IEN: How much progress do you see toward tying together design with the overall enterprise (manufacturing, front office, back office, and all aspects of logistics)? What major hurdles remain? Does the Internet continue to increase its presence in design?

Fu: Tying design to manufacturing is critical to company profitability. Even with the advances in CAD/CAM over the years, products manufactured today are rarely exactly as they were designed. Major hurdles still remain despite many years of R & D and billions of dollars spent on digital design. The fact is that only 1% of all things we build today has a valid and reusable digital design. There is still much to do in 3D geometry processing before it can reach a level of maturity comparable to signal processing (1D) and image processing (2D). As for the Internet, we at Raindrop Geomagic believe that it is a communication tool, not part of a technology and process that will advance digital design. It is about time for those of us working on 3D design technologies to solve fundamental problems that will improve design and manufacturing.

IEN: How can/will collaborative manufacturing management strategies address problems related to integrating design with the industrial enterprise?

Fu: We must separate the act of collaboration (human behavior) and the tools that make collaboration easier. If people don't want to collaborate, no tool can help. Telephone and Internet allow us to communicate with people without having to be physically together. Databases and books allow people to share information at different times and in different locations.

Design is often done by companies that outsource manufacturing to Asia or to another industrial enterprise such as a contract manufacturer. Technology-based strategies do not directly address the problem of integrating design with the industrial enterprise. There are language, culture, technology, and legal structure differences that must be addressed.

One concrete method of collaboration is using computer-aided inspection (CAI) tools and standard inspection procedures. This ensures that what is built is exactly what was designed, and that parts built in different parts of the world can be assembled properly. Dimensional accuracy and manufacturing constraints are rarely incorporated in design processes today. Most companies haven't significantly changed their inspection tools and procedures in the last 30 years.

IEN: Will Product Life Management play an increased role in design? Why/Why not?

Fu: Design should play a bigger role in product life cycle, not the other way around. There is no way to manage a product life cycle effectively if the design is bad in the first place and the product cannot be manufactured profitably.

IEN: What innovations are in store for users of CAD?

Fu: One of the biggest innovations is what we call closed-loop manufacturing (see illustration). This involves erasing the barriers between the physical part and digital model to create a closed loop among CAD, CAM, CAE, and CAI systems. Manufacturers can move easily between the physical part or mold and the digital model at every stage of the product development process, resulting in greater throughput, accuracy, and reliability.

IEN: What advances do you see in collaborative design?

Fu: Closed-loop manufacturing is a major advance in collaborative design because it enables everyone to work from a digital model that is an exact duplicate of the manufactured part or mold. The dirty automation secret is that a typical CAD model does not match up closely enough with the manufactured part to ensure the accuracy of CFD and FEA tests. Many major manufacturers are already reaping major benefits from closed-loop manufacturing. A major auto supplier is using closed-loop manufacturing to ensure more accurate engineering analysis, improved quality of the finished part or mold, and reduced possibility of rework or recalls. Square D is using new CAI software to integrate improved quality inspection into its 3D design loop (for more on this, click here). And, Fisher-Price is closing the loop between physical parts and CAD to be able to quickly adapt old molds and create new ones for a growing variety of toys.

IEN: Will rapid prototyping continue its transformation into rapid manufacturing?

Fu: Much of this transformation has taken place technologically, as companies are transcending traditional physical and digital boundaries to produce unique products on a large scale. Future progress will hinge on a willingness to invest in the technology and change preconceived notions of manufacturing. The most successful early adopters of rapid manufacturing have been medical device manufacturers. Individually designed dental devices and hearing aids are being manufactured in massive numbers. Other success stories include toys, crafts, and automotive and aerospace parts.