Intense competitive pressures increasingly shrink concept-to-market timetables for new products, and the design world relies on every tool -- software, equipment, materials -- to shave precious minutes from the race to profits.

Predator Software president Jim Abbassian tells IEN that "manufacturing simulation is becoming increasingly popular on Windows-based PC," and as simulation "integrates with networking applications, dynamic feedback from the shop floor will drive the simulation based on current manufacturing conditions." Accurate measurements can be made "by simulating all of the actual manufacturing operations...multiple manufacturing operations can quickly be tried and simulated on PCs in a virtual environment before physically cutting material." The Predator Virtual Machine, pictured above, simulates the CNC, machine, and machining process (click here for more information).

"Over the next five years the need to push the design for manufacturing trend will continue to reach new levels," Abbassian believes. "The challenge to improve product designs based on manufacturing feasibility can be achieved with intelligent manufacturing simulation. Virtual manufacturing can provide designers and manufacturers better feedback to improve processes before prototyping and actual production begins."

Additionally, the Internet is "playing a large part in leveling the playing field on a global basis, in many industries. The e-manufacturing buzz, if taken seriously, is an opportunity to improve automated manufacturing processes across production facilities, big and small. The benefit will go to those who are open to the Internet's potential and can foresee the impact e-manufacturing will have on production capacity and process capabilities. Because manufacturing processes will work faster and faster, the question remains, who will keep up."

"While the Internet has become a communications mainstay of the manufacturing and production environments, it has also opened up the doors for operations to achieve a new level of efficiency through collaborative product commerce (CPC)," notes Randy Copperman, director of CPC at Atos Origin Inc, a provider of IT and e-business services. CPC tools application developers to "build custom applications in about a quarter of the time it usually takes."

Copperman continues: "Web-based collaboration portals can draw information from many disparate manufacturing systems (including proprietary and legacy) and create a master product representation that will provide timely and accurate product information to every member of the supply chain." (Click here for more on Atos.)

Rick Veague, CTO at IFS North America Inc, cautions that the "rapid rise in use of the Internet allows customers to quickly find what they want, at the lowest price, with the shortest lead times, and customer loyalty is much more tenuous."

While some "savvy manufacturers have responded by building web sites with extensive product information and ordering processing features," that's only part of the answer. "The product must still be manufactured and delivered," Veague states, "something many earlier Dot-Com companies failed to fully realize."

By further extending their existing ERP technologies, companies can "quickly link their suppliers more tightly into the procurement and manufacturing process, building reliable supply chains along the way. ERP systems built using a component technology, such as IFS, offer flexible growth and an evolutionary method to building extended enterprises, making new ways to leverage technologies increasingly easier."

More manufacturers now tie ERP and MES technologies into front office e-business applications, e-CRM capabilities, industry and supplier marketplaces, exchanges, and e-procurement functions. "That's why IFS is including an Open Portal Framework in its Applications 2001," Veague adds. The Open Portal Framework allows companies to seamlessly integrate any data source from the fastest website, marketplaces and exchanges to point solutions and legacy ERP. "The key for manufacturers in the design/OEM sector is to find a component-based business applications solution that allows them to add new Internet-based capabilities without throwing out their existing IT infrastructure."

According to Veague, "online product configurators, which allow a customer to tailor a product to their specific needs, will improve the customer experience" in the future. "Electronic marketplaces, which act as a 'front end' to several suppliers or manufacturers, will make comparison shopping easier for the customer," placing increased cost and price pressures on manufacturers.

And Veague believes "there is no question we are already in a new world of e-manufacturing, leveraging the Internet to build extended supply chains, improve the information flow and allowing manufacturers to respond to changing needs more rapidly. Actually, e-manufacturing will eventually just become the business of manufacturing. Business-to-business Internet-based capabilities will provide the basis for new levels of product variety, rapid delivery and customer service. To be truly successful in e-manufacturing, companies will find that new peer-to-peer solutions that offer true distributed computing without costly programming, eliminate the problems typical of cumbersome centralized solutions."

Ping Fu, president and CEI of 3D expert Raindrop Geomagic, believes that "reverse engineering has been transformed so radically that the term no longer fits. At Raindrop Geomagic, we use the term 3D photography...automatic data capture (shape, color, and texture) of an existing object or part, quick and accurate processing of the data, and production, which can be manufacturing or creating a product 'avatar' -- a realistic 3D representation of the part."

Meanwhile, demand for customized consumer goods will continue to accelerate, says Fu. "Depending on how quickly this is embraced, it will have the capacity to make or break design-oriented businesses. Consumers are beginning to demand an unprecedented freedom of choice -- products that are made just for them. Making these individualized products available to the masses requires transitioning to new processes and technologies. Product manufacturers need to be prepared to ramp up their design, manufacturing, and marketing processes to accommodate this kind of mass customization," he says.

