Smart manufacturing software

Update for IRONCAD 2020 improves productivity and manufacturing workflows

May 26, 2020 By WTWH Editor Leave a Comment

IronCAD introduces the first update for IRONCAD 2020, the latest release from a leader in design productivity of 3D CAD programs and preferred software of machine designers and engineers globally. The IRONCAD 2020 Product Update #1 (PU1) features enhancements and capabilities that enable IronCAD users to accelerate productivity and improve product development, from conceptual design to manufactured products, and create value for their organizations.

Designed with a focus on performance, quality improvements, and design productivity, IronCAD’s research and development team delivered IRONCAD 2020 PU1 in response to enhancement requests from the IronCAD community around the world. With the many new capabilities and enhancements in PU1, users can benefit from an array of options and opportunities to improve system performance in their daily operations, streamline workflows and seek new levels of collaboration and agility to more quickly and cost-effectively deliver products to their customers.

Among the many new improvements and capabilities in IRONCAD 2020 Product Update #1 are:

–Open/Save/Import Performance: Continued improvements have been performed in this area to reduce the load/save times of extremely large assembly data sets to improve the overall performance when designing with large assembly files.

–IronCAD Drawing (ICD) View Creation/Update – Improvements have been made to improve the view creation and view update speed in the drawing environment, especially with large assembly files.

–IronCAD Drawing (ICD) View Camera Performance – New options to control functions additional performance settings have been added to aid in the overall camera interaction performance when interacting and detailing drawings.

Further improvements within Product Update #1 also include enhanced general quality improvements to the 2D Technical Drawing Area. Aligned with IronCAD’s position as a productivity leader for CAD software, PU1 also boasts improvements to the Bulk View Creation for automated drawing creation, including new search capabilities and creation from a selected set of parts/assemblies. Additional productivity improvements in PU1 improve the Sheet metal capabilities for Out/In Bend Automatic alignment to the angled stock, Quick Access commands added to right-click menus to improve speed and visibility in accessing commands as well as improvements to now create singled drawing sheets quickly from the selected elements in the scene.

IronCAD
www.ironcad.com/whatsnew
www.ironcad.com/free-online-trial

Additive manufacturing used for local PPE solution in Belgium

May 14, 2020 By Leslie Langnau Leave a Comment

Bruce Jenkins | Ora Research

“Over the last month or so, the Coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic has captured our collective consciousness across the globe and forced us to rethink every aspect of our professional and personal lives,” says Kaustubh Nande, Global Marketing Director at Hexagon’s| MSC Software. “Hexagon too has taken some concrete steps to protect our workforce and to minimize risk to the supply of our products and our services to our customers. For instance, we put in place a work from home program to use our smart manufacturing software packages and put together additional online learning options for manufacturing professionals.

“One interesting project undertaken by our team in Belgium was about using in-house knowledge and available material and tools to solve a specific issue posed by the COVID-19 outbreak. Across the globe, there have been several reports of hospital workers suffering from shortages in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), due to the unprecedented demand across the world.”

The Hexagon | e-Xstream team at Belgium “heard about a requirement for PPE, specifically face shield holders, in a nearby hospital. The team decided to chip in and do its bit by conceptualizing an additive manufacturing solution to the problem. The team had access to a 3D printer and suitable material within the office. The team first found an open CAD model that was available online and plugged it into the 3D printer and used the design to 3D print some face shield holders right at the Hexagon office.”

The company says that, “backed by a thorough understanding of additive manufacturing techniques and knowledge about the use of Digimat and e-Xstream in plastic printing, the team was able to think smart and deliver on what the doctors required. In the coming weeks we will also be increasing the production count. The finished product met the need for equipment that could protect hospital staff. The key thing is these plastic PPE liners can be disinfected easily and reused by the hospital. Depending on material available you can print in various colors for easy identification.”

MSC concludes, “This gesture by our Belgium team stands out as a great example of how the right hardware and software tools combined with the proper knowledge can bring in quick, practical solutions to solve real-life issues quickly and effectively.”

Work-from-home information

MSC adds: “Our customers, employees, and partners are at the heart of what we do. Our concerns and well wishes go out to all those directly and indirectly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. We are taking the threat very seriously by protecting our workforce and minimizing the risk to the supply of our products and services to you during this time. Across the globe, the measures being put in place to reduce the spread of COVID-19 means that many companies are asking their employees to work from home.

