Guest Writer: Darryl Worhsam - President/CEO, Perception Software

In a Forbes article Robert Frost, an Instructor and Flight controller at NASA, respond to the question “How did we lose the technology to go to the Moon?”

The article highlights some really important points. First, 90% of what we are creating comes from products built previously. Second, the remaining 10% could be classified as, “the edge of the envelope” where there is little tolerance for imprecision, error and expertise in the area is very limited. Bob Sutton writes that the expression “pushing the envelope” is aviation jargon for, “the known limits of safe performance”. Test pilots often have to take aircraft beyond these limits to help establish where the limits are. 

At its most basic level, it would seem logical that there’s got to be a better, faster and more intuitive way of allowing engineers to quickly complete the 90%, after all its captured knowledge! No matter the industry, going from A to B should be quick if you’ve already done it before, but with the constraints and compliance that we must follow it seems like a new journey every time.  The time value equation for next generation projects must point to the majority of the time being spent “pushing the envelope”.

While perhaps at a different level of complexity from building a rocket to travel to the moon, today many design engineers operating in the high tech manufacturing companies are faced with similar challenges. First, 90% of the design can be and should be attributed to reuse. The challenge is, the engineer either doesn’t know or can’t find parts that already exist for reuse. They spend time searching for what’s available to little or no avail, or they give up all together and select something new. While the 90% category is important, the 10% is mission critical.

If you’re reading this and thinking, “My Engineers and the Engineering teams are frustrated by the amount of time they are having to spend on the 90%...” maybe we can help you. By accelerating the speed and accuracy to which an engineer can capture the 90% of the design, the more time, attention and value can be delivered to, “the edge of the envelope” where innovation and competitive product value resides.  At Perception Software, we are focused on delivering solutions that free the engineer to spend the minimal amount of time, to capture the maximum amount of reuse. Additionally, we’ve automated the process for engineering to move that captured product data into the appropriate systems for knowledge transfer and sharing. 

How do we do this, you ask?  Sometimes the story of the solution and the promise it holds is best told through the eyes of actual customers like Cisco Systems and Griffin Technologies. We are delighted for you to come join us in learning more about Engineering Collaboration with our Partner Zero Wait-State and hearing about these customer stories.