PDS (r) is a sophisticated computer-aided design and engineering application. PDS is a production-driven company that produces the finest design possible while also working more effectively to decrease the overall installation cost of the project. It adds value and reduces risk while protecting data value. It is a complete solution for product development, manufacturing planning, and operations management. PDS provides integrated tools for product definition, configuration, simulation, and visualization. These tools can be used independently or in combination with each other. The user interface is designed with ease of use in mind so that even non-technical people can understand how to operate it. This allows even inexperienced users to make useful contributions at early stages of project development. Product definition involves the creation of a model of some kind that represents what will be manufactured. This may be a physical prototype for testing purposes or a simple drawing/image file. Whatever form it takes, this model needs to be detailed enough to allow changes to be made if necessary but not so detailed that it becomes difficult to modify or translate into other formats such as 3D models for further manipulation or printing. After defining the product, it should be configured. Configuration defines the individual components of the product and their relationships with each other. For example, the position of holes on a part can be defined by geometry or cut lists. The type of material they are made from can be defined by category or specific reference.