"Users of design software and hardware will continue to have tools that can producer higher-quality designs faster than ever before. In the area of design software, for example, there is now the ability to quickly capture all the attributes of existing products, which takes away much of the tedious, time-consuming task of 3D modeling from scratch. Time can be spent in tweaking the designs to ensure the best aesthetics, performance, and quality of the finished product. Such products include the 3D color camera from Arius 3D (www.arius3D.com), and Geomagic software (www.geomagic.com) that uses a photography like process to automatically create 3D models for accurate manufacturing and streaming over the web." Standards are playing a key role in allowing all parts of design, engineering, and manufacturing to flow together, and there are "strategic relationships among key vendors that enable different products to work together without much user intervention," Fu observes.

E-manufacturing "has been talked about for more than a decade under different names and acronyms," he argues, "but to have e-manufacturing, you must have digital data, and that brings up a sobering reality: 99 percent of all products have no associated CAD data. What is the solution for that 99 percent? I would suggest that it's a seamless, automated process that transforms existing objects or parts into digital models that can be produced in any form that the user wants." Through 3D photography, "these digital models can also be tweaked in many different ways to meet the individual needs of consumers," Fu concludes.

Smart manufacturers "realize that collaborating at Internet speed in their product development -- both within and across enterprises -- opens up new ways to build market share, customer loyalty and profitability," adds a spokesman for Parametric Technology Corp (PTC). "By bringing suppliers into product development, manufacturers are cutting time to market and speed to benefit, slashing overhead costs, increasing product line value, reducing development time and enabling greater innovation at every point in the design chain."

OEMs are stepping up their outsourcing and partnering efforts. "This means that interoperability of CAD systems is a huge issue," the PTC spokesman points out. "Every CAD vendor has a proprietary file format and users need to be able to work in a heterogeneous environment with native files." PTC's Pro/Engineer 2001 is built on the company's Granite One platform, which can associatively transfer native files between disparate CAD tools. In addition to collaborating with suppliers to cut time to market, manufacturers are also collaborating within their own organizations. "We're seeing access to product design being provided for people in purchasing so they can provide input about materials being called for in designs," the spokesman says. "The logistics folks can provide feedback on the feasibility of manufacturing workflow. More people are getting involved with the whole product design and development process earlier than ever before. Industrial designers are working side by side with engineers, sometimes using the same tools but at least able to view what the engineers are working on. It all comes down to collaboration and the Internet is making this a reality." (Click for more on PTC.)

Per Lofving, corporate sales manager at Thomas Publishing (parent of IEN), says "companies are publishing their drawings so designers can drop them into their own CAD programs, and customize them. This saves seven or eight steps...traditionally, this process would take from 2-3 days to weeks." These libraries include Thomas Publishing's PartSpecs and PlantSpecs.

There are major concerns about the transition from 2D drawings to 3D models, Lofving tells IEN. "The shift means changing software and doing things differently...for now, 3D software is harder to use, although that will change." Then there's the issue of design collaboration. "At this point the primary tool for collaboration is FedEx. Engineers FedEx drawings back and forth. With shared applications designers could all work on the drawing, at the same time or asynchronously. And when everybody uses the Internet, there's a record. Vendors and designers will collaborate more and more using CAD."

Other innovations include animation, where engineers can observe the virtual part in action, and smart parts. "Smart part software helps pull a design together," Lofving explains. "An engineer will drag in a mounting, and the software finds the fastener with the right thread size. When you're dealing with complex components, you're talking about thousands of fasteners." Mirroring is another innovation. The engineer designs the right size of a machine, or a suspension system for an auto, and the CAD program figures out how to "mirror" the design so that the threads are in the right direction. CAD software developers are also improving user interfaces. "CAD is more complex than most software, and requires more specialized knowledge to use. Still, until recently it hasn't been moving with the trend toward simpler interfaces. Now that's changing."

Scott Emerich, general manager of ThomasNet (another Thomas Publishing unit) observes: "Whether it is streamlining an industrial process, or finding alternative solutions to existing engineered products, engineers are looking at any solution they can to make the sourcing process less haphazard and more efficient. Despite the acknowledged growth of some companies' presence on websites, engineers still rely to a surprising degree on the information found in manufacturers' catalogs to make sourcing decisions." All this paper spells trouble, however. Emerich points out that "librarians are a vanishing breed in many firms," and that "disorganized shelves full of paper catalogs are a millstone around the necks of engineers who have to find product detail quickly." ThomasNet's SoluSource makes manufacturers' catalog data "available and searchable for the engineers in our Internet-accessible subscription database," he adds.

