INCREASED COMPETITION TO REDUCE THE TIME-TO-MARKET FOR ELECTRO-MECHANICAL PRODUCTS HAS DRIVEN A NEW TREND TOWARD INTEGRATING ELECTRONIC DESIGN AUTOMATION (EDA) AND MECHANICAL DESIGN AUTOMATION (MDA) SOFTWARE. MANUFACTURERS RECOGNIZE THAT SHARING DATA BETWEEN ENGINEERING DISCIPLINES AVOIDS TEDIOUS, REDUNDANT STEPS AND ELIMINATES TRANSPOSITIONAL ERRORS THAT ARE TRADITIONALLY UNCOVERED ON THE MANUFACTURING FLOOR. NEW TECHNOLOGY TO REMOVE THE BARRIERS BETWEEN ENGINEERING GROUPS WHILE OPTIMIZING PRODUCTS DESIGNS, SIMULATING THEIR PERFORMANCE WITHOUT PHYSICAL PROTOTYPES, AND MANAGING THEIR ENGINEERING DATA NOW MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO OPTIMIZE DESIGN CYCLES WHILE MAXIMIZING THE RETURN ON INVESTMENT IN EDA AND MDA.