Posted to News on 10th Mar 2007, 00:00
Electrical design comes in from the cold
Unlike their mechanical engineering counterparts, electrical engineers have traditionally been something of a poor relation in terms of automation support. Yet such historic lack of investment looks set to change, as there is a growing push for fully-integrated design systems across the business. And this will not only impact on in-house electrical design teams: third-party contractors too will increasingly come under similar pressure to ensure that they are able to interface seamlessly with clients' CAD systems.
This is a major market opportunity, as recent research has shown that more than 80 percent of mechanical engineering companies have some degree of electrical design requirement. Until recently however, from a technology standpoint the opportunity for electrical engineering information to be linked to the rest of the organisation's operation has been limited, so restricting the ability to play a significant role in the development of the broader business.
The picture has now changed dramatically, as the emergence of easy-to-use, 'plug and play' design automation solutions - such as Autodesk's own AutoCAD Electrical - has made such software affordable for many more businesses. And, in so doing, it has changed the world for both the electrical engineers and the companies in which they work.
