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What Is It?

Design++® is used for automating design processes for products and systems, as diversified as electrical systems, capital equipment, building structures and process plants.

This means less re-work, more design re-use, and increased customer satisfaction.

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View Brochure About Design++ (PDF Format)

Design++®

Software for Design Automation that Works!

Design++® software-based automation solutions enable corporations to more effectively sell complex systems and products that are Designed-to-Order. They empower the sales force with design-based configurations, proposals and technical drawings, reduce cost by automatic re-use of design rules and best practices in the design for manufacturing, minimize subsequent rework by ensuring feasible designs and, most importantly, build customer loyalty by increasing responsiveness both for initial proposals and subsequent change requests.

Design++ lets in-house product experts rapidly deploy solutions that have demonstrable and compelling ROI through accelerated sales execution, shorter delivery schedules and reduced cost of ill-defined orders.

Design++ makes instant design-to-order a reality. In the same way that spreadsheets simplified financial modeling Design++ simplifies the creation of engineering/design automation solutions that enable instant generation of design-based sales proposals for Design-to-Order products and systems.

The 10:1+ productivity improvements demonstrated in real design-to-order automation projects meet the definition of the "Silver Bullet" as described by Frederick Brooks in his book The Mythical Man Month. If rapid deployment is of concern then this is the tool for you both in small and large projects.

How Does It Work?

Design++ first configures a product by selecting standard parts and engineering non-standard parts to fulfill the wanted product functionality. It then lays out these parts in space to create a custom product. It visualizes the product in 3D using standard CAD. It also uses CAD to automatically create drawings complete with properly placed sections, details, dimensions and annotations.

Design++, figuratively speaking replaces an engineer or designer that creates a product and uses CAD as they would. To accomplish all this it uses captured product knowledge. Design++ makes knowledge capture "spreadsheet-simple".

It may sound unbelievable but it is real!

Where is this used?

Industrial products are often customized. Increasing competitive pressures demand rapid turn-around of design-based proposals and after-order rapid design. Typically, the customer must approve the product design and approval reviews usually lead to changes. Design++ enabled "on-the-spot" changes are immediately visualized in CAD.

Is this important?

Beyond obvious cost-savings instant customization satisfies increasing customer expectations in the rapidly expanding B2B e-market. Today you expect to buy a computer over the web and configure it yourself to your liking. In the same way forward-thinking customers expect to configure more complex products and systems in internet-time. Mere parts lists and quotes are not enough, instant visualization and drawings are also required.

Quality

Consistent design using a company's most experienced expertise ensures highest quality products. This is what Design++ provides a manufacturing company as, e.g., Robertson Ceco Corporation found:

"Our goal was not simply to make drafting more efficient, we wanted to take what our designers new about our products and about detailing and use it consistently across all building complexity. We wanted to achieve senior designer results regardless of the tenure of the person involved in the project."

(Roger Burlingame, V.P. Technical Services in Daratech CAD/CAM, CAE Update.)

Knowledge Retention

Knowledge is a Company's most significant asset but fleeting, existing mainly with the employees of the company. Design++ provides the means to capture this knowledge for reuse:

Robertson Ceco Corporation found in Design++ a system which: "... answered the challenge of retaining the knowledge of design personnel, "encapsulating their knowledge in a form that could be perpetuated and easily maintained in the future as our product evolves to meet market demand."

(Roger Burlingame, Daratech CAD/CAM, CAE Update.)

Examples

These designs for the electrical motor, the metal building, the process plant and the adsorber were all automatically generated using Design++ solutions.

Please click on the image to see full-size view
Automatically designed electrical motor. Courtesy of Nidec Motor Corporation. Automatically designed church structure. Courtesy of Robertson Ceco Corp. Automatically piped process plant. Courtesy of Fluor Corporation. Adsorber. Courtesy of Monsanto Envirochem Systems Inc.

References

Among our references described on this site is Nidec Motor Corporation's sales-engineering automation solution for custom electrical motors. Here roughly 80% of the parts are standard and 20% are engineered.

Read also about Cornerstone Building Brands solution that has a much higher engineering-content. It automatically engineers and designs custom metal buildings by just specifying the building envelope and openings. It produces a detailed 3D model, manufacturing drawings, code for NC machines, parts lists, bills of lading, erection drawings, etc. View also Mr. Burlingame's presentation at a Daratech seminar.

Detailed Views

To see a drawing click on a link below. All drawings have been automatically generated.