Are those old cardboard models testing relationships between the ECAD and mechanical teams? Or is it the number of revisions needed because the ECAD team never has complete insight into the mechanical CAD design? Either way, the old ways of collaborating between teams is often a drawn-out, frustrating experience that needs to change.
Creating connections
In response to this growing need, Altium has made steps to create an environment where ECAD and MCAD engineers can collaborate on their designs. It started with Altium Designer’s STEP import-export feature, and then evolved with the introduction of Altium’s 3D visualization engine. And by combining these two features, Altium helps electronics designers bring 3D mechanical models into the ECAD space in real-time: electronics engineers can view their electronic designs in 3D, in its final form, inside its mechanical casing, and make real-time adjustments in partnership with their mechanics design peers.
By introducing this ground-breaking feature, Altium eliminates 25 years of ECAD-MCAD pain. There is no need for cardboard cut-outs or guesswork because engineers can now view and interact with their product in real-time. It streamlines the whole process and allows engineers to realize some incredible time saving benefits.
BAB Elektronik: delivering results with Altium Designer
One organization that has seen results with Altium’s ECAD MCAD collaboration technology is BAB Elektronik. Since upgrading to Altium’s latest version of Altium Designer, this electronics design consultancy has doubled its design throughput and halved its project development time.
Mikael Fransson, design engineer at BAB Elektronik, noticed the biggest design improvements when working on a contract to design a controller for an alternating valve incorporating a synchronous motor for ESBE AB. The valve was small and this meant Mikael only had a tight space to work with. Fitting electronics into such a small enclosure would normally require several design revisions.
To overcome this challenge, Anders Rambrant, managing director at BAB Elektronik, decided to upgrade to the latest version of Altium Designer. “It was the unified electronics design environment and its productivity-boosting features that sold us on making the switch. As a consultant it is our duty to be a notch ahead of our customers with our tools. Our electronics design tool is our most important investment.”
With Altium Designer, BAB Elektronik was able to offer the customer considerable benefits. In particular, BAB Elektronik was able to reduce the product development time by 50%. This is because Altium’s MCAD-ECAD features eliminated the need for a 3D-model of the mechanicals, which was previously done by the client. It also meant the design process was devoid of the PCB and mechanical inconsistencies that delay product development.
“When we import our customers’ mechanical files, we are able to develop a virtual prototype of the final product – it’s amazing. We can see what the final product will look like and easily assess if there will be any packing violations. It offers additional reassurance and validation that our design is right,” comments Anders.
One example springs to mind for Anders. When they imported ESBE’s MCAD designs into Altium Designer, they noticed there was a mechanical packing issue. ESBE was amazed and when their project manager saw the exported 3D model of the PCB packing issue, his spontaneous exclamation was, “This is the best that has happened to electronics since the invention of the transistor!”
| Before Altium Designer | After Altium Designer | |
| Time to layout PCBs | 50hr | 25hr |
| Hours spend on each PCB | 200hr | 100hr |
| Design throughput (number of designs completed each month) |
5 | 10 |
“Since upgrading to Altium Designer we have halved our development
time and doubled our monthly design throughput. There have been many
improvements made by Altium throughout the years, but it’s the latest
MCAD ECAD developments in 3D that have delivered the best results for
me and my customers.”
Anders Rambrant,
Managing Director / Design Engineer, BAB Elektronik
About BAB Elektronik
BAB Elektronik AB is a Swedish electronics design consultancy. It has extensive experience in automotive electronics, intrinsically safe electronics according to ATEX - EXi, electronics for mass production, electromechanical systems and military equipment. Its office is located in Jönköping, Sweden. For more information please visit http://www.bab.se/.
