APRIL 2021AEROSPACEDEFENSEREVIEW.COM8In My OpinionAs a young product development engineer, I never lived in a world without 3D modeling and CAD (Computer-Aided Design) software such as SolidWorks. I struggle to imagine the tediousness, frustration, and inefficiency of designing complex product assemblies by hand on a drafting table. SolidWorks allows engineers to build large, complex product assemblies with incredible detail. SolidWorks can analyze a product's manufacturability and simulate its performance and strength in various conditions. However, while SolidWorks and other programs have revolutionized the world of product design, it is often overused in the very early stages of the development process, where the old-fashioned tools still reign supreme. Before CAD software, designers relied on rough sketches and crude prototypes in the early stages of design, before moving on to more detailed 2D drawings made by hand on a drafting table. SolidWorks is an immensely powerful replacement for 2D drafting. However, when used early in development as a replacement for rough sketches and mock-ups, this modern tool can inhibit innovation, resulting in impressive, detailed product designs that do not address a fundamental human need. While there are many detailed steps required to bring a product to market, the process can broadly be condensed to an iterative cycle of three basic phases: Empathize, Ideate, and Implement.With each cycle, the number of concepts, sketches, and prototypes decreases, but their level of detail increases. As the project progresses, the time spent on each cycle increases. Proponents of the Design Thinking and Human-Centered Design ideologies find that this iterative process is essential for innovation.THE ROLE OF SOLIDWORKS IN THE PRODUCT DESIGN PROCESS: PROMOTING INNOVATION WITH A STRATEGIC USE OF NEW AND OLD TOOLSBy Zack Carlins, Senior Mechanical Engineer, Klein ToolsIterative Design Process
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