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ECAD/MCAD collaboration

Efficient collaboration between ECAD and MCAD domains enables both to optimize their electronics designs within tight form-factor constraints while still meeting quality, reliability, and performance requirements.

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What is ECAD/MCAD collaboration?

ECAD/MCAD collaboration is the communication and co-design between Electronic Computer-Aided Design (ECAD) and Mechanical Computer-Aided Design (MCAD) domains during overall product design.

Benefits of ECAD/MCAD collaboration

Reduce time to market

Consistent, iterative communication enables design team synchronization and fewer electro-mechanical re-spins mean more time spent on new projects.

Create more robust designs

ECAD and MCAD teams can optimize designs within tighter form factors. Trade-off assessments & multi-domain analysis are enabled which means quality, reliability and performance requirements are achieved.

Increase productivity

ECAD and MCAD designers collaborate within their own environments without learning new tools and design data and part models are transferred seamlessly between environments, eliminating rework.

Key features of ECAD/MCAD collaboration

Collaboration with MCAD systems
Xpedition Layout facilitates the communication of design data to mechanical CAD systems using a ProSTEP-approved IDX data exchange standard. With this ECAD/MCAD collaboration, designers can communicate between disciplines at any time or frequency, keeping participants in their respective system’s comfort zone. The integration between Xpedition and NX has been optimized to include 3D model sharing, design intent, additional copper data and improved rigid/flex support.

Collaborate from within your environment
ECAD and MCAD designers can collaborate from within their native environments, eliminating the need to learn new tools.

3D visualization
Visualization of the PCB and its enclosure within the layout environment allows designers to optimize the layout based on mechanical and manufacturability constraints.

Preview proposed changes
To clearly identify a proposed design change, designers highlight the proposed ECAD/MCAD collaboration object within the 3D viewer before applying the modification in their design. Consistent, iterative communication ensures team synchronization.

Learn more about Xpedition

Dive deeper into this topic

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Look for a methodology that enables context based, integral collaboration between the ECAD and MCAD domains. The value you’re going to get from that is that you have streamlined, integrated collaboration that minimizes the risk of errors during the data exchange. Read more in our ECAD/MCAD co-design blog or listen to our ECAD/MCAD co-design podcast.

ECAD/MCAD Co-design

Resources

ECAD/MCAD collaboration

Frequently asked questions

ECAD software is used for designing and producing electronic systems, including printed circuit boards (PCBs), while MCAD is used to design the mechanical enclosure of these electronic systems. An example could be that MCAD is used to design an engine in a car and ECAD is used to design one of the PCBs that control the car’s electronic systems.

An integrated ECAD/MCAD collaboration environment enables electrical and mechanical design teams to work together throughout the entire design process in real time.

Tight integration between the ECAD and MCAD design domains ensures that engineers and designers in both disciplines can collaborate and work on the design simultaneously on product development throughout the entire design flow.

The ProSTEP EDMD open schema (and associated IDX intelligent data model) allows an incremental data exchange between ECAD and MCAD items that are being collaborated on instead of the previously one-way bulk data exchange of finished design work with no intelligence on what the data being exchanged really is.

The consistent, iterative communication helps teams avoid and eliminate costly re-spins of printed circuit board designs and mechanical enclosures.