The Future of Design Collaboration for Engineers

The Manufacturing Executive · 23 Aug 2022 · 27m · Episode 116

What this episode covers

MJ Peters, VP of Marketing at CoLab Software, discusses the evolution of engineering collaboration and the gap between CAD/PLM systems and real-time decision-making. She explains how CoLab integrates with existing stacks to streamline processes like gate reviews, helping companies reduce product development cycles from 36 months to 12 months. Peters also highlights the rise of industrial SaaS startups like Augmente, Machine Metrics, and Monolith, which are digitizing manufacturing execution and simulation.

Mentioned

Companies
CoLab Software, Halma PLC, Refine Labs, Fire Trace, Gorilla 76, Augmente, Machine Metrics, Tulip, Monolith, Instrumental
Tools
CAD, PLM, PDM, ERP

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • The Hardware Entrepreneur · 54m

    #062 - How a hardware SaaS company wants to help you not get lost in your data during product development, with Michael Corr of Duro Labs, USA

    Michael Corr, co-founder and CEO of Duro Labs, explains how his cloud-based SaaS tool helps hardware companies manage product data from prototype to production, addressing the inefficiencies of using Excel or antiquated PLM systems like SAP and Oracle. He discusses the gap between rapid prototyping technologies like 3D printing and the slow, manual nature of mass production, arguing that digitizing supplier interactions and implementing version control for CAD files are critical for agile hardware development. Corr also shares personal advice on networking and the importance of process in scaling startups, drawing on his 20-year background in telecom, IoT, and clean tech.

  • Product Startup · 32m

    122: Modern Methods for New Product Development

    John McEleney, Co-Founder and CEO of Onshape, explains how cloud-based 3D CAD software enables hardware startups to iterate faster and achieve product-market fit. He contrasts Onshape’s real-time collaboration and version control with legacy desktop systems like SolidWorks, highlighting how features like branching and FeatureScript reduce friction in the design process. McEleney emphasizes that modern tools allow teams to get prototypes into customer hands quickly to observe usage, rather than relying on static file exchanges. The discussion covers the shift from local installation to cloud-native platforms, enabling parallel workflows and agile product development for small teams and large enterprises alike.

  • Moore's Lobby · 52m

    Improving Electronic Design Collaboration by Shifting Left and Right

    Ananth Avva, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Cloud Platform at Altium, discusses the challenges and strategies of bringing SaaS practices into engineering via Altium 365. He explains the concepts of 'shifting left' and 'shifting right' to improve collaboration between PCB designers and downstream teams like procurement and compliance. Avva highlights that organizations often overestimate the cost of change and underestimate the benefits of adopting cloud-based system-level thinking, which is crucial for managing complex supply chains and ensuring design integrity.

  • OnTrack · 33m

    Revolutionary System Design: How Valispace is Changing Engineering

    Louise Lindblad and Marco Witzmann, co-founders of Valispace, explain how their system engineering software bridges the gap between requirements and implementation to solve the 'spreadsheet pain' of hardware development. They discuss their backgrounds in satellite engineering, the limitations of legacy tools, and how Valispace uses connected data models and AI assistance to enable real-time collaboration and traceability. The conversation details Valispace's recent acquisition by Altium and its integration into Altium 365 to connect systems engineers with PCB designers.

  • Product Startup · 19m

    182: Consumer Product Hardware Trends in Mid 2023

    Brian Thompson, head of Creo CAD software at PTC, discusses how modern hardware companies are integrating simulation, additive manufacturing, and model-based definition directly into the core CAD environment to accelerate time-to-market. He explains that staying within a single native CAD model, such as Creo, eliminates context switching and data errors, allowing startups and enterprises to iterate rapidly from concept to production. The conversation highlights specific capabilities like ANSYS solvers for structural analysis and Oxetic lattices for energy absorption, which enable designers to validate performance and manufacturability without leaving the design tool. Thompson emphasizes that this unified approach de-risks product development by allowing teams to test with real customer feedback on short-run additive prototypes before committing to expensive full-scale tooling.

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by The Manufacturing Executive. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.