Barb Schmitz

Video: Data Management Best Practices to Avoid Rework on Shop Floor

February 23, 2015 By Barb Schmitz Leave a Comment

Manufacturers are always looking out for ways to work more efficiently, reducing the amount of scrap and rework required to produce products. The reality is that the best way to accomplish these goals starts upstream in the product development process.

Caleb Funk, Manufacturing Solutions Team Manager from IMAGINiT Technologies, shares leading data management practices used by successful manufacturers in this video. Downstream, these practices help to avoid costly scrap and rework on the shop floor.

Successful manufacturers establish and define good data management practices by:
* Establishing rules for creating, routing and revising design documents.
* Developing and adhering religiously to styles and generating their own corporate libraries to ensure consistency across drawings

These things alone will cut down misunderstandings that lead to time delays and costly rework and scrap. In order to catalogue and protect intellectual property, however, manufacturers need to invest in a data management system that sits on top of their 3D design software and organizes parts and assemblies so that existing information can easily be reused and the latest version easily identified.

In addition, manufacturers should look beyond software for efficiencies and not assume that software alone can solve all problems. They must examine the bottlenecks and create workflows that eliminate them. Take advantage of process automation to speed things up and improve accuracy.

Errors can be reduced by ensuring upstream and downstream systems are integrated with engineering software. Sales systems should feed engineering with final order details, informing purchasing at the same time. Similarly engineering should be integrated directly with the CAM systems on the shop floor. When engineering releases the final design, everyone works with the same information and there will be no nasty surprises coming off the line.

A central location for all design data enables the tracking of versions and revisions and ensures that everyone is working off of the latest data sets. Once standardized, manufacturers can create the rules for creating, routing and revising documents. These rules will help keep teams and projects on track.

Barb Schmitz

Introducing Kenesto Drive for File Management and Collaboration

February 16, 2015 By Barb Schmitz Leave a Comment

One of the many announcements made at the recent SolidWorks World event was the upcoming release of Kenesto Drive, a cloud-based solution that provides users with automatic file versioning, automated backup and multi-CAD support.

Kenesto Corp, a leading cloud provider of engineering data management and lifecycle collaboration, created Kenesto Drive to help mainstream engineering customers better manage and share their files, in an infrastructure-free and simple way that’s exactly like using their local network drives, but with added benefits of automatic versioning, file locking/vaulting and more.

Kenesto Drive is Kenesto’s latest innovation for mainstream engineering companies designed to serve as an excellent alternative to the commonly used network drive. Kenesto Drive’s cloud-based solution enables small- and medium- sized companies to more simply, yet much more effectively store, share, lock-for-edit, and automatically version all their project files directly from users’ desktops, desktop applications and desktop file explorers. This includes support for engineering and design data, including 2D & 3D computer aided design files, images, presentations, specifications, and other related documents.

Kenesto Drive enables companies to more simply, yet much more effectively store, share, lock-for-edit, and automatically version all their project files directly from users’ desktops, desktop applications and desktop file explorers.

Using the Kenesto Drive, mainstream engineering companies have for the first time an infrastructure-free alternative to the use of in-house shared network drives. Kenesto Drive looks, feels, and works in exactly the same way as an in-house network drive, with the added benefits of:
* Automatic file versioning
* Extremely simple and effective file locking (vaulting)
* Automated back-up
* Personal file ownership with sharing
* Multi-CAD assembly support
* Intelligent off-line file access
* Document discussions and collaboration
* Project file organization

Kenesto Drive addresses one of the longest-standing issues for mainstream engineering companies: their ability to create, share, manage and protect their files without having to switch to other environments or invest in expensive and overbearing PDM/PLM tools. Kenesto Drive simply enhances their existing desktop environment and workflows.

“We’ve tried a variety of basic alternatives for file management and sharing, hoping to find something less risky and easier to use. Some of these alternatives have included Dropbox, Box, OneDrive and others. However, with each one we’ve given up in frustration.” said David Temple, director of Marketing and Communications at Nextremity Solutions, Inc. “None are ideal from accessibility, version management, project organization and collaboration standpoints; and none help to further reduce risk of files being overwritten in a collaborative engineering environment. Not to mention, none of them support or understand native engineering and CAD files well enough to be viable options for engineering. Kenesto Drive, on the other hand, is the perfect solution to replace the use of a network drive.”

Kenesto Drive will be available in mid-March for subscribers to the Kenesto service. You can find additional information on Kenesto Drive as well as the company’s other products here.

Barb Schmitz

GrabCAD Workbench Now Free For All Users

February 12, 2015 By Barb Schmitz Leave a Comment

GrabCAD announced yesterday that starting immediately GrabCAD Workbench will be free for all users. This announcement means that engineering teams of all sizes will be able to share and manage CAD files effortlessly, accelerating the product development process.

