A new survey of 250 engineering leaders at US and European manufacturing companies revealed overwhelming support for AI adoption to accelerate design reviews and improve product standards.
Speeding Up Design Reviews with AI
According to the survey, 100% of respondents expect AI to cut design review times, with reviews potentially becoming nearly three times faster (2.8x). Automating repetitive design checks could help engineering teams handle the 30,000–50,000 drawings reviewed annually.
Automating Drawing Reviews and Standards
Leaders estimate that 73% of drawing reviews could be automated with an AI checker trained on company standards. This could solve the long-standing problem that only 55% of design standards are documented and frequently used.
Bridging the Gap in Company Standards
95.6% of leaders said following design standards is critical, yet many are outdated or ignored. AI-driven tools like AutoReview can automatically apply these rules, ensuring consistency and reducing costly errors.
Overcoming Barriers to AI Adoption
While support for AI is strong, challenges remain:
- Data hygiene and documentation gaps
- Integration complexity with PLM systems
- Change management and building trust with engineers
Enterprises focus on secure integrations, while smaller firms worry about unstructured data.
AI Supporting, Not Replacing Engineers
AI isn’t here to replace engineers. Instead, it handles repetitive checks, freeing engineers to focus on critical decision-making. Leaders stress that AI should empower engineers by giving them access to organisational knowledge in real time.
Despite challenges, 96% of engineering leaders plan to adopt AI for 2D drawing reviews within the next two years, with half moving forward in the next six months. Early adopters like Techtronic Industries and TPI Composites are already using CoLab’s AutoReview to eliminate errors and speed up product development.
