QCM and New Business Models for CAE and CAD

A brief summary and vision (and the Business Case) for CAE/CAD vendors:

1. First and foremost, one must know the degree of confidence, or credibility of a computer model before one uses it to make important decisions. QCM is a tool which delivers a measure of credibility on a 0-100% basis. It also shows which model features are responsible for any discrepancies between model and experiment. In other words, the tool shows how to improve the credibility of a computer model.

2. A new design paradigm:

– come up with an initial, nominal design

– create a number of feasible designs (there are many ways to do this, we have our own known as SDI, a mix of genetic/Monte Carlo techniques).

– select the ones that are good enough (non necessarily optimal)

– of the ones that are good enough, select the one with the lowest complexity.

The following two bullets show where the real business is (and, potentially, new business models).

3. QCM provides a formal framework for the extraction of structured knowledge from data. “Complexity Maps” are also “Knowledge Maps”, as they help understand how things really work, what are the invisible constraints and what limits performance or creates vulnerabilities, how things break.

With QCM we can establish a knowledge generation/capture platform for use in the industry not just in the simulation space but also in the physical realm.

This can help establish a more intimate relationship with a customer base, beyond the delivery of CAE/CAD services and SW.

4. Complexity becomes a new design attribute – kind of logical, especially when it comes to designing complex products! – and this has an immense impact, beyond the obvious engineering aspects. Most importantly, it establishes:

– a new look at risk and risk stratification (systemic robustness, beyond the conventional scatter-based ‘robustness’ measures)

– a means of taking warranty, recall and liability costs into account in a quantitative manner

Liability is linked to reputation and it carries an enormous cost. QCM, at the end of the day, offers a new, rational form of Quantitative Liability Management. This can allow CAE/CAD vendors to participate in business on a risk sharing/gain sharing basis.