GrabCAD Workbench makes it easier for design teams to re-use existing parts or assemblies, saving money and time to market.

What is Workbench?

For those of you that aren’t familiar with the product, GrabCAD Workbench is a CAD collaboration and workflow tool that can sync and track file versions; update the team when new versions are created; and can restore files or entire assemblies if something goes wrong.

Workbench also makes it easier to leverage past work in new projects. Users can search custom properties to find and re-use parts or assemblies from past projects; set up a common parts library so users can use a single component in multiple designs without having to re-create it; and upload and download files and resolve conflicts using various CAD system add-ins.

The product was designed from the ground up to help distributed teams work together more easily and share files more securely with external collaborators. Conversations are maintained with files to reduce the need for emails. Workbench also enables users to share specific file versions and revisions externally with their manufacturers, suppliers, and other design participants with a single click.

The software also offers an easy-to-use bill of materials (BOM) export capability that enables any Workbench user to generate a BOM with just a few clicks.

GrabCAD Workbench is a central part of GrabCAD’s mission to help engineers unlock creative possibilities by connecting people, content and technology. Since it’s introduction in 2013, Workbench has seen rapid adoption amongst engineers facing collaboration obstacles, such as working in multiCAD environments, reconciling multiple versions of designs, and communicating with distributed teams.

“Our goal with this change is to reach more people. Returning to the free model of Workbench will increase the speed of adoption and support uninhibited product design collaboration,” says Hardi Meybaum, CEO of GrabCAD. “We are excited to supply every engineer with a free solution that enables rapid iteration on design concepts, mobile access to designs, and generally increases the speed and quality of the design process.”

GrabCAD will continue to invest in Workbench and develop it as the tool of choice for CAD collaboration. Users can look forward to new features over the coming months. Learn more about GrabCAD Workbench here.

Barb Schmitz

Crowdsourced Rankings of Best Product Design Software Released

February 10, 2015 By Barb Schmitz Leave a Comment

The first Grid report for product and machine design software was published today by G2 Crowd, a business software review site that uses crowdsourcing to rank products. The Winter 2015 report ranks seven products to guide users in their purchase decisions.

This report is based on more than 170 reviews written by business and engineering professionals. The Grid report was created using G2 Growd’s software review platform, which factors in customer satisfaction reported by users and vendor market presence determined from social and public data to rank products.

Product and machine design software is a subcategory of computer-aided design (CAD) software, targeted specifically toward designers and engineers across a number of disciplines, including manufacturing, product design, automotive, and aerospace. These tools allow users to generate precision 3D models of parts, components, and assemblies to aid in engineering, manufacturing, and design processes.

To qualify as a Leader, a product must receive a high customer satisfaction score and have substantial market presence. SOLIDWORKS, Inventor, AutoCAD Mechanical and Solid Edge were named Leaders in the report. SOLIDWORKS earned the highest overall customer satisfaction score.

Across all product and machine design platforms, reviewers reported the product they use meets their requirements at an average rate of 82%, and on average reviewers said they were 80% likely to recommend the product they use.

First Grid report on product design software ranks seven CAD products based on crowdsourced results.

What the users (crowd) say

Some highlights from the product and machine design software reviews on G2 Crowd:

“[SOLIDWORKS] is extremely easy to use. [It’s very] intuitive, efficient, and [powerful] software. I have used it to design complex surface parts, basic machined parts, complex sheet metal, buildings, and [more].”
– Aaron Jackson, Design Engineer at Spray Equipment & Service Center

“[Inventor] makes it very easy to build parts and pieces once, manipulate them through parameters and instantly have a series of parts that range in size that can be saved and cataloged for later use.”
– Valerie Gindlesberger, Home Plan Designer at Summit Custom Homes

“The best part about Solid Edge is the strong capabilities and intelligence that is part of the synchronous technology. It allows you to make a model without having to worry about order of operations, yet it still uses features that make for easy editing. This has been a game changer for me when roughing out a design; even while in the context of an assembly. Less time is spent thinking how to make the change to the model, which frees my mind to think about how to design the part.”
– Brian Stewart, Design Engineer at Apex Tool Works, Inc.

“I like being able to draw any object without having to close a loop of line segments. In many similar programs, the lines are only used as borders of a area, and so if the area is not complete, the programs has problems. With AutoCAD [Mechanical], a line is simply a line. I also like being able to customize the plot settings and appearance of every characteristic using layers and line weights. This allows for quick but uniform and professional final prints.”
– Troy Foster, Mechanical Engineering Intern at FES Group

Of the nearly 20 software vendors listed in G2 Crowd’s Product and Machine Design category, the seven ranked products each received 10 or more reviews to qualify for inclusion on the Grid.

Satisfaction rankings are generated from the user reviews, and market presence is calculated from vendor size, market share, and social impact. Based on a combination of these scores, each software solution is categorized as a Leader, High Performer, Contender, or Niche.

