CAD/CAE in the Construction Industry

The benefits that increased the overall cost effectiveness of computerization for the engineering companies included the following: (RS8-3, p. 12)

• Streamlining and integrating the engineering process. The quality of the design was improved by maintaining consistency, accuracy, and economy of design.
• Reduced engineering costs due to easy revisions and easy reuse of engineering information and documents from prior projects.
• Intelligent models that generate accurate, reliable quantities of materials and components could be created.
• Improved efficiency and shortened engineering schedules by responsive information management and the utilization of central databases.
• Elimination of the need for plastic models (these were widely used until the advent of computer models).
   

The potential downstream benefits to the customer of computerization were:

• Better materials management and control which reduced the incidences of shortages and surpluses.
• Improved constructability through easier incorporation of construction knowledge fed back to the design houses.
• Improved construction project schedules.
• Less field rework and fewer change orders due to more accurate drawings.
• Improved plant operability and plant safety.
• An electronic database that can be valuable for continued facility management.
• Lower life-cycle plant costs by reducing operating and maintenance costs, including energy costs, through additional engineering capabilities.
• Better communications between owner, engineer, and contractor with better design documents.

The studies pointed out that the industry faced many challenges when implementing computerization, and it is noteworthy that many of these same issues face companies today, such as: (RS8-3, p. 10)

• The costs associated with the acquisition and maintenance of systems.
• The cost of training and system support.
• The time and costs involved with preparation of menus libraries, databases, and utility programs.
• The tendency of software vendors to make the effort of evaluating the cost effectiveness of new design tools more difficult for company management by inflating the projected efficiencies of the systems and downplaying the difficulties necessary to use them, especially the upfront configuration and training.
• The lack of understanding of design technology by the company management that is making the purchase decisions.
• Incompatibility between design tools that made sharing of information between companies more difficult, reducing the value of that information.
• Resistance to changes in design technology by company personnel. Users tend to be satisfied with what they are most familiar and reluctant to invest the time to master new software and hardware, even when that technology is faster, more user friendly and more productive.

The study analyzed the trends in computer skills, including: (RS8-3, p. 9)

• Training – Project and corporate functional managers will require training to understand the technology and importance of design software, and the investment in time and resources required for implementation. 
  • The education of experienced, qualified technical personnel in the use of the computer is the cost effective way to develop trained personnel. The use of personnel who are knowledgeable in computers to solve engineering problems for which they are not technically experienced does not work well. 
• Training Documentation – The value of training documentation and support for the users of software tools in engineering cannot be underestimated.