Within the range of tools used by engineers, spreadsheets are one of the most common, and yet the usage of Excel tends to be outside of the more formal controls applied to most CAE tools. Version control of Excel models is often ineffective or non-existent, security of the intellectual property embedded within spreadsheets is severely limited, and users’ saved data is usually in the form of “flat” files, making the data effectively invisible to the enterprise and not easily available for collaboration, audit control, or analytics. Surveys by organizations such as NAFEMS have clearly demonstrated that not only are these issues significant with the potential of dire consequences, but also that usage of Excel is actually increasing.
Excel is used in many ways, for example as input tables for CAD and CAE processes. Spreadsheets are also commonly used as standalone “calculators” for preliminary design, and in most cases these tools are not integrated within CAE-based design and analysis workflows. A third use-case – and one that occurs frequently – is the use of Excel where “engineering meets dollars” – during final configuration and pricing of products that are engineered-to-order (otherwise known as CPQ – configure-price-quote).
This webinar will discuss the advantages of applying a low code application development platform that effectively makes Excel spreadsheets behave like modern enterprise applications (that can be integrated into workflows if needed), eliminating Excel’s weaknesses and providing a far higher level of comfort that these tools are functioning correctly, consistently and securely.
Gavin Streather has worked for GKN for 28 years, and has experience in applications, product development and testing. His focus is on Knowledge Based Engineering and engineering processes and systems.