Premium research access can be purchased on the site for $599. These offer the original data for filtering and weighting, as well as individual profiles of each platform with the most helpful positive and negative product and machine design software reviews, detailed company information, user satisfaction ratings, feature scores and customer metrics. Future refreshes of the Grid will provide updated rankings based on the latest reviews and social data.

Get more info on the company and its research here.

Barb Schmitz

Q&A: Jon Hirschtick on the Future of CAD: Part II

February 9, 2015 By Barb Schmitz Leave a Comment

We continue our discussion with Jon Hirschtick, founder of SolidWorks and now Chairman and founder of Onshape, a startup pioneering the introduction of true cloud-based CAD. Though the product has not yet been introduced, we had the unique opportunity to talk to Jon about the future of the cloud, web and mobile and how those will all play into the future of CAD. We also got a few hints along the way about what benefits Onshape might offer to users.

Q: Why is the cloud becoming so important?

A: Cloud computing is going to make all desktops look low end. Traditional desktop systems get faster based on the clock speed of the CPU or perhaps the number of cores. Back when you had faster chips, we had to upgrade our computers to increase performance, but the clock speed of CPUs has reached a limit; they are not getting faster. There is 0% growth in clock speed. If you go and buy another computer in three years, the clock speed of the new one will be no faster than the one you currently have. I’ve been programming computers for 40 years and this is the first time that’s happened. So the prognosis for hardware-based improvements to the user experience is very poor.

Q: So performance will become contingent upon your Internet connection, not your computer?

A: When you look at Internet-connected computing, performance is a function of your Internet bandwidth, the ability to paralyze over many computers and the cost of accessibility. Network bandwidth in the U.S. has increased 50% over the last year, and do you know what we had to do to take advantage of that? Nothing. It’s the first IT upgrade that we have to do nothing to take advantage of.

So what’s happening is that the link between your computer and the Internet went up 50% last year, and it’s going to go up another 50% next year and it’s free and you don’t have to do anything. So a system that is cloud-based and tied to Internet bandwidth is getting better all of the time. Once we’re connected to the cloud, instead of asking can we use six cores or eight cores, the question will be can we use 6,000 cores or 8,000 cores? Someday I think we’ll be using 100,000 cores in the cloud. Not today, but in the future.

Cloud computing with high-network bandwidth is coming, and if we’re going to speed CAD up, we can’t bet on recoding software for eight-core machines with the same CPU speed five years from now. We can bet on having an uber-fast Internet connection to 100,000 cheap cores in the cloud. I think that’s all going to happen.

Q: How do you address the lingering security concerns around CAD in the cloud?

A: We all know that desktop computers are easily compromised by viruses, by bad email attachments, bots, etc. so most desktop computers are very insecure. If you look at cloud-based systems, the track record for security is excellent so if you asked which is the most secure system–desktop or cloud–I would argue that in most cases, when we introduce Onshape to the market, it’s going to be more secure than any desktop CAD system.

That’s the reality, but now let’s talk about the perception. The perception I find with users they typically fall into three groups: those that say, I can’t trust my data in the cloud; I’m keeping it on my local server. Then I ask them, “who has the password to the local server,” and they say that they keep the password on a post-it note in their cubicles. Or I ask, “do you take your laptop home?” And, they say yes. “Do your kids use it?” And, they say, “oh yeah, they play World of Warcraft on it.”

Then there are others, younger people and many major businesses, that view it as safer. If Sony had had its data on Google servers, it’s likely they would not have been compromised. If you don’t want to put your data on the cloud, don’t do it. We’re not for everyone, but there’s a growing community of people who realize it’s much safer and much easier and more secure, and that group is growing every day. The reality is if you’re using email, you’re already putting all your data in the cloud.

OnShape cloud-based CAD software. — Onshape cloud-based CAD software.

Q: IP is an extremely valuable asset to companies. How do you address specific concerns around IP protection and the cloud?

A: Every CAD system out there—except for Onshape—including all the so-called cloud-based solutions out there puts a copy of the CAD data on the local computer, so if you have 10 people working on a design, you have 10 copies of the CAD data, which is inherently insecure. With a properly designed cloud system, you only have one copy; it doesn’t get copied around.

Q: How do cloud-based CAD solutions address data management headaches, such as CAD file version control?

A: With CAD, we sort of assume that with any system, we have to copy files and send them over to the local server, which hogs a lot of bandwidth and presents a lot of security issues. It’s just a bad idea. Checkout is a bad idea; you can’t check out the right amount. You either check out too often and other people can’t work, or you don’t check out enough and then you override other people’s changes.

In my past life, we tried to build PDM systems to fix these problems. We fought the good fight. We tried putting them in the cloud, but the fact is that once you build the CAD system to write files, it’s almost impossible to make any kind of PDM that will work. You can try to use the cloud, but once you’re managing copies of files, we think that’s a bad idea and there’s a better way to do it. The better way is to create an architecture that builds in the version control and collaboration without copying files and without the need for a PDM system. That’s the approach we have taken.

