High-quality 3D CAD geometry: saves time in design, lowers costs in engineering.


"A stitch IN TIME SAVES NINE"


Can you afford not to have high-quality CAD geometry?


Getting 3D CAD geometry right every time before transferring it to engineering saves you time and money in the long term. The ultimate goal of saves9engineering is to ensure your engineering processes run as efficiently as possible. This is achieved by optimising your CAD geometry quality.


Why is high-quality geometry so important?

The quality of geometry directly impacts: -


  • CAD software performance (causing hundreds of wasted design hours per year)
  • the frequency of CAD software crashes (causing hundreds of lost work hours and subsequent repeat work per year)
  • the time taken importing and exporting CAD geometry from one CAD system to another (causing hundreds of wasted design hours per year and could cause an incorrect part to be manufactured)
  • the speed and accuracy of downstream applications i.e. CAM, FEA, CFD (causing slow analysis, introduces inaccuracies in the manufactured part)
  • the reliability of 3D dimensions and PMI data (inaccurate or dimensions that fail to update properly when the model changes potentially causing an incorrect part to be manufactured)
  • manufacturing accuracy and quality (inaccurate or dimensions that fail to update properly when the model changes potentially causing an incorrect part to be manufactured)


Because of the above reasons, there should be strong model geometry quality focus during 3D modelling and the final model must be accurate and have high-quality geometry. Not only should models with complex shapes have high-quality geometry but even simple prismatic parts and sheet-metal parts too. High-quality geometry also ensures problem-free downstream engineering and production. Fixing problems in the engineering or production phase costs nine to ten times more than in the design phase. Our clients have saved thousands of euros/pounds/dollars from us finding and repairing bad geometry for mould tools, ensuring sheet metal flat patterns fold properly for accurate dxf/dwg drawings and ensuring dimensions on 3D and 2D drawings are linked to the correct model faces/geometry so they are updated correctly when making revision changes. This is the philosophy behind saves9engineering. High-quality CAD geometry = Fast CAD performance + First-time right engineering and manufacturing.

We have no problems, no-one has complained to us, anyway, what could go wrong?

Your suppliers will never tell you as they will make the changes/fixes anyway, remember the shape may not be changed at all but the topology could be changed in order to achieve the specific engineering or manufacturing process. One day, one of these seemingly insignificant changes may cause a knock-on effect and then end up being big problem in the produced part. For example, bad geometry from the design team may force the supplier to be unable to offset or scale a model for injection moulding. The supplier would have to spend time finding the problem area and fixing it. This could lead to unforeseen stresses or hotspots which can only be found using advanced simulation tools. If the supplier doesn’t use them (and they won’t because they don’t need these tools) the parts they produce could have areas of high stress which will eventually fail within the predicted lifetime of the product. The design team had originally avoided these problems in the design phase but had not made sure that their model was high enough quality to scale or offset before sending it to the supplier.