The Benefits of Integrating Tolerance Analysis in Product Design Software

Key Takeaways

• Tolerance analysis is the process of evaluating how dimensional variations in manufactured parts affect their fit, function, and performance in an assembly.
• Traditional tolerance analysis methods are often manual, time-consuming, and insufficient in handling today’s complex manufacturing requirements.
• Product design software with built-in tolerance analysis helps teams handle complex tolerance stack-ups, streamline the design process, improve communication, reduce costs, and improve product quality.

In modern manufacturing, precision is paramount. Even small dimensional variations can impact how a part fits and functions in an assembly — which in turn impacts cost, performance, and product reliability.

Tolerance analysis plays a critical role in product development by helping engineers and manufacturers understand and predict how variations will affect the final product. Integrating tolerance analysis directly into product design software allows engineers to evaluate manufacturability earlier in the design process, reducing errors and costly rework while also optimizing part fit and function before prototyping.

What is Tolerance Analysis?

Tolerance analysis is the process of evaluating how dimensional variations in manufactured parts affect their fit, function, and performance in an assembly. 

Modern manufacturing equipment is precise, but it’s not perfect. Because manufacturing variability cannot be fully eliminated, the dimensions of a finished part won’t perfectly match their ideal design specifications. Engineers use tolerance analysis to determine acceptable variation and ensure that parts will still function correctly within those limits.

By simulating real-world manufacturing conditions, tolerance analysis helps ensure that critical features will assemble correctly while allowing for acceptable variation in non-critical areas. For example, if a design includes a shaft that needs to fit into a hole, tolerance analysis ensures that the hole is neither too small, causing interference, nor too large, causing excessive clearance.

Traditional tolerance analysis methods are often manual and time-consuming, involving complex calculations, custom spreadsheets, and separate software tools. Incorporating tolerance analysis features directly into product design software makes the design process faster, easier, more accurate, and more cost-effective.

Why Modern Product Design Software Should Include Tolerance Analysis

Built-in tolerance analysis enhances manufacturability by helping engineers identify potential issues early in the design process. Addressing potential tolerance problems upfront means fewer design iterations, prototypes, and late-stage modifications. It also helps eliminate costly rework due to misalignments, poor fits, or performance issues. 

With the power to resolve tolerance issues earlier, engineers can optimize part fit and function, which reduces material waste and ultimately lowers overall manufacturing costs. 

Additionally, built-in tolerance analysis improves collaboration between design, manufacturing, and quality teams. With tolerance analysis seamlessly integrated with production design software, everyone involved in the manufacturing process can work with a shared understanding of a product’s specifications and design intent. 

Key Benefits of Integrated Tolerance Analysis

There are many benefits to using product design software with integrated tolerance analysis, including:

Master Design Cycles

Built-in tolerance analysis allows you to automate tolerance checks early in the design phase. Instead of exporting a design into a specialized tolerance analysis tool, you can perform real-time analysis directly within the design software. This enables engineers to identify issues and make adjustments before moving into prototyping or production, speeding up the overall design process.

Optimized Tolerance Stack-up

With tolerance analysis included in design software, it’s easier to understand how variations in multiple part features accumulate across an assembly. This helps prevent tolerance stack-up issues, where small variations compound to cause big problems.

Streamlined Communication

Using the same tolerance analysis tools throughout design, manufacturing, and inspection helps teams collaborate more effectively. It also ensures consistency across all stages of development because everyone is working from the same data and interpreting tolerances in a unified way.

Improved Product Quality

Tolerance analysis software ensures that parts meet functional and assembly requirements by analyzing how tolerances will impact fit and performance. Product design software with built-in tolerance analysis prevents quality and assembly issues like misalignment, interference, or excessive gaps.

Cost Savings

Integrated tolerance analysis optimizes manufacturing, allowing for maximum precision in key areas and looser tolerances for non-critical dimensions. This lowers manufacturing costs and reduces material waste by allowing parts to be produced within the most cost-effective tolerance range.

Features to Look for in Product Design Software with Tolerance Analysis

Choosing the right production design software with built-in tolerance analysis can significantly improve efficiency, accuracy, and manufacturability. Look for a solution with these key features:

Intuitive User Interface

A well-designed user interface allows engineers to quickly define, adjust, and analyze tolerances without extensive onboarding and training. While there’s a learning curve for any new tools, an intuitive UI helps ease the transition.

Advanced Simulations

Tolerance analysis software should offer advanced simulation and worst-case scenario analysis to ensure parts will still function even with maximum allowable variations. 

Integration with GD&T Standards and Compliance Tools 

Built-in support for ASME and ISO GD&T standards ensures consistency in design and manufacturing processes, and integration with compliance tools helps engineers align tolerance specifications with industry requirements.

Case Study: Improving Efficiency with Integrated Tolerance Analysis

Companies across virtually every industry are using integrated tolerance analysis to streamline the design process and reduce manufacturing defects.

Phillips Plastics designs and distributes custom injection molded components and finished devices for OEMs across various markets, including medical, automotive, consumer, defense, and more. For years, they used customized Excel spreadsheets for tolerance analysis, but they eventually needed a new solution to address their customers’ increasingly complex designs.

The team at Phillips Plastics decided to implement CETOL 6σ from Sigmetrix, a tolerance analysis software that works directly with the data files from the leading CAD solutions. With CETOL, Phillips Plastics tackles complex tolerancing challenges with confidence. They have also reduced the number of prototype iterations needed, which can save as much as $10,000 and up to 2 weeks’ time on a single design.

Boost Efficiency With Built-In Tolerance Analysis

Integrating tolerance analysis in product design software speeds up the design process, enhances accuracy, reduces costs, and streamlines collaboration. Modern tools like CETOL 6σ help engineers optimize designs while ensuring proper fit and function. Sigmetrix is an industry-leading tolerance analysis software and training provider. Top manufacturers, engineers, product designers, and executives trust us to help them build better products. To learn more, explore our tolerance analysis solutions.