Risersoft Engineering apps brings to the table system-wide parametric automation capabilities out of the box. These are manifested by creation of rules that govern the creation of various entities. Rules for generation of BOM, CAD models, Routings are defined before-hand and then parameters for each project are calculated / inputted. EtomPlan generates a whole host of data based on the rules+parameters combination. This data can be now checked and manually modified as desired and forms the basis of Planning and Production activities.
Below graphic sums up the parametric capabilities of various software products:
Typically the Engineering organization has their own domain specific tools, which are spreadsheet based or custom designed. Typically, all of that output can ultimately be given as a collection of parameters. The number of parameters might vary from a few dozens to few thousands, depending on product size and complexity.
Rules for data and CAD generation are defined in an easy to use Excel like formula language. The same input parameters can be used in different types of rules, for example – in routing rules which generate data to define how the product is produced in the enterprise and lists possible machines and resources, and CAD automation rules which generate the 3D models and/or 2D drawings.
There is one more important philosophy behind above framework. In spite of all efforts, there will always be projects with some portion that is completely custom or not covered by rules. Instead of fighting for achieving 100% rules based engineering, it is prudent to achieve a lesser number – say 95% and then fine-tune the output.
