CAD-Driven Design Process

This Business Scenario Map is designed for all discrete industries. It shows how the creators and the internal and external consumers of design documents work together over the entire design life cycle, from creation down to the use of the final version. The Map illustrates the benefits of direct CAD integration as part of SAP PLM. The CAD designer has access to all relevant parts of the SAP PLM solution without leaving his or her usual CAD environment. Advanced document search capabilities ensure maximum re-use of existing components. New or modified designs are checked in directly, and after release and conversion into neutral viewing files, they can be used directly by all internal and external consumers, even via the Web. The result is efficient management of design documents and product structures for the extended enterprise, without “information islands”. This provides significant value potential, because current and consistent product data can be accessed by everybody early in the process, enabling concurrent and collaborative engineering.

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Value Potentials	Business Benefits
Up to 80% reduced time for document search and up to 20% reduced time for mass processing*	Advanced document search capabilities for SAP PLM Document management available for CAD Designer for re-use of existing components
Up to 20% reduced time for mass processing*	Mass processes such as check-in, check -out or status change of complete assemblies supported via CAD Desktop
Up to 60% reduced costs for system integration*	Data consistency is always ensured even for change processes - all data is only stored once
	Structures within local environment, CAD system are easy to compare and adjust

External Consumer

CAD Designer

Internal Consumer (e.g. Process Engineer)

Use modified documents externally

Provide sub-assembly

Search for documents via the web

Check-in, release and convert modified assembly

Check-out and modify assembly

Automatic conversion in neutral format

Create new assembly and check-in documents

Search for existing components for re-use

Use modified documents internally

Create routing and assign components

Search for documents and use Digital Mock Up (DMU) viewing

Source:
* Discussions with Customers

The value potentials shown in this table have been reported by selected SAP customers or independent third parties as referenced herein. However, there is no guarantee that such value potentials can be realized in any particular customer-specific business processes, and SAP does not make any representations and disclaims any liability as to the appropriateness of the referenced value potentials for any specific customer situation.
©SAP AG 2008

Business Benefits	Value Potentials
Documents and product structures created in the CAD system are immediately available to internal and external data consumers for further processing, e.g. process engineering - no information islands	Up to 30% reduced design cycle times*
Digital Mock Up (DMU) viewing supported based on product structure, e.g. for effective process engineering
Native CAD files can be converted in the background to allow viewing and redlining via integrated viewer for non CAD users
Concurrent engineering between CAD Designer, other engineers and development partners


CAD-Driven Design Process Once the functional and conceptual structures have been set up and evaluated, the detailed design work is done in third-party mechanical (or electronic) CAD systems such as PRO/Engineer, CATIA, Unigraphics, Ideas, Autocad, Solidworks, or Solidedge. In the design process, new or modified parts of the product are checked in as part documents and assembly documents. As soon as part masters are created or assigned, the bill of material (BOM) can be derived automatically from the assembly documents. With a direct CAD interface to the SAP PLM solution, the data is stored directly in the document management vault, where it is immediately available for subsequent or parallel processes, such as release processes. Other engineers can then use the data at an early stage. For example, process engineers can already create routings (concurrent engineering). External development partners can also use the design documents for their own designs, of subassemblies, for example (collaborative engineering). For concurrent and collaborative engineering, neutral viewing formats are often used instead of native CAD files, because access to the CAD system is restricted to the CAD designers themselves. Thats why both the conversion process and the actual viewing are integral parts of the SAP PLM solution. Conversion can be triggered by a status change, for example, and then be executed either immediately or overnight. As a result, one or more viewing formats are available in the document. Alongside viewing, the integrated viewer also provides redlining, measurement, and digital mockup (DMU) viewing capabilities. DMU viewing is supported via the bill of material, and is especially important in process engineering and production. Costs in design processes can be reduced dramatically if more components are re-used. With the advanced document search capabilities that are available in the interface for CAD, SAP power users and the Web, everybody has optimum support in finding existing parts, instead of starting a new design process. When it comes to engineering change processes, the direct interface also provides significant value potential: CAD designers can be notified about change tasks in their usual CAD environment, in the same way as other engineers. CAD drawings are an integral part of the overall change process. They can be checked out directly from the ECR/ECO. The creation of new versions is also supported. Data is stored only once in SAP PLM. This simplifies the change process and ensures data consistency. Everybody works with the same data no information islands. Another important aspect of creation and change processes is mass processing essential for handling larger assemblies. The CAD desktop part of the interface provides all the transactions you need for this, such as check-in, check-out, and status change, for either complete assemblies or selected parts. The CAD desktop also supports the comparison and adjustment of structures in a local environment, structures loaded in the CAD system, and the structure in SAP PLM.