The future of integrated CAD/CAM systems - The Boeing perspective

The operations and upgrading of the interactive CAD/CAM system at Boeing for the design and manufacture of aircraft are discussed. The introduction of the system allowed engineering drawings to be used by manufacturing personnel without necessitating face-to-face contact, and the inclusion of lofting diagrams permitted the designers and builders to talk through the system to define changes. An upgrading to three-dimensional representation to enhance the engineering and manufacturing sections of the system is outlined, with stress upon the use of a shared data base. Critical areas of the system are listed as data management, which delineates the product definition data and planning and control data; a geometry engine for manipulating and evaluating the image data; and the communications processing network, which facilitates the rapid transfer of data between any discipline in the plant.