Designing a product without integrating simulation into your workflow is like giving a concert but never rehearsing. Why would you do that?

Top Performing organizations meet cost targets, remain on spending plans, and beat their due dates. One way they accomplish these objectives is by utilizing simulation tools to empower their organizations. Here’s 10 ways simulation will put you ahead.

1. Simulation software = better design decisions

Simulation tools enable engineers to have better insights throughout the design process.

For example, with the use of simulation engineers can conduct sensitivity studies, analyze trade-offs, remove excess materials and even evaluate motion envelopes.

By using simulation during concept design, engineers are able to explore and consider more options.

These options permit engineers to see the influences and effects of different design guidelines and limitations.

Testing many conditions, simulation software allows engineers to narrow down choices for the best concept.

This is how engineers are able to make better, highly informed design decisions.

2. Simulation helps avoid over engineering

By simulating your designs in a variety of environments, you can easily determine what is necessary within your design and what is not.

This helps engineers eliminate excess materials, and ultimately create better products.

3. With Simulation software, you find problems earlier  (while they’re still cheap to fix)

Engineering simulation software helps organizations discover hidden interactions that can cause big problems.

How? It’s simple.

If the materials you’re using to build and design a product can’t perform under stress, you can find out early in the design process.

This helps your design team get it right the first time.

4. Simulation tools improve product quality

Simulation tools enable engineers to analyze and validate the performance of 3D virtual prototypes before the part itself is created.

With the ability to validate and test designs early in the design process, engineers are able to create and evaluate more concepts and ideas within allotted time frames.

This means more ideas, more designs, better quality and ultimately a better product.

5. Simulation software improves product reliability

With simulation software, results are accurate and reliable and can be easily calculated with very little input from engineers.

By using simulation-driven design to optimize product performance, quality and durability- you can be sure that your is more than reliable.

6. Simulation tools cut product development time

Organizations are able to reduce product development time with simulation tools because less time is needed for physical testing, fixing late problems, and rework.

When design engineers know how to run simulations, they understand the requirements for the analysis model. By taking these requirements into consideration as they design, model, and build products, the analysis becomes easier and takes less time to prepare.

7. Innovation is increased with simulation

With the help of simulation tools, engineers can also be more innovative.

Time-savings allotted from simulation and virtual prototypes enable design engineers to evaluate more design iterations.

8. Simulation helps you get to market faster

Simulation tools help streamline product development activities by enabling concurrent design and analysis.

How? It’s simple.

With simulation, the analysis process is faster. For instance, you can forget any reliance on 3^rd parties for analysis because you are able to now do it in-house.

By identifying and eliminating errors early in the design process you will resolve errors early, eliminating late-stage changes and tedious rework. This will also greatly speed up your processes.

Simulation tools empower design engineers to make better design decisions.

Better design decisions ultimately produce more competitive products that cost less and get to market faster.

9. In the long run, simulation tools save costs

Simulation helps engineers make better design decisions at much less cost because they can subject virtual models to real-world forces.

By using fewer prototypes and focusing simulation on areas of high sensitivity and fatigue, an organization can save time and money.

For example, engineers can reduce product costs by optimizing designs to meet multiple objectives, such as maintaining a product’s strength while reducing its weight.

This is exactly how the use of analysis and early optimization to properly size geometry can reduce material costs.

Aside from material costs, how do product failures, warranty, and repair cost impact company profits? Tremendously.

Using simulation tools organizations can avoid costly recalls and reduce after-market service, warranty, and repair costs.

It’s easy to see how simulation tools will save you money simply by eliminating the need for project re-work, prototyping, and over-engineering 

10. More competitive products

Simulation software provides engineers with additional insight, which leads to better design decisions and product optimization.

By using simulation, design engineers are able to develop higher quality products that are easily differentiated in the market.

If you are an OEM supplier to a major fortune 500 manufacturing company it probably took you a while to become their supplier. You had to prove to them that you could deliver a quality product on time, at a fair price.

Now that you have won their business it is probably equally as important to maintain that business as it was to win it in the first place. Your company probably has a nice cash flow and your employees are enjoying a nice secure job because of this win. However, the most important thing that will keep your customer coming back to you is quality.

Most major manufacturing companies realized years ago that the sooner that you can discover flaws or issues in the design phase, the easier and more cost-effective it is to fix the problem.

They found out that after completing the design process in CAD, they could move on to using simulation software, like ANSYS, to simulate prototypes. By simulating their prototypes they are able to run multiple simulations of their prototypes at one time and pick out the prototype that met their requirements to move forward and begin manufacturing.

Over the years these huge corporations have saved millions of dollars in time-savings and reduced the amount of times projects have to be constructed.

In the interest of time-savings and cost-savings, I suggest you consider looking into a simulation tool yourself. As your customer will appreciate knowing that their supplier realizes how important a quality product is. Who would you rather buy from? A company that has thoroughly tested their product or one that hadn’t?

If you’re interested in learning more about the benefits of simulating your products early and often, learn more about simulation here.