A methodology to customise commercial products of SMEs

Abstract

Product development durations are being drastically reduced, thanks, amongst other reasons, to the use of design automation techniques. But this trend is observed in large companies and to a much lesser extent in SMEs. This article seeks to research the possibility of finding suitable automation technologies for this type of enterprises. Automating the development of commercial offers in SMEs can be a good starting point to the change in this trend. Focusing on this objective, the necessary requirements that a tool of this type must have are established. Different models of assistants have been developed and analysed on different products, deducing from their results an ideal system architecture and methodology. This solution is based on design tables, a technology that links data from a spreadsheet, implements the company’s design process, with parameters of a three-dimensional CAD model, which represents the solution. The rest of the documents that constitute the commercial offer and the possibility of linking them with verification tools are derived from this design core. The main conclusion is the current viability of this method, anticipating the improvement of many aspects, mainly highlighting the link with the rest of the life cycle phases through interoperability tools.