Effective use of a computer aided design system

At present many firms (large and small) have computer aided design facilities of some sort. However, possession of such facilities does not necessarily imply that they are efficiently utilized. Therefore, it is germane to ask how these facilities can be most effectively used, and what properties the operating system must have to ensure efficacy. This paper discusses these and related questions. The properties discussed are relevant to a wide class of computer aided design systems. Nevertheless to achieve clarity of presentation, these properties are treated in terms of a specific computer aided design system developed by Philco-Ford. However, the discussion applies to computer aided design in general. The properties of a successful computer aided design system are listed below and discussed in subsequent paragraphs: 1. An adequate standards program, which limits the scope of the system to practical proportions, reduces duplication, and provides a communication medium; 2. Program modularity and a general file structure which afford programming ease and speed, and which enhance user flexibility by permitting programs to be run in various sequences; 3. Verification procedures which ensure that the right problem is being solved, and that all design rules and standards are being followed; 4. Communication between those who design the system and those who use it in order to “tune” system parameters and determine good strategies, and afford continual assessment of capabilities.