Your description of how managers misuse cost estimation tools is amusing and also sad, Tool_maker. I've also had some experiences, in a very different realm, with attempts by management to use average cost guidelines prescriptively instead of as a ballpark estimation tool like the one described in this article. Which, of course, kind of defeats the original purpose.
Sometimes I feel like such a wet blanket. In addition to designing production tooling, I am resposible for estimating costs. You see advantage, while I see another club for someone who has never had to troubleshoot a worn out tool or piece of equipment to nurse it through, "Just one more run." Does this CAD program have a variable for a purchasing agent who just bought a truckload of junk steel because he got a great deal on the golf course? Is there a place to input the fact that your lubricant has been reformulated to something more friendly to the enviroment, only it doesn't work? How about the machine/feeder combination that works perfectly well at 40 strokes/minute, but misfeeds at 50 while a boss that doesn't know an Allen wrench from a small hammer screams, "Make it work. The CAD file says this part should only cost $X and it is costing $Y." Of course he will not pony up the $$ to fix either. (I no longer work for that boss.) Does this CAD program take into account how many machines are operating at one time and the air compressor is barely able to keep up. What about lot size? Am I amortizing the set-up and quality check over 1, 20 or 2 million parts?
So long as this cost is treated like an EPA mileage estimate and used for comparison purposes only, there may be a use for it, but as a final arbiter I hope I am retired before that hits the mainstream. I am not trying to be negative, but in reality a hundred variables impact on the very same part from production run to production run.
This is another piece of the puzzle, or I should say another incremental improvement of the type we're seeing from CAD vendors to broaden their products to address the full breath of the design process. Along those lines, I'd point to the ECN (product change data) capability recently added by PTC (see this story) and the parts-selection capabilities added by Siemens to its PLM portal (here).
That ability to recalculate costs based on changes to the model is indeed pretty compelling. The fact that the software automatically creates the cost model based on the actual CAD geometry is also pretty cool.
This costing tool will be helpful for designers who are cost conscious. It is also interesting that it can instantly adjust the cost of the part/product depending on materials used and the location where it is being produced.
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
2 
