ProSTEP started the initiative for a CPO in 2011 and developed version 1.0 together with BMW, Daimler, Dassault Systèmes, IBM, Oracle, PTC, SAP, Siemens PLM, T-Systems and Volkswagen.

The aim was to develop a common basic understanding on the subject of openness of IT-systems in the context of PLM. The partners definied measurable criteria in the process.

The CPO is a voluntary self-commitment for companies that is intended to generate seamless PLM data processes.

You can download a copy of the CPO from the prostep.org website.

The first question that might be reasonable to ask is why is the CPO even needed? The answer to that should be self evident: The big PLM vendors have not been open, and have been obstructing competition in the PLM market for years.

Yet, what do the big PLM vendors have to say?

Quite a lot, actually. Let me start with Dasault Systemes, which issued a press release on the CPO this week. (I’ll talk about some of the other vendors in follow-up posts.) Here’s a quote from that release:

“For 30 years Dassault Systèmes’ executive team has driven PLM relentlessly towards an open, unified collaborative experience for our customers,” said Dominique Florack, Senior Executive Vice President, Products, Research and Development, Dassault Systèmes. “Openness is critical to collaboration and, thus, innovation. Dassault Systèmes is very much in favor of the CPO and actively supports this effort.”

I was drinking a Coke when I read that, and almost spit it out all over my keyboard.

Let’s see if I have this right: BMW and Volkswagen, two of Dassault Systemes biggest customers, go to a lot of trouble to initiate the Codex of PLM Openness, and DS says “we’ve been open all along”?

Here’s what they’re not saying: These customers made it clear that they weren’t going to do any new business with any PLM company that wouldn’t agree to the CPO. DS had no real choice but to sign.

If you read the CPO with a jaundiced eye, you can see how the weasel word “should” is sprinkled throughout it. It’s written in a way that anyone, even the world’s biggest software monopolists, could sign it. (And, indeed, a couple of the world’s biggest software monopolists have signed it!)

I do want to give DS, and all the other big vendor signatories, the benefit of the doubt, that they’ll somehow change their ways, and become less obstructionist to competition. Yet it’s hard for me to do, and keep a straight face at the same time. (OK: I have asked DS for some information to back up their position on openness. If they come through with it, I’ll be completely thrilled to post about it here.)

While I keep open the possibility that the CPO will somehow change things, I can’t see it happening. If openness isn’t in a company’s DNA, it doesn’t matter what kind of voluntary agreement they sign. They’re not going to change.

3D CAD Tips

For conceptual design of organic shapes (for example, a motorcycle tank), there are certainly better choices. One surface type that’s become popular for this is the Sub-D, or subdivision surface.

Modo, from Luxology, is a 3D modeling, rendering, painting, and animation application that’s particularly popular with designers, because of its artist-friendly way of working. It uses SubD surfaces. Now, with the addition of a plugin developed by IntegrityWare, Modo SubD surfaces can be converted to NURBS surfaces, and exported via IGES, SAT, STEP, and Rhino file format to CAD systems.

If your job is to design beautiful things that can be manufactured, you ought to look at Modo. It’s far more fun to use than most CAD programs.

Luxology’s press release follows:

Luxology Ships Power SubD-NURBS for modo

Exporter Lets Users Prototype Virtually Any Organic Surface in modo and Convert the Results into NURBS-based File Formats 

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — April 19, 2012 — Luxology® LLC today announced the immediate availability of Power SubD-NURBS for modo®, a plug-in that allows designers to automatically convert Subdivision surface meshes into NURBS-based CAD formats that can be exported directly to standard CAD systems.

Developed for Luxology by San Diego’s IntegrityWare, Power SubD-NURBS bridges the worlds of highly flexible Subdivision surface modeling and CAD-accurate NURBS representations. With this new plug-in for modo, industrial designers in the early stages of the design process can quickly create concept models that can be exported and refined within the users’ CAD systems. The plug-in exports IGES, SAT, STEP, and Rhino file formats for compatibility with leading CAD packages. Additionally, modo materials assigned by the designer can be used to derive surface boundaries in the resulting file for maximum control.

“Organic NURBS surfacing is no longer strictly the domain of T-Splines!” said Branden Coker, 3D artist and Power SubD-NURBS beta tester. “When you can model in modo and export at will to your CAD package of choice, you gain a powerful workflow. modo and NURBS are two great tastes that taste great together!”

Power SubD-NURBS comes on the heels of another CAD-centric Luxology product; the CAD Importers for modo. While CAD Importers provides new tools for loading CAD data into modo; Power SubD-NURBS addresses the other side of the equation – the export of parametric surface data from modo into CAD systems. Together, these products allow designers to effectively integrate modo in to the design process as both a flexible organic modeler and as a high-end visualization tool.