Q: Though the product is not yet out, what can you tell us about Onshape?

A: We’re in early pre-production testing. We’re going to be in testing for a while, but we have users that have done some really cool things with the product; are actually designing, building and shipping real products and that’s super exciting for us. I continually tell our employees “we’re not in the business of making CAD software, we’re in the business of helping users build great products.” And, that reflects in everything we do.

Sound interesting? I’ll be updating you all as I learn more about the Onshape product. To learn more, check out the Onshape site.

Barb Schmitz

Q&A: Jon Hirschtick on the Future of CAD

February 5, 2015 By Barb Schmitz Leave a Comment

Jon Hirschtick is a very interesting guy. He’s also a very smart guy who’s been around the CAD world for a very long time. The MIT graduate was one of the founders of SolidWorks, is now in the process of starting up a new venture called Onshape as founder and Chairman, and from what I hear is also one hell of a Blackjack player.

I had the privilege of picking Jon’s sizable brain on the state of CAD, where it might be headed in the future as well as a few hints as to what his new startup might be rolling out in the near future.

I’ll admit my evil ulterior motive was to get some inside scoop on Onshape’s new product. While he did share his vision of what role the cloud, mobile and web will play in the future of CAD, he’s not ready yet to talk specifically about the new product.

So while I didn’t necessary accomplish my mission of getting the inside scoop on Onshape, you can easily read between the lines and see that OnShape is going to shake up the status quo in the CAD industry. I won’t conjecture too much about the new product, but I assure you that when I know more about it, so will you all.

Now we’ll dive into Jon’s thoughts on how the future of computing is helping to “shape” (pun not intended) the future of CAD.

Q: What pain points were you hearing from customers that started you thinking that CAD needed to change?

A: The problems I heard continually from customers all centered around administering and accessing the CAD system and collaborating with other people. Instead of talking about the cool shapes they could now model, they were talking to me about the difficulties of installation, managing licenses with network license servers and codes, purchasing, service packs and versions of the software.

I would also hear a lot of complaints about collaboration; the “where’s the latest version?” problem. Every time someone opens a model, if they are working with other people, they have to think about whether they are opening the latest version. “Am I going to be overwriting other peoples’ changes or are other people going to be overwriting my changes?” It’s a real headache managing all of that. CAD isn’t just one file, but a whole set of files.

Accessibility and administration of CAD and collaboration; sharing, working together as a team. These are all go hand in hand because all of these factors are a tax on the team. Especially with today’s distributed design teams. Everyone on the team needs their own copy of the CAD system and that copy of that big, brittle system needs to be the identical for people to share data well.

Q: Why do you think design teams are becoming so distributed?

A: Companies have had to become more efficient. Efficiency lets people do more with smaller teams. Permanent, full-time staff can cost more, especially in the age of specialization. Specialized functions, such as industrial design, have commonly been outsourced. It’s expensive, specialized and you don’t need it all the time, so you outsource it. That’s now happening a lot with other disciplines.

Paving the road for this trend is communication tools that we didn’t have before. Improvements in communication and/or collaboration have made it much easier to work with people outside of the company. Smaller companies today are developing pretty impressive products because of all of these things.

Q: What unique challenges do these small companies and startups face when it comes to CAD?

A: When I meet with some of the people who run these start-up incubators, they will tell me CAD software is the number-one expense item for these smaller companies. They can come in here–to the incubators–and prototype their product for $5,000-$6,000, and buy a computer for $1,000-$2,000, but the CAD software is $5,000 per seat. If they have three people on their team and they need three seats of CAD, that’s $15,000. It’s the biggest line item in their cost structure and that not unusual. Also, these days a lot of small groups are distributed so they are having these same problems.

Q: What is your opinion of the cloud-based CAD solutions currently on the market?

A: What I’ve seen in the market is what I would call “partial steps” where people are taking a desktop-installed piece of software and storing files in the cloud, which is better perhaps than not storing in the cloud, or having a cloud-based viewer. Cloud-based download of software has been adopted by most vendors and that’s all good things to do.

With true cloud solutions, there is no downloading. As soon as you download and install something, you’ve got a lot of problems. As soon as you write a file to a local disk, you have other problems that are not being solved.

I have to laugh when I see “cloud-based such and such” and then it says “Go to our Download Center.” That’s not a true cloud-based tool.

Q: How will OnShape’s approach to the cloud be different?

A: We’re doing something much more comprehensive when you think of cloud, web and mobile computing, and how they will all work with CAD. We really started with a ground-up approach, with a clean sheet. We’re not doing installed software. We’re starting with a much fuller embrace of with what cloud, web and mobile can mean to CAD and teams that are using CAD. We have the advantage of a much more mature cloud. It’s about having the vision that said ‘let’s bet fully on cloud, web and mobile.’ It’s a very different vision.

