Automotive ECAD-MCAD co-design whitepaper

In the automotive industry, ECAD-MCAD co-design has long been recognized as a potential enabler to increasing productivity and ensuring a robust design. Until now, the electrical and mechanical domains mostly exchanged design data through email, spreadsheets, and XML files. With modern CAD tools, designers can directly synchronize their data. This ensures data integrity and more efficient, effective collaboration on critical designs between domains.

• The ECAD designer begins by creating the wiring and connectivity layout in Capital. This layout includes key components such as wires, connectors, multicores, and splices. The designer then exports this wiring data to the mechanical engineer.
• The mechanical engineer imports the PLMXML file and the electrical data is automatically linked to 3D objects in NX. The mechanical engineer can then route the wiring through the vehicle or vehicle part and then exports a file containing these incremental changes for review by the ECAD designer.