Draft:Clean Sheet Design

A clean-sheet design is a term used to describe the process of beginning a new mechanical engineering design often to meet the demands of an industry market or specific customer's needs and requirements. A clean-sheet design allows for engineers to implement modern techniques and recent engineering advancements. It also allows for the use of new materials and technologies, which can lead to significant improvements in product quality and performance.

The decision to begin a new product is a very costly endeavor requiring new engineering teams, research, design processes, manufacturing processes, tooling, material and part sourcing, prototyping, testing, and industry certification. Any of these elements has the potential to create delays and setbacks to the overall development.

Use in Aviation
A clean-sheet design in the aviation industry refers to an aircraft engineering and manufacture company deciding to begin the process of creating a brand new series of aircraft instead of continuing to iterate on an existing airframes.