"For the foreseeable future, the promise of the Web is dulled by the fact that engineers are actually spending even more time trying to rationalize and navigate the wildly disparate quality of data available on the Web," Emerich contends. "What they find is frequently less reliable data than the data they found in paper catalogs. And search engines are just as likely to take them to a site for shoes, if they conduct a search for pumps." Further, the "lines between operational groups in the design world are blurring, and efficiencies are certainly emerging in different parts of the traditional design enterprise." Although the procurement tools now being introduced will "undoubtedly improve the purchasing process, particularly for indirect goods," Emerich cites a recent NAPM study showing that "an overwhelming majority of buyers still found their suppliers inadequately enabled to do business on their websites." (Click here for complete interview.)

Still, many manufactured parts do not come from a catalog, but are created based on individual customer requirements, Ariba director of product development John Ranguin says. "When ordering these parts, an RFQ communicates the details between the buyer and the supplier. Communicating dimensions, shapes, and other specifications for a built-to-order part involves pictures, drawings and diagrams. RFQs often contain several additional documents to help manufacturers assess manufacturing costs and create accurate quotes.

"Moving this process online poses a significant challenge. While virtually all drawings are created electronically, there is not a single format spanning MS Paint/PowerPoint, AutoCAD, Visio, SolidWorks, ProEngineer, etc. To solve the translation problem, the buyer often relies on a time proven method: the FAX. Ariba Sourcing supports accurate communication between buyers and suppliers using the format of their choice. The buyer can upload diagrams through an easy-to-use online interface." Ariba Sourcing has built-in conversion engines to move any diagram or document into an online viewable format. Image files can be from CAD/CAM packages, such as SolidEdge, Pro/ENGINEER, SolidWorks, AutoCAD, CATIA, I-DEAS, or any software that can save as a .dwg, .dxf, .hpgl, or .hpgl2. MS Word (.doc) and Excel (.xls), as well as Adobe Acrobat (.pdf), formats are also natively supported.

Data security will remain a major concern in the next few years. "A holistic approach is appropriate when you're discussing the amount of mission-critical information involved in purchasing data," states Ranguin. "Security needs more than routers...there needs to be degrees of security and granularity. These are best achieved through Access Control. With Ariba Sourcing, we've designed the access controls into three categories: group (the company), role (the division or location), and user (the purchasing manager or buyer). The entire session is encrypted, thereby eliminating such worries as URL poking. We actually employ a servlet that manages the URL through access control layers. And as such, all drawings are limited, all RFQs are limited, all discussion boards, etc. are limited to access control."

Keeping data safe poses some stiff challenges, of course. "There would be no scalability if we dedicated one server to each customer," Ranguin continues. "We share servers, but we segregate data into three layers: firewall, routers, and web server/application server." Each layer is on its own sub-network; even if a particular layer is compromised there is no automatic access to other areas.

Because of the increasing complexity of today's products and drastically shortened time-to-market, companies are increasingly outsourcing the manufacture of built to order parts. The benefits of this approach are numerous, including faster turnaround, the use of skilled, specialized suppliers, and lower costs.

Ranguin agrees that outsourcing has become an industry mantra. "But there is a downside," he cautions. "Often, to make the process work, the design engineer who created the built to order component has to don an unfamiliar and uncomfortable hat -- that of a purchasing manager. The company's purchasing people do not have the engineering and technical skills necessary to source these complex components. The design engineer must therefore assume the burden of finding qualified suppliers (frequently by scouring the Internet), generating and issuing RFQs accompanied by a raft of CAD drawings, and finally, evaluating the bids. The creative design work that the engineer was hired to do -- the work that he or she enjoys and has spent years perfecting -- gets put on hold."

There are also some limits to e-manufacturing: "In today's world, putting an "e" in front of something is often meant to denote a move into the brave new virtual world -- one where the Internet in particular plays a large role," says Ranguin. "Interestingly, though, manufacturing will always be grounded in the physical world. Parts still need to be stamped, forged, and molded. You can't e-mail a steel bracket to a customer." Nonetheless, technology "can significantly improve the communication of requirements, specifications, capabilities, and price involved in every manufacturing process. So, to us, e-manufacturing refers to the use of technology to take inefficiencies out of the process and make communications easier." (Click here for complete interview.)

Brown & Sharpe's David H. Genest observes that "more and more manufacturers are designing component sub-assemblies and complete end-use parts using free form shapes. Free form shapes and complex part geometries, however, present special design and manufacturing challenges. These shapes are difficult to machine consistently, making initial design and process control critical issues."

Gauging systems must capture workpiece dimensions "for initial machine tool path programming and, via inspection, for process control purposes," notes Genest. While prismatic parts require a minimum number of data points, "accurate measurement of free form shapes requires the compilation of a massive number of data points," he adds.

Traditionally, coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) take individual data points and compare them to a blueprint. "Variation in measuring results occurs due to the dispersion of probe points on the workpiece and the CMM's positioning accuracy," says Genest. "The analysis of the data is handled by algorithms whose results are dependent on factors such as noise in the data and systematic deviations of the measured surface from the ideal.

