Lean Product Development using Fusion 360 with Generative Design

What do you think of when you hear the term “Lean Product Development”?

Well, I think it covers a number of different areas like:

• Reducing the costs of product development
• Reduction of onerous product development cycle times
• Implementation of more innovative workflows and processes
• Reduction of production costs
• Improvement of redevelopment cycles

Ultimately, the purpose of lean product development is to design new products efficiently that improve the lives of customers. This can be a complex area where the value will not be fully understood until the product has been built and is in the hands of the customer.

It’s imperative that good decisions are made on short-cycle experimentation, prototyping and set-based design. Creating reusable knowledge and reducing risk at handover points will create significant value ensuring knowledge is created and maintained so that it can be leveraged for successive products or iterations.

Also, by running different stages of product development simultaneously rather than consecutively, you can also decrease development time, improve productivity, and reduce costs.

Fusion 360 with Generative Design

Products like Autodesk’s Fusion 360 with Generative Design focuses on lean product design methods which enables creation of lightweight products which meets all functional requirements at a reduced cost & time.

So, what is Fusion 360 with Generative Design?

Fusion 360 with Generative design is a cloud-based service that runs on Fusion 360 which allows designers to input design requirements; the software then designs solutions within a specified design space.

Traditional design has usually required designers to start from scratch and build up geometries, the generative design approach allows you to specify the problem to the computer, then choose one of the many calculated solutions.

How does it work?

Fusion 360 allows you to export designs from Fusion directly to Autodesk Generative design.

Generative design uses an iterative approach to generate multiple CAD ready solutions based on manufacturing constraints and product performance requirements such as dimensions, mass, material, and strength.

Engineers or Designers can input design goals into generative design software, along with parameters such as materials, manufacturing methods, and cost constraints, then by using cloud computing, the software explores all the possible permutations of a solution, quickly generating design alternatives. It tests and learns from each iteration what works and what doesn’t.

With generative design, there is no one solution; there are potentially thousands of great options and you can choose the design that best fits your needs.

You can build bodies that represent preserved areas, obstacles, and starting shapes. You can apply loads and constraints to these bodies to help define the function of the part.

The material that is used for the part design can vary and has a direct effect on the strength of the part and with traditional design settings, the material is not always known until the part is created. You start with a single material, then adapt based on the outcome of the analysis.
With generative design, you can assign multiple materials so that you can optimise your design process.

Also, the manufacturing process of the part is not always known and can range from machined, cast, fabricated or printed.

Again, with traditional design, the manufacturing process is typically determined by the design of the part. With generative design, you select from a list of options to ascertain results based on the options selected.

This allows you to begin comparing the results to decide what is the best option to use. Traditional design requires that you review the part design, the part analysis, and the manufacturing options to decide which design fits your specific needs.

With generative design, you can compare these options all in one place, then simply download the desired solution that best fits your requirements.

Benefits of Generative Design?

1. Explore a much wider range of design options

At the ideation phase of a project, a team of designers and engineers need to generate a plethora of ideas and concepts. By using the power of AI, Generative Design can generate thousands of concepts, along with the data to prove which designs perform best.

It also helps designers to explore ideas and concepts which they could not have previously imagined boosting creativity and innovation. With the help of AI, Designers will be able to explore ideas and concepts which they could not have previously imagined boosting creativity and innovation.

2. Make the most impossible designs possible

Generative design allows you to create optimised complex shapes and internal lattices replicating the way cells are formed within nature.

Some of these forms are impossible to make with traditional manufacturing methods and typically they’re built using additive manufacturing methods.

3. Optimise for materials, manufacturing methods, and cost

Generative design allows the Designers to set the goals and parameters and the software will create high-performing design options based on those constraints.

If the user wants to specify that they would like their designs with the best strength to weight ratio or a design that uses the least amount of material at the lowest cost to produce, then the software will resolve conflicting design constraints so you can focus on innovating.

4. A much leaner end product

The product end result can also be leaner in terms of light weighting which involves reducing the weight of the product (By up to 40% in some cases), using fewer resources, such as thinner pieces of plastic or metal and making it stronger than the original part (By up to 20% stronger in some cases).

If you’re interested in getting trained on Autodesk Fusion 360, then head over to our webpage to find out more about the courses available or click on the button below to request a quote.