Power SubD-NURBS for modo brings my workflow to the next level,” said Pascal Beeckmans, Power SubD-NURBS beta tester. “I can now combine the freedom of Subdivision surface modeling with the superior accuracy of NURBS technology. It’s the best of both worlds.”

Pricing and Availability

Power SubD-NURBS for modo 601 is available immediately for Mac OS X and Windows (32 and 64 bit) at US$595. The plug-in can be purchased on the Luxology website or via authorized Luxology resellers worldwide.

About modo

modo is an innovative 3D modeling, painting, rendering, and animation software designed to accelerate the creation of world-class designs and ultra high-quality renderings. modo’s modern workflow and advanced toolset easily deliver enhanced productivity for design visualization, game development, film/broadcast, package design, and graphic arts. A favorite tool among many designers and artists, modo’s flexible toolset offers one of the fastest paths to content creation on the PC and Mac.

About Luxology

Based in Mountain View, Calif., Luxology® LLC is an independent technology company developing next-generation 3D content creation software that enhances productivity via artist-friendly tools powered by a modern underlying architecture called Nexus®. Founded in 2002, by Allen Hastings, Stuart Ferguson and Brad Peebler, Luxology is home to some of the top 3D engineering expertise in the industry. More information on the company, its licensable Nexus technology, its flagship product modo® and a gallery of images from the active modo community is available online at www.luxology.com.

About IntegrityWare

IntegrityWare Inc. is a company that specializes in high performance, high quality geometric modeling software. Founded in 1996, IntegrityWare Inc. has provided software libraries for successful applications in Optics, CAD, Measurement, Automotive, Data translation, Geological, Architecture, NC, and Design Visualization.

info@luxology.com

www.luxology.com

3D CAD Tips

The biggest reason more companies don’t use engineer-to-order software is that the front-end configuration, to set up an ETO system, has often been too much work, requiring lots of training and expensive consultants.

Tacton makes a SolidWorks-based tool for ETO: TactonWorks. They just issued a press release reporting that one of their customers, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, has seen a 90% time savings in engineering work for custom orders. This after only having used the software for about 3 months.

The press release gives no clue as to how much work it was to configure TactonWorks with their SolidWorks models. While I suspect it was fairly easy, the fact that they’re saving 90% time within 3 months of starting suggests that it wasn’t all that hard, and that buying TactonWorks was a home-run for Mitsubishi.

Here is the press release:

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Compressor (MCO) Chooses TactonWorks for Customization of Large Scale Compressors and Turbines

Stockholm, Sweden – April 16, 2012- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Compressor Corporation, (MCO) began using TactonWorks in 2011 and has already seen drastic time savings for detailed engineering work of up to 90% per quote.

MCO, a 100% owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ldt. (MHI) is a leading global supplier of large scale compressors and turbines used at petrochemical plants, natural gas processing plants, LNG Plants, FPSD, etc. in more than 60 countries.

TactonWorks, an add-in to SolidWorks, is Tacton’s tool for Design Automation. It automates the customization of complex products, which helps you save time and money. It also ensures correctly updated models and drawings.

Not long ago, MCO saw a need to automate the customization of their products in order to reduce delivery time and engineering costs. Their reseller, Hiroshima Daia Systems HDS learned about Tacton and TactonWorks at SolidWorks World Japan in 2010. MCO implemented TactonWorks for the first section of their assembly three months ago and have already experienced detailed design time savings of approximately 90% per customization.

“We are amazed at the amount of time we’ve saved since starting to use TactonWorks—and this after implementing it in only one part of our product assembly. We really believe in this solution and are eager to start using it for our other models as well”, says Mr.Yasuhiko Omi, Director of Plant Engineering Division at Technology Management Center, MCO.

MCO plans to continue to implement TactonWorks for the other parts of their assembly with a final goal of having the complete assembly implemented.

“We are very happy to see a customer get such fantastic return after using our solution for only a short period of time. We look forward to seeing how much more time they will save in the coming phases of the project”, says Christer Wallberg, CEO Tacton Systems.

The sale was made together with Tacton’s Japanese partners, Hiroshima Daia Systems (HDS), who implemented the solution and Kozo Keikaku Engineering (KKE), who sold the software licenses.

For more information contact:

Christer Wallberg, CEO, Tacton Systems AB
Telephone: +46 8 690 07 50
E-mail: christer.wallberg@tacton.com

About Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Compressor Corporation (MCO) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) specializing in the compressor business. We were formed by integrating the compressor business of the Industrial Machinery Business, Technology & Solutions Division with MHI Turbo-Techno Co., Ltd. (MTT, a company which is responsible for after-sales services.

