There is little argument that concept design is one of the most important phases of the entire product development process. It is here when new product ideas are tossed around, flushed out, vetted, discussed, tested, refined and eventually pushed forward to detailed design. It is also here where most (60%-75%) of total product development costs are committed; making it very costly to make significant changes after this phase is completed.
New concept ideas are rarely, however, “new” in the purest sense of the word, but are in actuality more often than not off-shots or modifications of previous designs. According to the PTC study, Trends in Concept Design, 68% of participants said that concept designs at their respective companies are generated by either leveraging existing designs (45%) or by heavily leveraging existing designs (23%). These existing designs could be 3D models or 2D drawings where cross sections are used for the context or reference for creating new designs.
New innovations based on older ideas nothing new
The concept of leveraging previous designs to create successful new innovative products is in itself not a revolutionary one. According to N.Y. Times columnist and Ohio State professor Steven Davidoff, many successful new products are often ideas that have evolved from previous innovations. This concept of the “ordinary” nature of many successful market innovations was an attribute of many of Thomas Edison’s innovations over a century ago.
In a N.Y Times article, entitled, In the Ordinary, Silicon Valley is Finding the Next Big Thing, Davidoff says, “Edison would pinpoint areas where innovation was possible and percolating, then piece together pre-existing inventions and ideas to push technology forward with a usable device. The light bulb is a perfect example, a device based on previous designs for something everyone was pursuing. Edison just managed to put it all together and take the credit.”
New modeling tool help users quickly leverage existing designs
Since many “new” products are in fact redesigned and improved versions of previous products, engineers and designers need design and modeling tools to use during the concept phase that enable them to quickly work with existing or legacy design data, whether it’s 2D drawings or 3D models.
Modeling tools used during concept development also need to be easy, flexible, and intuitive enough to use so engineers and designers—even non-CAD users—can quickly create concepts without sacrificing time and having to commit or “lock in” on a design concept prematurely.
Traditionally parametric, history-based 3D CAD tools were designed to enable users to create the form and fit of finalized detailed designs, not for capturing and developing concept models. With history-based CAD, imported legacy CAD data often must be recreated, slowing down the design cycle and significantly stifling the quick, ‘what-if’ iterations necessary for adequate design exploration.
Flexible new direct modeling tools enable concept designers and engineers to quickly import and re-use legacy data as a starting point for new concept designs. Direct modeling tools enable users to make changes to existing 3D geometry by simply pushing or pulling on it. These tools also enable designers to work with imported 2D sketches and use them as a basis for a 3D model, making it easy to transition from 2D to 3D concept design.
Another benefit of direct modeling tools is the interoperability they provide, as they enable users to work with geometry built with either direct modeling tools or parametric, feature-based tools. According to the PTC study referenced earlier, 61% of respondents said that concept designs had to be recreated once released to downstream engineering stages, a real bottleneck in design schedules.
By using the direct modeling paradigm, the transition between concept modeling and designed design is seamless. When concept models are created using direct modeling tools, they don’t have to be recreated once they are passed forward into the detailed design phase, saving significant time which engineers and designers can use to explore more design alternatives.
