With 2020 behind us, I think it’s safe to say that even the best-laid plans can change in an instant. 2020 changed our work environments and 2021 will continue to feel the effects of this. With engineers working in multiple environments, often transitioning between the office and working-from-home, reliable and consistent access to current data and content is going to be more important than ever. Companies who adapt to this new work structure and provide centralized content and a streamlined design process (eliminating sourcing from multiple locations) will usher in success by shortening time-to-market deadlines even with the most complex designs.
Varying work environments has also complicated the ability for engineers and teams to work together effectively, something that is vital with technology becoming smaller and denser. We will see the long-standing collaboration issues between electrical and mechanical addressed, and the two fields begin to tightly converge. With design processes being anything but linear, the ability for these two fields to collaborate effectively is becoming more and more essential to overall project success.
The need for companies to create digital twins are being accelerated with the growing complexity of designs and varying work environments. This makes it essential that digital information is part of a cohesive model and as much information as possible is provided to the various teams so they can collaborate efficiently. This means focus on front-end implementation and correct-by-construction design methodology is now essential.