CAD/CAM

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in full computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing.

Integration of design and manufacturing into a system under direct control of digital computers.

CAD systems use a computer with terminals featuring video monitors and interactive graphics-input devices to design such things as machine parts, patterns for clothing, or integrated circuits. CAM systems use numerically controlled (see numerical control) machine tools and high-performance programmable industrial robots. Drawings developed during the design process are converted directly into instructions for the production machines, thus optimizing consistency between design and finished product, and providing flexibility in altering machine operations. These two processes are sometimes grouped as CAE (computer-aided engineering).

More on "CAD/CAM" from Britannica Concise:

computer-integrated manufacturing - Data-driven automation that affects all systems or subsystems within a manufacturing environment: design and development, production (see CAD/CAM), marketing and sales, and field support and service.

workstation - Computer intended for use by one person, but with a much faster processor and more memory than an ordinary personal computer.

computer graphics - Use of computers to produce visual images, or the images so produced.

More on "CAD/CAM" from the 32 Volume Encyclopædia Britannica:

machine tool - The technology of CNC machine tools has been enhanced by parallel advances in CAD/CAM. In the first NC systems, CAD and CAM were regarded as separate functions. Gradually they have come to be treated as an integrated operation, with manufacturing processes being considered at the product design stage.

automation - Since about 1970 there has been a growing trend in manufacturing firms toward the use of computers to perform many of the functions related to design and production. The technology associated with this trend is called CAD/CAM, for computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing. Today it is widely recognized that the scope of computer applications must extend beyond design and production ...

aerospace industry - The computer has also fundamentally changed the development process by permitting digital modeling and simulation as well as computer-aided design in conjunction with computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM; see computer-aided engineering). In the early design stage of a flight vehicle, digital computer modeling of prospective designs enables rapid examination of several candidate configurations ...

computer-aided engineering - in industry, the integration of design and manufacturing into a system under the direct control of digital computers. CAE combines the use of computers in industrial-design work, computer-aided design (CAD), with their use in manufacturing operations, computer-aided manufacturing (CAM). This integrated process is commonly called CAD/CAM. CAD systems generally consist of a computer with one or ...

Dassault Industries - French company with major aerospace-related subsidiaries specializing in the production of military and civil aircraft; computer-based design, manufacturing, and product-management systems; and aviation simulators. Its primary subsidiary, founded by French aircraft designer Marcel Dassault at the end of World War II, is Dassault Aviation, which adopted its current name in 1990. Headquarters are ...

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