Q: How does this “vision” differ from current CAD solutions?

A: We just sort of assume that CAD systems should write to files on a disk because that’s what they have always done. We don’t do that as a fundamental paradigm. We can take this new approach because we’re free of legacy constraints and have a very clear vision of what cloud, web and mobile can provide.

Q: What are the benefits of these true cloud-based solutions to users?

A: You’re going to see a different set of benefits that we can provide with a true pure Cloud solution. There’s no file with pure cloud solutions. There are lots of true cloud-based business tools that I use daily, like Google Docs. All of them have several things in common:
* No install.
* No software to download
* Easy to use
* Can be used on any computer

Q: What about cloud-based CAD? What will be the specific benefits to users?

A: The bottom line is it doesn’t matter to users where the computing is done, what matters is what are the benefits. Can people access the CAD system easily? Can people share CAD data more easily? We think we have a much easier approach to sharing than you’ll see with file-based, installed software products that try to share files in the cloud. That’s one way to do it but we think we have a better way. Users only care about is if I need a CAD system, how hard will it be to get it and administer it? How easily can I work with other people? And, what CAD functions are available—both capabilities and user experiences—and how do they suit my needs?

Another big advantage is that you can run it on any device and it has decent performance. That’s one test of a true cloud system is can you pick it up and run it on any old computer and have decent performance. CAD is like the land that time forgot. Other than CAD, if you talk to most recent university graduates about how they use computers, and they tend to be running on Mac books or tablets or their iPhones, and they expect to use software on any of these devices. They don’t even think about the kind of old issues, like how big a computer do I need to buy, how much memory do I need? They just want a fast platform.

Stay tuned for Part II of our Q&A with Jon Hirschtick, which will cover security issues with the cloud as well as the headaches around data management and how they might be solved with a cloud-based CAD solution.

Barb Schmitz

PTC Introduces PTC PLM Cloud for SMB Market

January 29, 2015 By Barb Schmitz Leave a Comment

One of the last holdouts in cloud deployment, PTC, announced yesterday that it’s porting its Windchill PLM software to the cloud. The goal it appears is to address the needs of the small- to mid-sized (SMB) business market, a demographic that’s been largely left out of the PLM market. These companies often didn’t have the IT resources to support a full-scale PLM deployment and prefer the SAAS business model that enables them flexible, subscription-based pricing.

The PTC PLM Cloud is based on PTC Windchill, a proven technology with over 1.5 million seats deployed and a platform that was designed from the beginning as a web-based approach to PLM. The result is a true PLM cloud solution, specifically designed to enable team collaboration and product data sharing. This accelerates product development and helps design teams that are stretched across different locations, working with varying CAD applications or coordinating with partners and suppliers.

The PTC cloud offering eliminates the typical, but risky, SMB practice of shared folders and file naming conventions, which can hamper product development. With more effective and reliable data sharing in the cloud, customers are able to improve product development across teams in different locations, teams working with varying CAD applications, and with external teams such as partners and suppliers who are a growing part of the product development process.

PTC introduces a SAAS PLM solution for small and mid-sized businesses.

“The value of PTC PLM Cloud is clear,” said Peter Bilello, President, CIMdata. “PTC’s offering has been designed to allow smaller companies, which have previously been unable to rapidly implement PLM capabilities, to quickly deploy and adopt key data management, visualization and reuse functionality. Those are all vital capabilities for any company in the business of developing products.”

Specific benefits of PTC PLM Cloud are:
Security. PTC’s cloud environment is compliant with ISO 27001:2013 which outlines standard protocols for information security management.
Availability. PTC PLM Cloud is based on PTC’s existing hosted PLM environment which achieves 99.5% availability.
Speed. PTC PLM Cloud performance has been optimized for distributed teams.
Time-to-Value. PTC PLM Cloud enables rapid PLM adoption and accelerated product development processes, enabling improved on-time delivery.
Total Cost of Ownership. PTC PLM Cloud allows for reduced technology acquisition and system administration costs.

“Our main objective when deciding for PTC Windchill on the Cloud was to have central repository of up-to-date product information and efficient delivery of that data to customers and technical support staff, but at the same time to minimize the burden on IT while maintaining a predictable monthly cost,” said Vinny Guercio, VP Engineering, RAB Lighting. “With PTC, we have met our goals.”

Availability

PTC PLM Cloud will be available March 2015 in the following packages:
Standard–a shared, pre-configured PTC Windchill instance that enables immediate go-live
Premium–a dedicated PTC Windchill instance that supports customer-specific system configuration
Enterprise–a dedicated PTC Windchill instance that supports customer-specific system configuration and integrations to corporate systems

You can find more information on the PTC PLM Cloud Resource page. You can also watch a PTC PLM Cloud demo video that shows a synopsis of how the solution will work here.

