CAD and Product Design Trends 2023

Manufacturers of any product or service type are faced with the constant challenge of adapting to changes in technology. While it’s somewhat of a cliche to say business leaders need to “keep pace with change”, the start of any new year provides opportunities for design teams to improve their CAD processes.

The CAD trends for 2023 could be said to be more about fine-tuning than transformation. By building on recent digital advances – such as ways to reduce costs before a product reaches prototype through simulations or the continuing evolution of Model Based Designs and generative design – our industry is set for an exciting year.

I’ve put together what I believe will be 2023’s Top 3 CAD and Product Design trends and the ways in which ambitious manufacturing leaders can embrace and benefit from each.

#1 Ongoing digitisation of engineering processes

Digital transformation is an ongoing process that should attract companies’ attention every year. No matter how progressive you are in the digitisation of your business – there’s always areas that can be improved to drive efficiency though better designs, team collaboration, product delivery and customer interactions.

On top of completing your switch from paper drawings to 2D, the main design trends continue to be:

Working with 3D models first, then generating 2D drawings for manufacturing, construction, production.
Electronic review process of the designs to increase visibility of the process, decrease review time and promote sustainable practices through removing the need for printing.
Creating smart designs through digital simulations to reduce waste and increase reliability of your products.
Secure and safe storage and exchange of project data and information to allow fast transmission of design documentation and promote remote/flexible work arrangements. Learn about Autodesk Vault Basic and Professional versions and Autodesk Vault Data Transfer

The current available Autodesk tools to support you and your teams in this process are: AutoCAD, Inventor (including Nastran and Frame Generator, iLogic), Vault, BIM360 and others.

No matter where you are on your digital journey, there’s always things you can be optimising, to not only make the lives of your teams easier but improve your competitive advantage.

In exploring the digitisation of your design processes, Modern CAD can help you understand if new tools will bring real business benefits and a solid return on investment.

#2 A cloud-based environment to dominate the future of work

The last few years have underscored the incredible power of available technologies by allowing people to collaborate, no matter where they’re located.

However, the cloud is about much more than just remote collaboration. It’s a massive ecosystem that helps connect people, processes, partners, projects, workflows, and data.

The cloud enables diverse teams within a company—from marketing and sales to design, fabrication, and management—to share data in new ways between systems that were once siloed, and share data securely with other companies too.

Autodesk offers a number of technologies to support remote work and collaboration:

Autodesk Platform Services (APS) offers APIs and services that help you access and use your design and engineering data via the cloud.
Fusion 360 which is a cloud-based 3D modelling, CAD, CAM, CAE, and PCB software platform for professional product design and manufacturing.
Autodesk Vault Gateway and Fusion 360 Manage, support remote collaborative work, with a range of easy-to-use features.

#3 Improved automation for rapid design processes and increased efficiency

Automation will continue to play a crucial role across the manufacturing landscape, from AI, 3D Printing and Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) to the latest in Machine Learning and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT)

These established and emerging technologies can be utilised by both small and large scale manufacturers, with repetitive work replaced by automation, saving time and money when producing designs and mass customisations of products.

Automation lies not only in technology but in the ways and means of customising existing technologies to suit your particular needs.

Bringing together technology, software, hardware and tools is the best way to get the most out of automation and give your organisation an edge on competitors who continue with ‘business as normal’.

Here are just some of the processes that can now be easily automated for design creation and data management:

Automate repetitive processes that are used every day many times in Autodesk AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor and other Autodesk products (plugins).
Utilise advanced methods to understand your products, like Finite Element Analysis (FEA) by using Autodesk Inventor Nastran. Learn about Autodesk Vault Inventor Nastran training
Utilise your own engineering workflows that reflect your business process in Autodesk Vault or Fusion 360 Manage.
Streamline the transfer of engineering data to Autodesk Vault, with minimal disruption to your day-to-day business.
Streamline synchronisation between Vault and ERP.
Use iLogic or Inventor add-ins to develop automation in house for Autodesk products. Learn about Autodesk products automation.

Every year, the possibilities for automation continue to expand. For example, in allowing more organisations to explore the power of generative design to solve design challenges and simulations to test and analyse designs before they’re rolled out as real-world products.

Business leaders shouldn’t be overawed by the world of automation when it comes to choosing the right technologies. In many cases a business can benefit from simple automation processes that help to speed up design processes, reduce labour intensive tasks and deliver greater efficiencies for your teams.

How your business can benefit from the latest technology

The coming year will undoubtedly bring fresh challenges and opportunities for modern manufacturing businesses.

It’s important to recognise that software solutions such as Autodesk and other design tools are not a silver bullet to automatically boost your productivity and increase revenue – the secret lies in making them work for your business, through careful customisation and the upskilling of your people through ongoing training.

Once realised, the benefits of greater digitisation, cloud services and automation all contribute to the different stages of the product lifecycle – from design and engineering to manufacturing and distribution – helping to accelerate time-to-market for your products and services.

Modern CAD specialises in helping organisations utilise the best available engineering software to improve internal design processes and accelerate performance.

If you would like to chat with an expert about your engineering goals, please get in touch today!