Numerical simulation methods and engineering processes, such as the finite element method and parametric and non-parametric optimization, are now an integral part of the development of electromechanical products. Although Ray William Clough's first mention of the term finite element in the 1950s was aimed at mechanical applications, the method was quickly expanded to other physical areas. In addition to the analysis of thermal and fluid mechanical effects, it is also used for the simulation of electromagnetic fields and here in particular for the development of electric motors.

In many classic mechanical applications, for example in the automotive and aviation industries, electrical machines have become indispensable as system components. Since electric motors drive mechanical systems, there is inevitably a multiphysical or multidisciplinary task that requires corresponding simulation approaches. The inclusion of electric motors in the development of electromechanical products thus becomes an essential part of overall physical considerations that have to be taken into account in system simulations of electromechanical products. Even the component-based simulation of the electric motors themselves is a multiphysical application, since friction losses, eddy current losses or vibrations directly influence the performance of electric motors.

The requirements for the simulation of physical processes in an electric motor are similarly demanding or perhaps even more complex than with an internal combustion engine. The task is to describe interactions between electromagnetic fields, electromechanical power losses, heat developments, temperature distributions, cooling processes and vibrations due to electromagnetic excitation and mechanical stresses, to model them correctly and to calculate them with adequate multiphysical simulation approaches. The real challenge, however, is not just to carry out individual calculations, but to reduce the simulation times in such a way that serial examinations and system optimizations are possible in finite time in order to increase the robustness of the products.