Chapter 3 Communicating Design Ideas
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Concurrent Engineering
Concurrent engineering is a team effort that involves continuous
communication among the entire design and production team from the
very beginning of the design stage. The customer, project manager, and
marketing staff also join in the process. Changes by any of these people are
immediately passed on to others. Because of increased communication,
concurrent engineering saves time. The product is produced quickly and
meets the customer’s needs.
3D Printing
Today, many industries use some form of 3D printing. This term
originally referred to small machines that could create plastic parts from
a CAD file. Now, however, it can mean any system that uses additive
fabrication to create a part from a CAD file. Additive fabrication is a long
term that means the part is built by adding layer upon layer of plastic
or metal powder. Design information is sent directly to the 3D printer.
Here the data is numerically sliced into thin layers. The 3D printer then
creates each two-dimensional cross section using a liquid, powder, or
sheet material and bonds it to the previous layer. A complete part is built
by stacking layer upon layer until the part is completed.
Specific 3D printing systems are often known by their output. For
example, 3D printers that are used to create prototypes quickly during the
design stage of product development are called rapid prototyping (RP)
systems. See Figure 3-37. By using prototypes in real-life field tests,
designers can better evaluate a product’s strengths and weaknesses and
avoid costly mistakes.
gure 3-37. A student with
her CAD file and 3D model of a
three-dimensional puzzle she
designed for the blind.