Bridging the culture gap between engineers and software developers during the joint development of a bespoke CAD system

This article outlines experience gained during the joint development of COMPASS, a three-dimensional CADCAM system for sheet metal ductwork, by Henry Hargreaves and Sons Ltd. and CADCentre Ltd. It shows how a culture gap can exist between the engineering team and the CAD software development team and how this gap can be bridged for successful collaboration. It concludes with a number of lessons learned which may also be useful to other engineering companies and software developers about to embark on computer-aided design.