Outdated Tools Are Costing You More Than You Think

Written by Autodesk

Markets are moving faster, competitors are adopting modern tools, and outdated, disconnected systems are making it harder to keep up. What once felt sufficient is now slowing progress – siloed data, manual processes, and costly prototyping cycles create barriers to staying competitive and delivering innovative products to market.

The truth is simple: if your tools aren’t keeping up, neither is your business.

Why digital transformation can’t wait

Digital transformation is no longer a buzzword; it’s the foundation of modern manufacturing. According to Autodesk’s 2025 State of Design and Make Report, nearly half of leaders report productivity gains from replacing outdated manual-heavy processes with digital-first tools, and that number keeps rising year after year.

However, many companies hesitate to take the next step towards digital transformation because of cost, implementation time, or lack of skilled talent. 

Re-evaluating longstanding workflows and investing in the unknown of new tools can feel expensive at the start because it often requires upfront investment in new technology, infrastructure, and training before the long-term efficiencies and cost savings are realized. 

In general, new systems take time to implement because they must be integrated across departments, data migrated, and workflows adapted—all of which require careful planning and change management. The process isn’t a one-size-fits-all, plug-and-play situation either. Every manufacturing business has different processes, challenges and goals that need to be addressed with care. 

And the current shortage of skilled talent makes this even more urgent. Without the right people to manage and optimize these tools, organizations struggle to fully leverage their investment, slowing adoption and limiting impact. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 finds that 63% of employers see skill gaps as a major barrier to business transformation over 2025–2030, and 85% of employers plan to prioritize upskilling their workforce. This highlights how urgently manufacturers need solutions that simplify complexity, and confirms that advanced digital and automation skills have become fundamental requirements.

Good things take time, but that doesn’t mean the path to digital transformation needs to be filled with friction at every step – there is an easier way. Autodesk Fusion brings together design, engineering, manufacturing, and built-in data management into one cloud-connected environment with automation and AI tools. Fusion reduces complexity, accelerates adoption, and helps teams of all sizes overcome these barriers to stay competitive and thrive.

Connected data: The end of disconnected workflows

Disconnected workflows are one of the biggest obstacles manufacturers face today. Fusion’s PLM solution, Fusion Manage, solves this by unifying product data management (PDM) and product lifecycle management (PLM):

• PDM: Centralizes design and engineering data, revisions, and documentation so your teams can spend less time chasing files and more time building products.

• PLM: Extends visibility across the entire product lifecycle — from concept to manufacturing to market — with data driven workflows that help teams work smarter and faster.

This connected approach means fewer silos, smoother collaboration, and the ability to scale across your organization without adding complexity.

For aerospace company SwissDrones, Fusion Manage provides a single source of truth, so engineers, technicians, and production teams can work from the latest design data. Errors are reduced, communication has improved, and product assembly has become more efficient. The team was able to maintain a complete digital twin of their aircraft, control design variants, and meet strict aviation compliance standards while keeping costs low.

Focus more on innovation with AI-powered tools  

AI isn’t just for the biggest players anymore. Nearly 92% of leaders now consider AI useful or essential, as it offers practical, high-impact applications that help teams spend more time innovating, including:

• Automating repetitive tasks so your skilled talent can focus on higher value work. Automated drawing tools in Fusion take care of repetitive detailing, including dimensions, annotations, and view creations so you spend less time on manual clicks and more time on making important design decisions. By streamlining these tasks, teams can keep projects moving without sacrificing accuracy.

• Generating informed design options that cut prototyping cycles from months to weeks. With generative design technology in Fusion, you can explore thousands of options based on real constraints without endless prototypes. Automated modeling speeds up routine edits and feature creation, allowing you to drastically reduce design cycles.

• Spotting performance gaps before they become costly problems. Flexible simulation tools in Fusion allow you to test strength, thermal behavior, and injection molding early – so performance issues don’t cost you further down the development cycle.

Companies like ISUZU have already demonstrated how AI-driven design can rapidly generate diverse design ideas based on key parameters, such as materials, manufacturing methods, and performance needs. In fact, they were able to achieve a 43% weight reduction in a gear component using the AI-powered generative design technology in Fusion.

Unlocking growth with Autodesk Fusion

Innovation through connected technology, data, and AI is no longer reserved for industry giants. Fusion democratizes access to a connected design and manufacturing ecosystem without the complexity or cost, making it easy for your team to:

• Reduce costs and errors through unified workflows

• Accelerate product development cycles

• Gain real-time insights into operations and consumer trends

• Build resilience in the face of market disruption

If you are in Malaysia, unlocking the full potential of Fusion means thinking beyond the default. Talk to one of our consultants here in Drawbridge Technologies.

Speak to Drawbridge Technologies about your Autodesk setup.