time-consuming. Learn how automating your issue tracking process could help you better manage your team and your projects.
Has your design team been feeling overwhelmed? Maybe it's finally time to find that new hire that could save your team some stress. We're here to help with some advice for finding that next SolidWorks Star for your team.
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