Industry Acronyms CAE — Computer Aided Engineering CAD — Computer Aided Design CAM — Computer Aided Manufacturing CM — Configuration Management CMM — Coordinate Measuring Machine CORBA — Common Object Request Broker Architecture ECAD — Electronic Computer Aided Design EDM — Enterprise Document Management ERP — Enterprise Resource Planning FEA — Finite Element Analysis IPD — Integrated Product Development NC — Numerical Control OLE — Object Linking and Embedding PLCs — Programmable Logic Controllers URL — Uniform Resource Locator VRML — Virtual Reality Modeling Language

With global competition intensifying, many OEMs and suppliers are looking for ways to reduce development cost, parts count, and time-to-market. Most of them have created integrated teams consisting of marketing, design, manufacturing, and testing personnel. These teams allow timely and informed decisions to be made about product development by bringing all of the expertise to one table. This also prevents miscommunication or misunderstanding by involving the stakeholders in every phase of the product's development, saving time and development cost.

Recently, software companies have been offering new features and capabilities supporting integrated product development (IPD). Some of these enable CAD drawings to be viewed outside of engineering along with the bill of materials, testing results, and product spec-ifications. Other features link CAD models to other areas of product development such as manufacturing (CAM software), testing (simulation software), and assembly. This has prompted some OEMs to go to the next level by developing 'paperless' products. The Boeing Co. moved to paperless development on the 777 program while Chrysler accomplished something similar with its 1998 LH models. This eliminates the time and resources engineers spend on paperwork and allows design changes to be incorporated more quickly during development.

Traditionally, CAD solutions depended on multiple suppliers' software for many of the primary, design-through-production applications. Integrating these approaches provided no certainty that the translation of engineering data would be accurate or up-to-date. Therefore, several software companies have incorporated these approaches into their solution packages.

• Pro/ENGINEER supports entire product development process, Parametric Technology Corp.
• Unigraphics modules support all facets of product development, Unigraphics
• CATIA Version 5 provides tailored solutions, IBM & Dassault Systems
• SolidWorks 98Plus offers integrated modeling, SolidWorks Corp.
• I-DEAS features expanded VGX technology and Metaphase interface, SDRC
• Factory modeling and optimization tools, The Tecnomatic Digital Factory
• Virtual Workshop supports integration, Tecoplan
• Improving interoperability with CAD, MacNeal-Schwendler Corp.
• Moldflow's Part Adviser 3.0 release, Moldflow Corp.
• Optical CAD software, Optical Research Associates