A popular computer technology that designers use is CAD, which stands for "computer-aided

design." CAD facilitates professionals in designing objects, real or virtual, and is commonly used
in place of manual technical and engineering drawings. Industries that use CAD include
automotive, shipbuilding, aerospace, industrial, architectural, prosthetics, and multimedia. And
the reason CAD is such a popular technology across a wide variety of industries is because of the
many benefits it offers in comparison to manual drafting.

The first benefit of using CAD is an increase of productivity in designers. As opposed to manual
drawings, designers can produce drafts with CAD much faster, and a higher productivity in
designers means that the number of designers a firm needs to hire reduces. This results in lower
personnel costs, while the product designs are of a higher quality.

And faster designers are, the more competitive a firm can be. CAD gives firms the edge they
need to make quick changes and fast designs so that they can introduce their designs and launch
their products into the market before the competition does.

CAD also results in designs that are higher in quality and contain fewer errors than manual
drafts. This is largely because with CAD, design and analysis tasks are performed at the same
time, so improvements to the design can be made while the designer is drafting.

The use of CAD technology leads to a variety of benefits that can help several different
industries be more competitive in their fields, increase profits, and be more successful.

Companies which can respond to these consumer demands will be more successful than others.
The potential benefits to companies moving to 3D CAD technology are extensive and
meaningful to the bottom line, more profit for the company. Some of these benefits are:

1. Concurrent engineering (CE) - Engineering and manufacturing process are enabled

simultaneously from shared 3D CAD data.
2. Higher quality - Due to increased efficiency resulting from the ability to explore a
greater number of design iterations during product development.
3. Lower unit costs - Due to reduced development and prototype expenses.
4. Rapid prototyping (RP) - 3D CAD models can be used to produce prototypes from
Stereolithography and other RP technologies.
5. Personnel development - 3D CAD technology provides a challenging environment
for employees.
6. Personnel advancement - A variety of positions regarding the management and
supervision of 3D CAD become available to advance employee careers.
7. Identify and eliminate inefficiencies - 3D CAD develops opportunities for the
elimination of inherent inefficiencies in existing work flows and/or practices.
8. Increased workload capacity - Efficient use of 3D CAD allows the production of
more work while maintaining current staff levels.
9. Greater feedback and control of production operations - 3D CAD enables NC
tool paths to be generated, updated, and verified automatically with little human
intervention.
10. Improved overall communications - 3D CAD enables a shift from the traditional
paper based design and manufacturing system to a electronic paperless one.
11. Increased accuracy of MRP data - 3D CAD data files can be easily linked and
managed by MRP software.
12. Increased design flexibility - 3D CAD offers a more robust set of tools and methods
to modify designs.
13. Increased design data integrity - With a single 3D CAD model supporting all
downstream processes, changes are reflected quickly and accurately.