Barb Schmitz

Sharing CAD Files Across Systems Remains a Pain Point

January 26, 2015 By Barb Schmitz Leave a Comment

Many of you remember the early years of CAD when a simple design change could be a day destroyer; forcing you to have to recreate the model or go back and update multiple views of a drawing. Parametric or feature-based CAD systems changed all of that. With these powerfully automated 3D CAD systems, the task of making changes was greatly simplified by the fact that a design change could be propagated throughout the design or assembly, updating all associated parts to reflect that change.

There is little doubt that today’s 3D CAD systems have come a long way since their humble beginnings. In fact, most are quite capable at the tasks at hand and can help engineers and designers to get their jobs done in a fairly efficient manner. Despite all this progress, there are still things that make engineers repeatedly bang their heads on their desks in frustration. There are still shortcomings that create bottlenecks in product development; things that can bring progress to a screeching halt.

The reality is that users have a somewhat of a love-hate relationship with their CAD software. These fairly sophisticated tools are what enables them to accomplish their jobs on a daily basis; to evolve and vet ideas, create 3D models, virtually test those models and ultimately build products. Unfortunately there are still inherent weaknesses in all CAD systems that continue to torture users.

The writers at SolidSmack surveyed their readers back in the fall to get a better understand of the types of things that still frustrate users when it comes down to their CAD systems. The resulting blog, The Most Annoying Thing in CAD: Survey is definitely one worth reading and one that will resonate with many engineers so I felt it was worth sharing some of the key takeaways.

First off a disclaimer: SolidSmack is a SolidWorks training resource so most of the responses to their survey (2/3) were SolidWorks users, with a sprinkling of other CAD systems (Rhino, NX, Solid Edge, AutoCAD, CATIA, etc.). While the majority of respondents were SolidWorks users, most of these complaints are not specific to that system and most likely would apply to other systems as well. With that said, let’s get to Adam OHern’s synopsis of the results of the survey.

The Top 5 Most Annoying Things in CAD

1. Getting 3D data from one CAD app to another

Right out of the gate, this one came as a bit of a shock. Sure, file transfer is irritating, but the most annoying thing in CAD? Surprisingly, this one comes out as the clear winner for causing users to want to “gouge out [their] eyeballs in a raging fury.” This is clearly a serious pain point for CAD users and should be pretty obvious to anyone who’s ever done real-world design in a multi-CAD environment. It sucks.

Are CAD companies actively trying to make it easier to translate files between CAD systems? They say “yes,” but I’m not so sure. Most of the big PLM players have some form of bill-of-rights like “Codex” of openness, swearing their never-ending commitment to interoperability. Some even give the topic plenty of public lip service, with STEP getting lots of love in recent years, and most systems–at least on paper–reading the native file formats of their peers.

STEP support is nice in theory, but it’s extremely limited in its usefulness, and surprisingly error-prone. Sure, it gets (most of) the raw geometry from A to B, but we lose all design intent, associativity, assembly relationships, and boat loads of metadata in the process. It also has a tendency to fail, producing strange geometry errors, inverted surface trims, and tolerance problems–so much so that I know a surprising number of people who prefer old IGES files simply because they seem to be more reliably accurate in many cases. Native format importers have the same problems, but more so in my experience. I find that the promise of interoperability almost always comes with more fine print than actual content.

CAD interoperability remains a significant pain point for CAD users. Cartoon courtesy of Roger Penwell.

2. Creating physical simulations of working parts and assemblies

Again, a dark horse. And again, I suppose it should be obvious to anyone who does a lot of simulation. Are CAD companies actively trying to make simulation easier? Well, this isn’t my area, but from an outsider’s perspective I’d say yes and no.

Simulation is obviously a big area for R&D in the MCAD space, but I’ve yet to see anyone release–-or even talk about releasing–-a product aimed at making the process easier for non-specialist users. The prevailing wisdom seems to be that simulation is complex by nature, and that making the tools easier to use will yield less benefit than focusing on features and performance for power users.

3. Sharing files with collaborators

Wow, another data transfer topic in the top three. Noticing a trend? Shoving data around between collaborators is a royal pain in the posterior. Four of the survey participants claim to “keep a cheese grater at my desk specifically to mutilate my own elbows whenever file sharing comes up.” It’s a jungle out there, folks.

Are CAD companies actively trying to make sharing between collaborators easier? This one’s a clear-cut “absolutely”: cloud this, social that, collaboration, etc. But if everybody’s working in their various clouds with PTC mobile apps, 3DExperience, PLM360, GrabCAD, and on and on, how does that make sharing files easier? Sorry, but that sounds like a nightmare.

