Linking design and manufacturing

Design, manufacturing forge tighter links with help from emerging development tools

Technologies as diverse as electronics and composites are altering aircraft designs, making it increasingly difficult to get error-free designs into production quickly. Suppliers of development tools are responding with enhanced products that facilitate increased collaboration between design teams and the manufacturing staffs that turn their ideas into end products.

“In aerospace, once a design is qualified, changing something so it's easier to manufacture is hugely expensive,” said David Vranson, Advanced Manufacturing Engineer at ITT Aerospace Controls. “If you don't get it right the first time, you have to live with it.”