Sree Varahhas Technologies has a special focus on Design Automation activities as it firmly believes that this is one approach that can provide huge benefits to the customers in the following areas:

• Product Design
• FEM / FEA
• Tool Design
• Manufacturing

The Automation team offers these services on the following CAD platforms:

• Unigraphics NX
• AutoCAD INVENTOR ETO

1. DESIGN AUTOMATION APPROACHES:

Most of the Design Automation is carried out using the following approaches:

• Master Model Approach
  • This approach requires creation of a ‘Master Model’ that contains all possible variants of the design, in the same part / assembly
  • The specific variant required, is produced by conditionally suppressing / unsuppressing the variants within the Master Model
  • This approach works beautifully, when one knows beforehand, the number of product variants to be covered within the automation activity
  • Drawing generation can be simple, with Master Drawings created in the same way as Master Models
• Building Block Approach
  • This approach is selected, when the number of variants involved is not known beforehand, and every time newer product variants are required
  • This automation approach is generally more complex, and involves the process of ‘Qualification’ of Parts and models that are created outside the automation environment, so that they can be recognized by the automation programs, for effective manipulation, to meet the design requirements
  • The Drawing Generation in this approach is the toughest activity, but can be delivered with certain limitations, with respect to Drawing beautification activities such as placement and style of Dimensions / Annotations / Symbols

• Most of the time the designers are not clear about the total number of the variants to be covered within automation activity
• They also feel that it is difficult to automate such products where newer components / subsystems need to be added to the existing designs, to meet the ever-changing client requirements
• These concerns can be addressed by carrying out the following activities:

• System Requirements Study
  • This activity helps in listing all the requirements of the designers
  • This also aids in documentation of the expectations of the designers as well as the management
• Feasibility Studies
  • These studies will help in one to validate whether their requirements and expectations are realistic or not
  • Limitations may also be imposed by the Software / Hardware to be used
• Standardization
  • Generally, most of the time, the designers follow their own thumb rules, along with guidelines of International Standards, for creating complex product designs
  • This will lead to different designers producing different designs for the same product.
  • This person-based approach is not ideal for Automation
  • These Design processes need to be standardized, in order to realize the maximum benefits of automation efforts
• Phased Deployment of Automation
  • Most of the times, it is not possible for the designers to spell out all their requirements in one go. This leads to difficulties in automation software development
  • It would be much better to develop it in a phased manner, where, the first version is developed with a limited scope, and the subsequent versions will cover more and more requirements

3. DESIGN AUTOMATION BENEFITS:

Design Automation idea is rapidly catching the imagination of all OEMs worldwide. The following benefits can be realized by the Customers, by carrying out Design Automation activities:

• Standardized Design Process
• 70% reduction in Design Cycle Time
• Lean and efficient Design Team
• Retaining the Designers’ knowledge within the Software
• Faster generation of Concept Designs, Estimates and Quotations
• Ability to respond quickly to last minute customer requests
• Elimination of Manufacturing problems
• Faster and safer transport of the products
• Trouble-free Final Assembly of the Product

• Advanced tasks such as Design Automation require different thinking and approach from the users.
• People who think in 2D cannot be good 3D modelers. Similarly, those who think in plain 3D cannot effectively use these automation tools
• These require an attitude change towards 3D modeling process
• Only then the users will exploit the automation software to the fullest extent and enjoy the fruits of automation

Sree Varahhas Technologies Design Automation team has experts in using to following tools of automation to deliver the customers’ wish list:

NX	INVENTOR

6. DESIGN AUTOMATION LEVELS:

Sree Varahhas Technologies has identified a three-level approach to make the Design Automation Concept popular with the Customers:

• Utility Tools Development
• Customization
• Knowledge Based Engineering (KBE)