Part Re-use is one of the few, short term, process and financial gains which manufacturers can apply very quickly.

Irrespective of whether each design is different (bespoke) there is likely to be elements of duplication in existing designs which can be used to achieve the new and bespoke design.

By carrying out a similar shape search, supported by attribute search, near duplicates will be visibly displayed in seconds and a near exact designs identified. Thereafter the new design will be added- value to the identified design, shortening design time and saving skilled and costly designer's time.

FMB Oxford Ltd (design and manufacture of scientific instrumentation)

The company has built up an extensive component part library over 16 years. Some bespoke parts are unavoidable, but numerous opportunities to reuse components were missed.

Implementing a shapespace, a shape search solution, resulted in 5% reduction in new part count

Cost of design varies from company to company, but a 8 % reduction on a £2500 design in an organisation which designs 50 new designs a month, would reap a saving of £10,000 a month or £120,000 a year