Any product or item that needs to be manufactured needs to undergo a design process. Before computers, the only way to communicate with manufacturers and builders would be via pencil and paper. For complex designs, it would take a painstakingly long time and teams of draftsmen just to perfect the design on paper. If there are any problems with the manufacturing stage all would be to waste as they would all have to go “back to the drawing board”. This is not the case nowadays because, when properly implemented, the design process only happens in the virtual world. This allows for complete manipulation and simulation of any product before it hits the manufacturing stage. What this means is that all the flaws and how the product itself will interact with the outside and real world will all be known and fixed before a 3D model can be bought back to the physical world.
Digital Manufacturing
What is digital manufacturing exactly? Technologies for manufacturing like 3D printing, laser cutting, molding, and waterjet cutting all have digital inputs that came from a digital design. In its simplest iteration, digital manufacturing is design and manufacturing centered around a computer system or software. With this digitization, manufacturing is so much more integrated and the approach is so much more streamlined. Digital design software, such as DesignSpark Mechanical is one of those leading and at the forefront of 3D modeling design. From inside the software. Working digitally has many benefits, enabling workers to work more efficiently, innovate more easily and “fluently”, and learn on the fly.
CAD and 3D Modeling in Game Development and Entertainment
CAD or Computer-aided design is the main language that computers understand to be able to translate ideas into solid and working products. This is not only applicable to the manufacturing industry but 3D modeling is also a mainstay in game development and the movie industry. 3D modeling has seen heavy use in animation and video game graphics. Software like RPG Maker MV is one of that gaming development software who aims to bring creativity to everyone, as their software is readily available for download and complete tutorials are also there on demand. CAD is not just for real-world products but products for the virtual world as well.
Simulation
An important part in the digital design and digital manufacturing process would be the simulation. This pertains to putting any design, product or part of a system through its phases especially on how they would react in relation to other components of the system that they would be installed on. These products would be put through real-world scenarios to ensure that when they translate to solid and actual parts and items, they would be free from flaws and ready for the role that they were built for. Simulation software like SuperPro Designer makes this possible. They are used for varied applications like product design, process design, and enterprise resource planning.
Digital Manufacturing Is The Future
Digitization of all the design and manufacturing processes is seen as the future of the manufacturing industry. Digital technologies are greatly improving manufacturing operations by automating the major processes involved. They help identify key chokepoints and weaknesses in the manufacturing process and can pre-test any new implementation before fielding them, which allows the plant to use employee time more effectively and saving time and money. Using digital methods, an employee or a business owner can easily and more fluently innovate in terms of design. A digital workplace is infinitely more flexible than a team of draftsmen. Cloud computing also allows for sharing resources wherever one may be in the world and makes collaboration between international teams easy to facilitate for fresh input of ideas.
The Takeaway
Digital design is so much more streamlined and accessible nowadays than ever before. This means that one can do without a team of draftsmen and one trained person can produce designs and the simulation that they need for it to be put into being. Advances in communications and graphics technology are at a level where output can be made in a reasonable and efficient amount of time. Prototyping is a breeze as it can be done virtually, with all the flaws and possible problems already taken into account before actual manufacturing begins. This translates to a product that works as soon as it comes off the production line.