About Tacton Systems

Tacton Systems is the world leader in advanced configuration. Tacton develops and sells embeddable software for sales and design configuration. This software simplifies the sale of customized, complex products offline as well as online. Tacton’s solutions integrate easily with surrounding systems and have standard integrations for many leading e-commerce, ERP, CRM, PDM, PLM, and CAD systems. Customers currently using Tacton’s solutions include GE, Siemens, Tetra Pak, ABB, Scania, Toshiba, Aker, and Alfa Laval. www.tacton.com.

3D CAD Tips

The interview is about 12 minutes long. About 2 minutes in, Bass makes possibly the most interesting comment in the interview:

“I’d say two to three years from now, every one of our products will be used online. The only way to use them will be online.”

If that happens, it will be a truly transformative and disruptive event.

But how can it possibly happen?

Autodesk has, over the years, built or bought a large stable of high-end graphics applications, including 3DS Max, Maya, AutoCAD, Inventor, Revit, and many others. The company continues to invest massive resources in all the tedious details of updating, fixing, and connecting these products. Customer wish lists still include items from years ago. Performance and bugs are still issues. Within this context, how can Autodesk transform the architecture of these major applications, used by on the order of 12 million people, so that they will run efficiently online?

Possibly the answer will reveal itself. Two or three years from now. If they manage to pull it off, it’ll be impressive.

3D CAD Tips

A couple of years ago, Autodesk Labs previewed a product, Project Krypton, which ran inside of 3D CAD programs (including Autodesk Inventor, DS SolidWorks, and PTC Pro/E), and gave real-time feedback on manufacturability, cost, and sustainability of plastic injection molded parts.

Project Krypton has now reappeared, in commercial form, as Autodesk Simulation DFM (Design For Manufacturing.) It works as a plug-in, running in a number of versions of Inventor, Inventor LT, Wildfire, Creo, and SolidWorks. It is available as a subscription benefit for Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Adviser 2013 subscribers, or as a stand-alone product, at US$2,000 for a license to run on any of the supported CAD platforms.

It’s reasonable to argue that engineers who are designing plastic parts should know enough to be able to recognize manufacturability, cost, or sustainability problems. And, if they don’t, they should take the time to learn (for example, by taking a few hours to read any of the many freely available books on the subject, such as General Design Principles for DuPont Engineering Polymers.) Even though that argument is reasonable, it doesn’t recognize human nature. People, even engineers who should know better, don’t always take the time to “read the manual.” Often, it makes sense to build the “manual” into the tools that engineers use every day. Simulation DFM does that, and quite a bit more.

For inexperienced designers, Simulation DFM provides quick feedback to help them avoid rookie mistakes. It’s sort of like an “idiot light” on a car’s dash, that warns you when something is wrong. And while old-hands might say they prefer gauges to idiot lights, experience has shown that idiot lights are useful to experts (even F1 drivers and fighter pilots) for catching their attention, and getting them to actually look at the gauges.

Simulation DFM doesn’t require that users have any background in molding simulation. It uses “green is good, yellow is not so good, and red is bad” indicators to identify potential manufacturing, cost and sustainability issues, showing the source and location of the problem. Any issues that pop-up can be expanded upon, to provide more detail on the exact source of the problem, even showing, for example, mold filling analyses.  The software requires no additional training, and doesn’t require much user input.

The open question with Simulation DFM is “how good is it?” Since it’s based on the Autodesk Moldflow simulation engine, it should be quite good, even for relatively complex parts (though it doesn’t support multi-body parts.) Yet, even if its capabilities were modest, it would still be of value, in either helping beginning designers to learn good design practice, or helping old-hands catch mistakes they might have otherwise missed.

As an engineer, I’ve long had the habit of using the “anything I can see” test to evaluate the usefulness of software. I look around the room, looking at anything I see, and ask myself “would this software have helped the engineers who designed these things?” In this case, as I sit in my office, I can see at least 20 items (without even turning to look behind me), each with multiple injection molded parts, that would have been quicker, easier, and less-expensive to design, had their engineers had access to up-front DFM software, such as Autodesk Simulation DFM.

The most significant benefit of Autodesk Simulation DFM comes not from its detailed capabilities, but rather from its clean integration into the design workflow. A user need not press a button, or take any specific action when designing a plastic part to benefit from it. All they need to do is notice, as they design, whether the software has picked up any obvious red-flags.

