In engineering and manufacturing, data is at the heart of almost every stage of product development. From CAD models and technical drawings to project information and design data, organisations rely on accurate, accessible information to design, build and deliver products.
But what happens when that data is lost, corrupted or simply difficult to find?
The impact can go far beyond the inconvenience of missing files. Data loss can lead to engineering rework, wasted time, reduced productivity and delays in decision-making – all of which can have a significant impact on a business.
How Much Time Do Engineers Spend Searching for Data?
Finding the right file shouldn't be difficult, but for many engineering teams, searching for data can take up a significant amount of their working day.
According to McKinsey, engineers can spend up to 23% of their time searching for data.
For engineering teams, this represents a considerable amount of time that could otherwise be spent on design, development and innovation.
When data is spread across individual computers, network drives or different storage locations, finding the correct version of a file can become a challenge. The longer it takes to locate reliable information, the more time is lost from productive engineering work.
What Happens When Critical Engineering Data Is Lost?
Engineering and manufacturing organisations depend on digital data to design, build and deliver products. When that information is lost, incomplete or unreliable, businesses can face a range of consequences, including rework, recovery efforts and reduced productivity.
Lost or unreliable data can also make it harder for engineering teams to make informed decisions. If employees cannot access the information they need, they may have to recreate work, search through multiple locations for an earlier version or wait for data to be recovered.
In some cases, recovery may not even be possible.
The Common Causes of Data Loss
Data can be lost for a variety of reasons, and some of the most common causes are outside an engineering team's direct control.
Hardware failure – 40%
Human error – 30%
Corrupt software – 13%
Theft of hardware – 9%
Computer viruses – 6%
Hardware destruction – 2%
Hardware failure, for example, can occur following power surges, while human error could include accidentally deleting important files or damaging a laptop.
These risks demonstrate why relying solely on individual devices or manual processes to protect engineering data can leave businesses vulnerable.
Lost Data Creates Engineering Rework
One of the biggest consequences of losing engineering data is the need to recreate work that has already been completed.
According to Tech-Clarity's Non-Value-Added Time in CAD Design, 2024, engineering teams can spend an entire day each week on non-value-added management, including recreating lost data rather than focusing on design work.
For an engineering team, that wasted time can quickly add up.
Instead of designing new products, improving existing designs or solving engineering challenges, valuable resources are spent trying to recover or recreate information.
And this can lead to ->
Reduced Productivity
Time spent searching for, recovering or recreating data is time that could have been spent on productive engineering work.
Increased Rework
When important design information is lost or unavailable, engineers may have to recreate models, drawings or other information that already existed.
Delayed Decision-Making
Without reliable and accessible data, teams may not have the information they need to make decisions quickly and confidently.
Protect Your Engineering Data with SOLIDWORKS
For engineering and manufacturing organisations, protecting CAD and product data is an important part of maintaining an efficient design workflow.
SOLIDWORKS provides solutions that can help organisations manage and protect their engineering data, helping teams keep important information accessible while reducing the risks associated with lost or unreliable data.
At TMS CADCentre, we help businesses get more from their SOLIDWORKS environment, including solutions for CAD data management, PDM and engineering workflows.
If your organisation is spending too much time searching for files, recreating lost data or managing different versions of engineering information, it could be time to look at how your data is being managed.
