As we progress through a design project it is critical to eliminate errors during the design stage because of the exponentially increasing costs to correct an error after manufacturing or construction has been completed. Imagine not using a simple 5 minute design procedure in AutoCAD only to find that you have to correct an error in 100,000 parts that are worth $10 each or tearing out $100,000 worth of concrete in a large commercial building simply because associative dimensions were not used to check the building's size and locations. Unfortunately this still happens every day because designers have not become aware of all the quality control and modeling tools available to eliminate errors during the design process. Using 3D modelling is one such feature that allows a designer to create a very realistic, verifiable model long before the real product costs too much to correct problems not discovered by the designers.

Examples of AutoCAD features that will assist your quality control:

• Attributes extracted to a bill of materials program like Excel or Access can find errors in seconds instead of hours, weeks and months!!
• 3D modeling will reveal many errors not seen in a 2D model that is missing one third of the design data.
• Layers managed correctly will reveal misalignments and misfits that can be corrected cheaply.
• Layer State feature will allow rapid changeover of drawings for various trade needs.
• Associative dimensions in AutoCAD will reveal mistaken sizes and locations immediately PLUS correct themselves when you have to stretch or move an object.
• Rendering a 3D model will eliminate misunderstandings about the final appearance of a design.
• Using AutoCAD's shadow study feature will allow an architect to confirm instantly where shadows will occur before any construction begins.
• Xref modeling will ensure that a part or object is designed only once.  Two copies with different revision levels can be dangerous in a design project!

Examples of Autodesk Inventor features that will assist your quality control:

• Assembly modeling of parts verifies fits and relationships constantly.
• Parametric dimensioning constraints allow rapid revisions, testing, verifying.
• Single part sources for drawings, assemblies, presentations.
• Adaptive technology ensures tightly defined relationships between parts that change.
• Assembly constraints provide intelligent relationships between associated parts.
• Creating a video of the assembly process takes only a few minutes and will reveal fit problems, teach repair technicians, assembly personnel or consumer marketing, instructions, assembly details.

• See "Forget the Gap" article

• See "Training Gems of Wisdom" article

• See "What we don't know that we don't know" article.