So while “sharing files with collaborators” is probably the single most ballyhooed feature of basically every Cloudy new release, I’m not sure that these tools actually address the root problem. To be frank, it’s always been easy to share files with collaborators who use the same tools and techniques as you do. That’s really not a big deal. Where things get difficult is sharing in a heterogeneous design environment, and that’s something that the Cloud has not yet addressed.

4. Making late-stage changes.

Ahhhh, and now we come to something expected. Consensus agrees, in other words, that this is a big problem, even if it’s not the kind that makes me “feel like inserting my finger-nublings into my ribcage and ripping the beating heart from the depths of my bosom.”

Given that this one’s been a big topic of debate in the CAD world for many years now, it’s not surprising that the much-discussed failure of the “promise of parametric” is a sticking point for users. The fact is that while many kinds of design changes can be anticipated and built into a model, many simply cannot. Furthermore, I would argue that the “promise of direct modeling” is equally unfulfilled. No matter how many fancy direct modeling tools you have in your arsenal, making changes to CAD models is massively annoying, and often involves rebuilding from scratch.

So are CAD companies actively trying to make it easier to make big, sweeping design changes on the fly? Well, given how much energy has been put into direct modeling features–particularly on the Siemens end of things–it should be pretty obvious that CAD companies at least recognize the issue and want to find solutions that alleviate the suffering. That said, it’s clear that the problem has yet to be solved.

What’s more, I don’t have much faith that it can be solved: rework will always be annoying by nature, at least so long as we work in the current operator-driven CAD paradigm. It won’t be long before the concept of literally defining actual geometry in a CAD environment seems as cumbersome as carving your designs in stone, however. Instead, we will define input and output parameters, performance metrics, materials, and manufacturing methods, and the geometry itself will be algorithmically generated to solve for those inputs. Then and only then will the annoyance of rework become a thing of the past.

5. Sharing files with clients

Arguably this survey shows that three of the top five most annoying things in CAD have to do with sharing data. Are CAD companies trying to solve this problem? Yes, absolutely. And this is an area where I genuinely believe that cloud services will actually make significant progress. Since client deliverables require much less interoperability than does active collaboration, the tools being proposed by… well… everybody, should work quite well.

“But I can’t work in the cloud. XYZ Manufacturer doesn’t allow it for security reasons.” That’s true for now, but that will change. And in the meantime, sharing data will continue to be difficult, and XYZ Manufacturer will become increasingly isolated until it changes its ways.

We’ll be waiting to see if SolidSmack does a follow-up to this survey. In the meantime, are there any other shortcomings of CAD that drive you batty? We’d love to hear your comments; share below.

Barb Schmitz

OPEN Mind Releases hyperMILL 2014.2 CAM Software

January 22, 2015 By Barb Schmitz Leave a Comment

OPEN MIND has released the newest version of its CAD/CAM software, hyperMILL 2014.2, which includes several new functions in addition to enhancements to existing functions. The company’s hyperMILL software was touted in market research firm CIMdata’s NC Market Analysis Report 2014 as one of the best CAM systems on the market. In addition to a key extension for solid modelling in hyperCAD-S, the CAD part of the system, hyperMILL 2014.2 features a range of improvements for CAD programmers and machining.

hyperMILL 2014.2 offers a key extension for solid modelling in hyperCAD-S, the CAD part of the system.

Let’s look at what’s new in this release.

3D shape Z-level finishing

When it comes to Z-level finishing, CAD systems usually simply follow the X and Y coordinates. If the bottom surface is curved, the milling result is not optimal, making it necessary to perform a number of rework machining steps. A new function for 3D shape Z-level finishing makes it possible to reference curved bottom surfaces, after which the milling paths are aligned. As a result, the milling tool nestles optimally along the boundary edge between the bottom and the wall. All intermediate levels are offsets of the bottom plane.

The OPEN MIND soft bounding concept is also integrated into this new function, which ensures that the boundaries to adjacent surfaces are calculated more precisely and that sharp outer edges are machined more smoothly. User benefits include an optimised finish and reduced programming and machining times.

3D rest material machining

The open, deep, steep and flat areas of cavities can be machined in one job with collision avoidance. The rest material areas that are recognized during the collision avoidance are transferred automatically to the subsequent job. To this end, optimal tool selection and positioning once again take place. For example, a longer tool or modified position. This process is repeated until the required contour is achieved. Work here has been greatly simplified for CAM programmers.

hyperMAXX improvements

hyperMAXX, the cutting (HPC) module for hyperMILL, was also improved in some areas. This includes plunging the milling tool into the material at pre-drilled holes, which saves ‘ramping-in’ of the milling tool at the start of machining. The greatest advantage of this method is that it protects tools, particularly in materials that are difficult to cut. The machining process is also collision-checked. Furthermore, it is now possible to select a zigzag mode in hyperMAXX. This mode is particularly suited to machining large workpieces, as it prevents time-consuming repositioning movements, thereby significantly shortening machining times.

