Design optimisation software thoughts
In engineering there are a number of ways to work. Using design optimisation software is one that you might think is more prevalent than it really is.
Perhaps it is be because many see the role of a design engineer to optimise a design themselves.
Optimisation software may also have been possibly oversold – by this I mean sales staff with strict targets have been forced to bend the truth a little to win sales, leading to skepticism of the true benefits of design optimisation software by both design engineers and their managers.
I feel that this is quite a shame.
As with any software, for design optimisation or whatever, it is only ever going to give you an approximation. This doesn’t mean it is therefore useless. The design engineer who takes a pragmatic view to using their design optimisation software will really see the benefits – and fast. It requires a change in how a design engineer maybe used to working but once one sees the benefits, it is a software tool no-one in their right mind would want to give up.
There are a few different software products on the market.
One that is well received is called modeFrontier and has applications both in design optimisation but also in process optimisation.
I’d recommend taking some time to learn more about the field of optimisation and see how this kind of software could benefit your organisation.
