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Manufacturing · R&D

Cutting manual CAD work in a composites R&D team

A composites R&D team replaced slow, repetitive boundary and layup steps in CAD with assisted scripts, keeping the engineer in control of every decision.

5/5
first engineer acceptance tests passed
wk→day
on the repetitive boundary work
advisory
the engineer keeps the final call
0
forced changes to the CAD workflow
BOUNDARYPLY ±45°ADVISORYengineer reviewsAssisted scripts propose; the engineer keeps the final call.
Background

R&D engineers design carbon-fibre parts in CAD. Certain boundary and layup steps are precise, repetitive and slow, and they vary subtly by part, so a single template breaks. The know-how sat with a few senior engineers, and the manual steps were a bottleneck on every new design.

Business challenges

Precise but repetitive

The boundary and layup steps ate senior engineers' time.

Every part is a little different

A naive template breaks, so the steps resisted simple automation.

An unforgiving platform

Small errors in the CAD automation cost real rework.

Knowledge with a few people

The method left the building when they did.

Solution

We built assisted scripts that handle the repetitive boundary and layup steps, parameterized to the part, with the engineer reviewing and adjusting each result. The scripts are advisory: they propose, the engineer disposes, and nothing changes without a check.

We shipped narrow and reliable first (the simplest geometry) and widened coverage only as each step was proven against the engineer's own test parts.

Scope
Duration

Shipped narrow and proven, then widened

Rapid design & deployment

One expensive problem, proven before it scales. The A1 to POC method, run in weeks not quarters.

A1 · Confirm the goal
Find the step that is the real bottleneck.
A2 · Audit the geometry
Study the parts and the existing macros.
A3 · Design advisory scripts
Define the scripts and where they do not apply.
POC · Test parts
Validate on the engineer's own parts, 5 of 5.
Handoff · Baseline & limits
Hand over a tested baseline and documented limits.
Before & after
Before
After
Boundary work
Slow, manual, per part
Assisted, reviewed in a fraction of the time
Knowledge
With a few seniors
Captured in tested scripts
Errors
Small mistakes cost rework
Advisory plus review catches them
Workflow
Would have needed a rebuild
Unchanged; scripts sit alongside
Return on investment

Senior engineers got their time back without giving up control.

Governance & standards

We design and deploy to the ISO/IEC 27001 (information security) and ISO/IEC 42001 (AI management system) frameworks. Data stays where it should, decisions that carry real cost keep a human in the loop, and every model call is logged for audit.

ISO/IEC 27001
Information security management
ISO/IEC 42001
AI management system

Designed and deployed to these frameworks. Not a certification claim.

Contact

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