"As manufactured components become smaller and tolerances become tighter more data points must be collected and analyzed to help determine the viability of the manufacturing process. Future metrology applications...will allow importing CAD data for development of programs and techniques for measurement." A new generation of machines, including Brown & Sharpe's Global series CMM, offers advanced scanning capability, helping manufacturers meet their data collection needs.

Scanning CMMs use either open-loop or closed-loop modes to gather data. "Open-loop scanning is a high-speed technique used with continuous analog probes on parts whose geometry is mathematically defined, allowing the machine to be programmed to maintain contact with the surface," Genest explains. "In a closed-loop system, the probe detects changes in surface direction of the part and automatically adjusts itself to maintain contact with the part surface. Closed-loop scanning is slightly slower than open-loop scanning, but attains similar accuracies. It is particularly useful for digitizing unknown complex shapes for reverse engineering applications." (Click here for more on CMMs.)

Al Ng, chief engineer of linear bearings at Thomson Industries Inc, believes that cost reduction, improved efficiencies, and miniaturization will remain the major concerns of the design/OEM sector for years to come. The company's Segment Technology "uses the basic fundamental constituents of anti-friction linear motion technology" in providing an "alternative dimension for the linear bearing industry, focusing on overcoming major obstacles/barriers to market entry like time, capital, cost, and function," Ng tells IEN.

"Because the bearing segments can be configured to conform to the user's most unusual shapes and envelopes, the bearing user is not constrained to compromising his design by using the standard linear bearing products that are available on the market today. Rather, he can incorporate a tailored bearing," says Ng.

He believes that industry will focus more on rising energy costs in coming years. An increased emphasis on improving energy efficiency "will require reduction of motor sizes, increasing the efficiency of motion, shortening movements, decreasing the amount of material used, reduction of frictional losses, reduction of cycles. As a result, "anti-friction technology will cycle back up to be a significant issue," according to Ng.

As for the Web, Ng is adamant: "We are not entering a new era of e-manufacturing, we are already there. Physical blueprints are becoming less and less relevant to product development and manufacture, as they serve more as documentation of what was done, rather than as a guideline on how to do it. The integration of design and manufacturing has blurred the ancient borders that used to exist. The removal of all obstacles that interfere with our reaching the final goal are essential to survival. Reliance on paperwork for producing products is too formal and too slow. Conventional analogue methods have little- to-no flexibility in the fast pace of industry and market changes."

Innovations in design materials are also increasing the sector's flexibility. For example, Handy & Harman's Precious Metals Fabrication Group (PMFG) has developed the Consert process, a hybrid of contact welding and rivets staking operations. Shaped clad metal tape, bonded with a precious metal alloy, is formed into a T-shaped cross section. "This tape is fed into a tooling system developed by Pylon Tool Corporation of Northbrook, IL," continues Handy & Harman PMFG business director John Schmitt. "In one high-speed step, the tape is cut and inserted into a pierced hole in the substrate where it is securely staked in place to form the electrical contact assembly."

Multiple insertions can be made on the same machine and insertion speeds are typically 10 to 15 times faster than conventional rivet staking and two to three times faster than in-die contacting, according to Schmitt. Up to 100,000 contacts can be made from a single tape, which can be made in a variety of sizes and shapes. "The tape is available in all common contact materials including gold, silver and palladium and there are no significant restrictions on layer thickness or contact size," he adds, "and once inserted, the contacts stay reliably in place."

And GE Plastics combines materials and the Web with its online Design Solutions Center. A material selector and several interactive engineering wizards help engineers determine stiffness, fatigue, flow, and cost.

"The selector uses true multi-point test data from the GE Plastics materials portfolio to guide decision making about resin grades that fall within the performance envelope required by an application," according to the thermoplastics manufacturer. "Resin performance data are presented in tabular as well as graphical form."

Engineering wizards use a new interface for the engineering calculator, which "now groups into a single screen all of the input steps that were previously entered across several screens," the company states. "As a result, users can quickly play 'what if' product design and performance scenarios and see the impact of changes in material, wall thickness, deflection, and other specifications. The new interface also incorporates more input variables and pop-up illustrations of key engineering parameters that help speed decision making."

For example, after selecting a particular resin grade a user can enter the number of cycles required before part failure into the fatigue wizard, then let the engineering calculator determine part thickness. Or a user can enter the thickness of a part, specify the maximum deflection, and ask the calculator to predict cycle failure time. "Data entered in the fatigue wizard is automatically carried forward to pre-populate the appropriate fields in the other wizards," GE Plastics notes. The new interface allows input "from a wider set of engineering variables ...based on more sophisticated algorithms," explains Ellen Kaufman, e-engineering leader at GE Plastics.