Design automation (Model Based Engineering / Design / Development) is hot when it comes to efficient development of innovative and / or complex high performance products. Design re-use, unambiguous communication between disciplines and between parties in the supply chain, faster design iterations and continuous verification and validation are central themes herein.
Commercial-of the-Shelf (COTS) design automation tools are promising, but what really are the advantages? What should duly be taken into account when introducing or further implementing design automation and the tools that facilitate this? - Typical questions that arise are:
- How good are those COTS tools actually - are those marketing stories really true?
- What are the risks of the use of proprietary tools?
- How dependent do I make myself?
- How open are those tools - can I see what happens 'under-the-hood'?
- Is it possible to retain and use existing and validated models/code/IP?
- Is it something for us?
- Our products do have very specific characteristics - are COTS tools usable and flexible enough?
- We are not a multinational with large design teams - is there sufficient benefit for SMEs?
- We are a large company with large design / engineering teams and tightly defined processes. (How) do COTS tools fit in and are those tools up to this?
- Engineers already make extensive and effective use of design automation tools, is there more to gain for our organization and if so at what costs?
- What is the impact on the organization and where do I start?
- Is it necessary to completely turn around my existing work flows/processes or is this not necessary (at all)?
- This cannot be a light switch transition - how do I manage a smooth transition with minimal disruption for the business?
- We do have a lot of software tools, can that number be reduced through standardization?
- What education is required?
- What are the infrastructural requirements?
In other words: Is there, in my particular situation, sufficient benefit to gain from COTS design automation tools? What are the (dis)advantages and which tools are we talking about? How do I quickly gain the most with limited risk and costs?
To make well founded decisions about effective use of design automation tools, specialist and up-to-date organizational and technical knowledge is required. MonkeyProof Solutions has and maintains this knowledge and experience and can help your organization by means of Consultancy. MonkeyProof Solutions does project management for (strategic) evaluation and implementation projects related to design automation tools like MATLAB/Simulink. Clearly every project is different and therefore the approach is tailored to your organization and requirements. - Some examples of projects:
- MATLAB standardization aimed at:
- Facilitation of communication between individuals, teams and disciplines
- Reduction of the number of engineering software tools in use within an organization
- Prevention of unnecessary repeat design work
- Expansion of usage of MATLAB/Simulink and/or related tools including definition of infrastructure and processes for Model Based Engineering/Design/Development
- Usage of automatic code generation tools for embedded applications within existing or new environments
- Migration to new software releases
- The MonkeyProof Solutions approach generally contains the following aspects/phases:
- Process audit though interviews focused on effective communication and/or reduction of the number software tools in use
- Code/model reviews focused on effective tool usage
- Reporting including SWOT analysis, recommendations and brief ROI
- Phased transition plan aimed at risk mitigation
- Project/interim management
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