The need to reconceptualize CAD: the case of Brazilian engineering consultancy firms

Some of the biggest engineering consulting firms in Brazil have been trying to introduce computer-aided design (CAD) systems for more than five years. Results have been poor, due to concepts of automation developed during the period of industrial mechanization. CAD is basically perceived as a tool for increasing manpower productivity. Because of this perception, valuable uses of the information systems technology have not been recognized, wrong technological decisions have been made, and significant resistance has appeared during the implementation process. The author addresses such issues on the basis of research done among these firms. A new concept of engineering automation, engimation, is developed to provide new pathways to overcome these difficulties