Addressing Engineering Automation as a Strategic Opportunity

A strategic need and opportunity exists in U.S. industry to automate the engineering knowledge function. The traditional methods of cost justifying CAD systems (largely used to automate the drafting function) do not serve well to justify systems to be used by design engineers. How do we put a dollar value on producing quality designs? This paper discusses the problem of measuring engineering productivity, the CAD/CAM industry's historical response to engineering needs, opportunities for innovative product partnerships, and some distribution methods needed to help U.S. industry regain its global competitive position.