Engineering drawings contain far more than geometric information. They capture materials, dimensions, tolerances, assembly requirements, and manufacturing specifications that can help manufacturers make better value analysis and value engineering, or VAVE, decisions. CADDi argues that extracting and comparing this information can turn drawing archives into a useful source of cost-reduction opportunities.
Material analysis is one application. By examining specifications and dimensions across drawings, manufacturers can identify opportunities to reduce material consumption, substitute lower-cost alternatives, improve allocation, or strengthen purchasing negotiations. Drawing data can similarly expose unnecessarily tight tolerances that increase machining costs without delivering meaningful functional benefits.
Assembly information provides another avenue for improvement. Engineers can use historical drawings to identify opportunities to reduce part counts, simplify components, improve assembly sequences, or introduce automation. Drawing geometry can also support failure analysis by highlighting potential stress concentrations and supplying data for finite element analysis. This allows teams to investigate design changes before failures reach production or customers.
Manufacturing processes can benefit as well. Comparing designs can reveal parts suited to alternative production methods, while design changes can reduce setup time, scrap, rework, and manufacturing complexity.
CADDi illustrates these principles with an aerospace example involving a landing gear assembly. Drawing analysis identified opportunities involving alternative materials, relaxed tolerances, and fewer fasteners, resulting in a reported 15% overall cost reduction without sacrificing quality or safety.
The article also explains how CADDi Explorer supports this process. The platform extracts information from PDF and even handwritten drawings, connects drawings with cost and supplier information, and enables keyword, image, and shape-based similarity searches across historical archives.
For VAVE teams, this ability to find comparable parts can reveal small design differences associated with significant cost differences. Instead of treating old drawings as static records, manufacturers can use them as evidence for more informed engineering and sourcing decisions.
