The design bottleneck holds back innovation

The first step in innovation is turning ideas into reality.

Today, tools like AI, industrial automation, and 3D printing make life easier and are relatively easy to use, but creating your own design for 3D printing is not so easy. Before you can 3D print something, you need a design – and creating that design is still a manual, repetitive, and time-consuming process. 

So, what if you have an idea, but you don’t have CAD skills to design it? Is it practical to spend time mastering CAD before you can start to use this technology? Probably not. 

Maybe someone else can design it for you. You might have access to skilled design engineers who can help to bring your idea to life. But then this creates a new set of challenges: Where should your design sit on the ever-growing list of design priorities? How do you communicate your idea as a non-designer without getting caught up in endless feedback meetings?

When design skills are in short supply, it's a bottleneck in the process. In other words, the design bottleneck holds back innovation.  

Why is design such a challenge to driving innovation?

Design needs specialized expertise

Today, turning an idea into a design needs specialized knowledge in CAD and engineering principles, which most people don’t have. 

Many good ideas that have potential to improve efficiency or drive innovation are not pushed forward because of complex design processes. With years working alongside industrial partners, we've noticed this design bottleneck is a common problem for businesses that have adopted 3D printing and other CAM technologies. CAD-heavy workflows intimidate and confuse those without design skills, and they need another way to make their ideas tangible. 

What would happen if we could remove these barriers? 

When design becomes accessible, innovation scales 

If design were easier, anyone could turn their ideas into reality – unlocking a wave of creative solutions. 

What if you could create complex designs quickly and easily using a few simple inputs, without needing to master complex skills or design principles? 

When design is made easy, it no longer holds back good ideas from being tested, validated, and implemented. This allows an innovative mindset to grow in a company, where everyone is encouraged to contribute their ideas, and all ideas have value.

How can we simplify design to make this happen? 

Design automation removes complexity and enables creativity 

This is where design automation comes in. It captures design expertise in software to automate complex manual design steps, simplifying the design process. This allows anyone to create ready-to-manufacture designs with just a few simple inputs. 

A growing number of design automation apps streamline design processes and empower anyone to create designs, no matter their skill level. These apps use simple, intuitive interfaces with features like click-and-drag, sliders, and number inputs. Beneath the surface, expert knowledge and best practices are built into algorithms that automate complex design steps, allowing designs to be created in minutes and automatically optimized for a reliable manufacturing process. 

What does this unlock for individuals and industries? 

Endless opportunities for innovation 

With design automation, anyone – regardless of expertise – can create high-quality designs in minutes. The algorithms guide you to the right design outcome, optimized for 3D printing and ready to be printed the same day. 

This independence from design experts fosters a culture of innovation, where ideas flow freely and can be quickly implemented to drive progress, while also freeing up design experts to focus on high-priority, complex tasks. 

Whether you have a new idea for a fixture but don't know how to design it in CAD, your design team is too busy with other tasks, or you're simply looking to streamline your design process, design automation apps make it possible to design quickly and easily.  

The result is a smoother, more efficient design process that speeds up innovation and makes it easier for more great ideas to come to life.