Design agility through computer aided design

The purpose of this paper is to report a research which is conducted to examine the power of computer aided design (CAD) in achieving agility in traditional organizations.

The CAD model of the knob of an electronic switch was developed. This model was shown to the team of executives. The theoretical and practical knowledge provided by them were utilized to design new ten CAD models of the knob. The reactions of the executives about these new models were gathered and analyzed.

The creation of a CAD model of an existing product is found to be a useful input for evolving new models in an agile manner. It is found to be an easy task to gather the theoretical and practical knowledge for achieving design agility through the visualisation of CAD models.

This paper is conducted on only one component manufactured by an electronic switches manufacturing organization. Although it appears to be a limitation of this paper, the nature of the design process carried out in this traditional organization mimics that of any other design practices carried out in the world. Hence, the contributions of this paper are applicable in traditional manufacturing environment.

Throughout the conduct of this research, the practitioners' views are gathered. Their views are favorable towards the successful usage of CAD model in achieving design agility.

For many years, CAD has been used for carrying out complex design projects. However, it appears that it has not been used in its simplest form to visualise and bring out new models electronically for achieving design agility. This simple approach is presented in this paper which may be used by both theorists and practitioners.