The development of complex mechanical structures such as a car body is an iterative process, alternating between design and analysis. Traditionally, these are made in different departments, making the loops between design and analysis slow and costly. This paper presents a method with accompanying software for the design engineer/draftsman to do preliminary mechanical analysis himself, which not only makes design loops shorter but also means they can be made in parallel. This speeds up the development process, while at the same time allowing exploration of more alternative solutions