Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1523825
32 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I JULY 2024 MCAD collaboration allows teams to stay synced and spot and correct errors or issues as they occur. What are some of the specific reasons that efficient and effective ECAD/MCAD collabo- ration is so important? First, it increases pro- ductivity by enabling what-if scenarios while allowing ECAD engineers and MCAD design- ers to co-design in their native environments. Second, it supports a shi le of various design and verification tasks. Instead of having to wait for the physical part, teams can start these activities earlier in the design phase. ird, because the design intent is verified through- out the product development process, it helps designers achieve first-pass success by avoid- ing rework due to electromechanical issues that might crop up later. Finally, new multi-domain collaboration tools enable teams to establish and main- tain a digital thread and a digital twin of their designs and products, shortening development time, and facilitating correct-by-construction design. Efficient collaboration between the ECAD and MCAD domains enables both to optimize an electronics design within tight form-factor constraints while still meeting quality, reliabil- ity, and performance requirements. For successful electronics and mechani- cal collaboration, it's important that the two domains have knowledge about the current state of the other. e design tools must have the capability of communicating with the other domain. What is needed for successful collaboration is a process that reliably automates the collabora- tion within the design tools, allowing designers to focus on the task at hand and not spend time worrying about whether the other domain has the right information. All the time that design- ers are focused on making collaboration work and doing that checking, they're not concen- trating on the core task at hand. Collaboration needs to be highly automated, and teams must be able to have this collaboration instantly and on the fly vs. waiting until the end. It is para- mount that each domain has the confidence Figure 2: The exchange between ECAD and MCAD should be seamless, so data passed between them remains consistent.