“Our goal is to offer the level of responsiveness and support that you have come to expect from MSC. If there is anything we can help you with, please do not hesitate to contact us. Please visit mscsoftware.com/work-from-home/assistance-programs for complete details on our current assistance programs, as well as check back for additional announcements in the coming days.”

Kaustubh Nande

Hexagon’s COVID-19 information page

Developing a zero-emission, all-electric regional commuter aircraft

November 12, 2019 By Leslie Langnau Leave a Comment

Dassault Systèmes announced that the electric air mobility pioneer, Eviation Aircraft, used the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud to develop the first prototype of its zero-emission, all-electric regional commuter aircraft – Alice – in two years.

In the race to create and commercialize new categories of sustainable air mobility systems, Eviation Aircraft accelerated the prototype’s development by deploying the “Reinvent the Sky” industry solution experience based on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. This scalable cloud solution supported the company’s holistic approach to 3D, composite design and flow simulation with improved collaboration while securing data in a single, standards-based environment.

“The electrification of aircraft isn’t a question of if, but when. As we aim to make clean regional air travel accessible for all, we needed to be able to make a product that people trust, sit in and fly, and do it quickly,” said Omer Bar-Yohay, CEO, Eviation Aircraft. “The right way to go about it was to use tools that we would want to use in the long run, and to work in the cloud to ensure fast, secure access and global collaboration. When we selected the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, we were an early-stage startup with limited resources and time. We’ve developed our commercial-stage prototype faster than we imagined, and have already signed our first customer in the U.S.”

Eviation Aircraft realized that transforming a prototype into a product that can be manufactured by the hundreds each year would require empowering its engineers with the long-term knowledge and know-how to build it to maturity for the next generation.

Once commercialized, Alice will be the world’s first all-electric regional commuter aircraft, capable of carrying nine passengers and two crew on a single charge for 650 miles at 10,000 feet.

Dassault Systèmes
www.3ds.com

CAMWorks ShopFloor streamlines the design to manufacturing process

August 19, 2019 By Leslie Langnau Leave a Comment

HCL Technologies, a global technology company, announced the release of CAMWorks ShopFloor, which provides tools for companies to meet Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 initiatives, by moving beyond 2D drawings or static digital files.

With CAMWorks ShopFloor, 3D digital models capture extensive data from the part design files and provide tools that machinists can use to produce parts with fewer miscommunications between the design and manufacturing departments.

Because CAMWorks ShopFloor is run independently, the need to have a full CAD/CAM software license on the shop floor is eliminated. CAMWorks and SOLIDWORKS CAM license customers will have the ability to publish data to CAMWorks ShopFloor.

CAMWorks ShopFloor reduces errors by eliminating the need to repeatedly transfer part data to 2D drawings or other formats. Upon completion of a CAD part file, the designer publishes a CAMWorks ShopFloor file, which is transferred to the machinist. CAMWorks ShopFloor includes a complete CAD viewer, allowing the machinist to display the native design model with GD&T dimensional information and annotations of the 3D part model. Machinists can rotate, zoom, pan and section view the model. They can also take linear, radial, angular, and area measurements. The MBD and PMI data can be viewed, searched and filtered.

Delays caused by questions and material waste caused by machining an outdated version of a part are avoided because CAMWorks ShopFloor provides a single source of part data. All the information for a part is contained in a single file and is viewed under a single interface. CAMWorks ShopFloor includes automatic file checking to detect changes in either the CAD or CAM file and alert the user, to avoid machining the wrong revision of the part and maintain associativity along the digital thread.

In addition to full toolpath simulation, CAMWorks ShopFloor also includes a step-through simulation option for each operation or the entire program. This gives the machinist the option to review each operation at the machine, without the need to walk the machine through each cutting step or dry-running the program.

A CNC Editor, with back-plotting capabilities, allows the machinist to review and make any final changes. The machinists can use CAMWorks ShopFloor to view and edit G-code, view the impact of the edits made, and then send the program to the CNC machine. Digital setup sheets and tool lists are also generated and can be sent along with the 3D part models and CNC programs.

HCL Technologies
www.hcltech.com