Can Engineers Trust the Tough Decisions to a Spreadsheet?

An introduction to smart engineering documents.

Blockpad has sponsored this post.

Conceptually, engineers understand the documentation of their work is as important as the work itself. Getting the calculations right and early saves time, money and ensures higher quality in the product. But while we run those calculations, we must remember they need to be presented—and understood—sometime in the future. The work behind those calculations becomes meaningless if the logic is untraceable.

The calculation of a buckling critical load. The logic behind the calculation is expressed clearly. (Image: Blockpad.)

The calculation of a buckling critical load. The logic behind the calculation is expressed clearly. (Image: Blockpad.)

For instance, using traditional spreadsheet software might work to help engineers run computation-heavy math operations, but this method is far from ideal. Many engineers grew up using Excel, Lotus 1-2-3 or Quattro Pro to run calculations without the benefits of traceability, unit tracking and documentation, while accepting whatever meager presentation options were available.

Smart engineering documents, however, give us the ability to run math, with units, and present the inputs and results in a logical manner. Some smart engineering documents can go a step further, offering CAD-like sketching functions and strong word processing tools. So, let’s dig into what a smart engineering document has to offer, and how it can help us communicate our ideas.

Spreadsheets Are a Universal Tool for Engineering, But Should They Be?

First, it’s important to see how we got here:

Imagine being a young engineer working on calculations for a steering column assembly. Different tube thicknesses and different alloys will yield different results, and you have eight different combinations to study. Setting up a spreadsheet to run the eight studies might not be a difficult task, but it still takes time and effort—perhaps more than running hand calculations. Nonetheless, you’ll likely feel some sense of pride in wrangling the spreadsheet software to your will, so it shows the best choices for the two variables in the study.

Somewhere in the last thirty years, Excel became the de facto software for running engineering calculations, seemingly based on its almost ubiquitous access in the business world—and that rush of bending the software to your will. But a tool built to be accounting software doesn’t necessarily have the functionality needed to do engineering work effectively.

The ability to run math-based calculations is based on the user setting everything up and closely scrutinizing each cell and where it gets its inputs and outputs. There are built-in math functions, but an engineer will quickly need options beyond what is available. A three-minute google search for “Using Excel for Engineers” shows several companies and textbooks trying to sell their systems, functions and tools. All these systems exist because engineers are asking Excel to do things it was never meant to do.

Smart Engineering Documents Show the Calculations with the Results

Excel can solve equations, systems of equations and perform many calculations with its built-in functions. But the engineer using the tool needs to trust there are no typos in the hidden, often-massive calculations they type.

A calculation of yield and fatigue factors of safety. The results are next to the equations. (Image: Blockpad.)

A calculation of yield and fatigue factors of safety. The results are next to the equations. (Image: Blockpad.)

One of the big benefits of smart engineering documents is seeing the equations right next to the result of those equations. The user sees the variables that are used in the equation, and then sees the result of the equation. This feature also makes it easy to show the results from a design of experiments, as it will clearly display how shifting several variables affects results.

Units Intelligence Catches Errors and Makes Calculations Clearer

Unit intelligence is the next big benefit to using a smart engineering document. If you’re running a calculation to find a force, and your units come out in meters per second, then you know something is wrong in the set-up of the calculation. Using dimensional analysis to solve this issue and convert back and forth between units is an important skill that engineers often use manually as a way to error check their spreadsheets. Smart engineering documents, however, can easily convert between units and automate the dimensional analysis process.

Engineering Work Should be Presented Plainly

Smart engineering documents also make it easier to present information in a way optimized for a reader to follow along. The tool will determine all the dependencies that exist in the document and solve equations accordingly—regardless of where they appear in the document. This means they can appear in an order that makes it easier to explain as opposed to one where it’s easier for the software to compute. Excel works similarly here, but smart engineering documents take it a step further as they wrap these computations within a document reminiscent of a word file.

Sketches and Images Bring Calculations to Life

A smart engineering document can embed CAD-like drawings and other visuals into the file alongside the text. These added diagrams can even update as users change up variables and values within the document. The word-file format and diagrams make it easier for the reader to follow along with the calculations because it will look and feel like their engineering textbooks of yesteryear.

A stress transformation calculation. Diagrams update as the variables change. (Image: Blockpad.)

A stress transformation calculation. Diagrams update as the variables change. (Image: Blockpad.)

Calculation Presentations can be Tailored to the Reader

The customization abilities of a smart engineering document also let you decide what information is visible in a report and what is left out of the presentation—but remains under the hood. This means that a smart engineering document gives you the power to tailor the reports to the audience, while keeping all the information for documentation and engineering change level purposes. Your audience might only need to know a value like the net return on investment for a project. Others might need to see the labor rates and material costs involved with a project. With a smart engineering document, it is possible to produce these customized reports for different audiences without losing any information and while protecting IP.

What Do Engineers Really Need?

The ideal smart engineering document will be able to run complex calculations based on engineering formulas with the accompanying units. Even better, it will present those calculations in an orderly manner that helps others, and your future self, understand the thought process and results. This should be the minimum requirement for an engineering document, but it is incredibly difficult to find tools that work within all these constraints.

Running a study with multiple variables and multiple product options can be a complicated endeavor, and trusting the complexity to a spreadsheet feels almost irresponsible. The word processing aspects of a smart engineering document mean that we can set and clearly define all the conditions for a specific analysis.

To learn more about how smart engineering documents work, check out  Blockpad for beginners.