The focus of the ASSESS Business Theme is the development of approaches to defining the business value of engineering simulation, best practices to realizing that value, and the transformation of business models to enable a significant increase in usage of and benefit from engineering simulation software tools. This article is a preview of the Strategic Insight Paper and companion Executive Review being published by the Business Theme Committee, entitled “Understanding the Path to Realizable Business Benefits Through Engineering Simulation”. NAFEMS and ASSESS members can download the Strategic Insight Paper and the Executive Review from nafems.org/assess

From a business perspective, engineering simulation is the use of models to understand how something behaves for the purpose of making informed decisions and generating intellectual property based on a better understanding and knowledge of the physics involved. It is essentially a virtual evaluation that replaces or complements physical tests in the development and verification of a product or process.

Having an effective and efficient engineering simulation infrastructure in your organization can provide a significant competitive advantage and help achieve business goals. The use of simulation has grown steadily since its introduction around 70 years ago, but it is only during the last decade that it has been widely adopted as a key business activity. Its application as a strategic business activity is now at a point where it can be considered imperative.

By making extensive use of engineering simulation as a core business practice in multiple aspects of the product lifecycle, leading companies from a wide range of industries have achieved significant returns on their investments. Many products today could not be delivered without it. Simulation tools provide valuable insight to everyone in a product development organization who is involved in investigating new concepts, developing, and integrating designs, optimizing performance, ensuring quality, signing-off and certifying designs, and optimizing manufacturing processes.

This article appeared in the January 2024 issue of BENCHMARK.