2D plunge milling

With 2D plunge milling, another new feature, material is removed solely by plunging a milling tool. The new cycle is suitable for both roughing and finishing. The advantage here once again lies in the fast machining and particular suitability for materials that are difficult to cut.

For more information about hyperMILL 2014.2, check out there company’s web site here.

CES Round-up: 5 New Technologies for Engineers to Watch

January 20, 2015 By Barb Schmitz Leave a Comment

The annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is an awful lot like a large, overlit and overcrowded disco chock-full of wiz-bang technology and gaga gadgetry, much of which will never really materialize into anything of significance. This year will most likely prove much of the same as year’s prior where promising new technologies are introduced, the crowds go wild, and then when many of these new technologies hit the market, they promptly flop.

CES is targeted at the world of techno geeks and early adopters. You all know the type. Right now they are wearing goofy-looking, bulky fitness wearables on their wrists, telling anybody who will listen what their step count for the day is or what their blood pressure is at that moment.

For many of us, CES is just an event to watch and ponder with a mild sense of curiosity which of the technologies making their splashy roll-outs will prove significant in the coming years and which ones will wither and die on the consumer market vine.

Despite the hype, there were a few new technologies for which engineers should keep a watchful eye. These are technologies that might one day enter into the real-world work environment, taking products to the next step of functionality. Let’s take a look at a few of the more hopeful new technologies that made their debut at CES.

Voxel8 printer. First up is a 3D printer that can embed circuits inside whatever object it is fabricating. The real innovation here is the material used to create the circuits, not the 3D printer. 3D printers have traditionally been almost entirely confined to inert objects, models or components made from a single substance or several kinds of similar material, such as multiple plastics. The new Voxel8 device, created by researchers from Harvard University, combines the plastic typically used for rapid prototyping with a new silver-based conductive ink that, unlike conventional circuit solder, can be extruded by the 3D printer.

Imagine that this could enable 3D printers one day to produce entire functional devices in a single manufacturing operation, with the circuits built in to the structure of the object, which plays quite nicely into the “smart” products and Internet of Things trends. So far, the Voxel8 printer only prints the connecting electrical pathways and the electronic components have to be added separately. Keep in mind that this is a developer rapid prototyping model, not a commercial-quality additive manufacturing tool. Despite its initial limitations, the ability to embed circuits within 3D-printed objects could make it easier to incorporate sensors or energy harvesting devices within structures.

Researchers at Harvard University developed the Voxel8 3D-printer that can be used as consumables as thermoplastic and highly conductive silver ink that can be printed on it various electronic devices.

Tracked eyewear. XOEye Technologies debuted eyewear that includes a camera and sensors that are designed for occupations, not consumers. The eyewear offers wearers numerous functions including barcode scanning and sensors that can track, for instance, how many times an employee has to bend down to pick something up, or how far someone must walk to perform certain tasks. The primary use for these glasses seems to be job training in the skilled trades. With the glasses’ video link, someone can see exactly what a person is doing so they can observe, guide and instruct someone on a particular job, no matter where they are located. Because they also include an accelerometer and gyroscope, the platform can log body movements, inviting new possibilities for managing worker safety and ergonomics.

XOEye smartglasses include two microphones and a set of earbuds, so employees at a job site can easily speak with coworkers located in a different part of the same building or 2000 miles away.

Battery breakthrough. Another significant announcement was from an Israeli company, Storedot, that debuted a battery that can supposedly be recharged in seconds. The battery uses ‘bio-organic nano crystals’ that enable ions to be moved between electrodes much faster than in conventional batteries. If Storedot can further increase the battery’s energy density, it could become the battery breakthrough needed for major advances in various applications. Charge time is seen as one of the critical limiting factors in the market acceptance of electric vehicles, so the ability to “refuel” a battery-powered car in three minutes instead of 30, makes this technology a potential game-changer. Any technology that provides greater flexibility when storing and accessing energy is likely to have an impact on the grid-level energy storage needed to usher in greater use of renewable generation.

Sprout workstation/scanner/projector. The Sprout combines the power of a desktop computer with 3D scanning and projection and adds a second display surface that is actually a touchpad. The workstation has several parts, the main one is a computer (with 1 TB of storage) running Windows 8, hidden behind its 23-in. display screen, a touchpad the size of a display screen, and an overhead 3 camera-scanner/projector. The system can combine elements in the real world with virtual objects, to create something new.

Ultrahaptics. This up-and-coming new tech, from Ultrahaptics, lets you “feel” objects and sensations several inches above your keyboard, and then manipulate them. By creating constructively interfering intersections of ultrasonic waves, the Ultrahaptics system can generate silent points of turbulence in the air that that essentially trick you into thinking your fingertips are touching objects when they’re not. What’s cool is that it doesn’t involve any extra gear on the part of the user: no gloves or special glasses–all the tech is in the hardware and the accompany software.