That Autodesk decided to make Simulation DFM available for Pro/E, Creo, and SolidWorks (as well as Inventor) shows that rational minds sometimes do prevail: There are untold thousands of PTC and SolidWorks customers who design plastic injection molded parts, and who are unlikely to switch primary CAD tools any time soon. The challenge Autodesk is going to face is in getting Simulation DFM in front of those users (since PTC and SolidWorks sales reps and dealers are not likely to recommend it.) Maybe not so much of a challenge: Many of Autodesk’s existing Moldflow customers are Pro/E and SolidWorks users.

There’s a certain charm to software that does something of great value, but does not impose any extra demands on its users. Autodesk Simulation DFM looks like it may be that kind of product.

Autodesk www.autodesk.com

Autodesk SimSquad simsquad@autodesk.com

3D CAD Tips

What is Creo?

Creo was rolled out in the Fall of 2010. It was, at the highest level of abstraction, a bet-the-company rethink of PTC’s CAD strategy, based on a recognition that not all users (or enterprises) have the same needs.

While I can’t say, with certainty, what brought on this revelation, I can speculate that PTC’s 2007 acquisition of CoCreate was a big eye opener. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that PTC’s legion of salespeople would have swarmed into CoCreate’s 5,000 customer accounts, seeking to convert those people to Pro/E users. Like that was ever going to work.

The reason people (and companies) used CoCreate software was precisely because it was not Pro/E (or any other history-based solid modeler.) CoCreate’s dynamic modeling (more commonly called direct modeling these days) was comparatively easy to use, especially for people who weren’t CAD gurus. Companies with product lines that fit within the capabilities that CoCreate offered had no motivation to change at all. CoCreate customers that needed history and parametrics in their CAD software had long since moved on to other tools (including Pro/E).

I imagine that a number of CoCreate customers took the time to explain to PTC management why dynamic modeling fit their needs so well. At the same time, PTC management was likely watching the former CoCreate marketing people (who now worked for them) telling a compelling story that didn’t exactly jibe with the PTC’s historical “parametrics will solve all your problems” message.

What to do? How to rationalize these seemingly irreconcilable things? The only reasonable answer is to offer customers what they want. For PTC, this required a new strategy: Offer a range of products sharing a common data model and a common user interface design, and allow users to choose whether they want to use history-based, direct, or any other form of modeling that might come along in the future.

It’s a good vision. But getting there is the challenge.

The first phase in the Creo strategy was launched, with quite a bit of fanfare, in the Fall of 2010. The next phase was originally due to launch in the Fall of 2011. It’ll launch next month.

I can’t give PTC any grief about being a few months late in shipping, given the immensity of the task before them. Taking several very disparate and complex products and merging them into a family of interoperable apps is not easy. Truth is, CAD is hard. Developing a professional CAD system is about an order of magnitude harder than, for example, developing a product such as Microsoft Office.

It’s going to take some time for PTC to fully deliver on the Creo vision. No problem with that, if they really deliver what users need.

Creo 2.0

I’m not going to do a review of Creo 2.0, or even tell you in any detail about what’s new in it. What I will say is that it looks like PTC is making solid progress, and is delivering useful capabilities that will help their users to get their jobs done better.

In the pantheon of Creo products, Parametric (formerly known as Pro/E), and Elements/Direct (formerly known as CoCreate) are maturing nicely. Creo Direct—the new product that essentially merges Pro/E and CoCreate capabilities—is taking some time, if only because it’s a much bigger job. Users with a long history (so to speak) with CoCreate should look carefully, to see whether Creo Direct has reached their particular threshold of “good enough.”

The big news in Creo 2.0, beyond maturation, is PTC’s delivery on their AnyBOM strategy. They are shipping the Creo Options Modeler, which works with Windchill to support assemble-to-order processes in a way that PTC’s largest customers (e.g., Caterpillar) will certainly appreciate.

PTC will be talking a lot more about Creo 2.0 in the very near future. For now, what I can say is this: It looks good so far.

PTC www.ptc.com

3D CAD Tips

Here are two ways to enter:

a) Post a message on Twitter that describes your experience with reliability, stability and compatibility for any recent* FirePro graphics cards. Be sure to include the hashtag #fireuser in the message.

b) Post a comment to http://fireuser.com/blog/experience_firepro describing your experience with reliability, stability and compatibility for any recent* FirePro graphic cards. This comment can be as short as one sentence or as detailed as a paragraph or two..

Comments and Tweets should represent real experiences – good, bad or indifferent. As long as your experience references a recent* card, you are using an up-to-date driver, and you say what app(s) you are using, we want to hear what you have to say.

Dates
Sweepstakes runs February 13-27, 2012.

Prizes
Three Winners will be drawn, each to receive one complimentary AMD FirePro™ V5900 Professional Graphics card valued at approximately US$599 each.

Examples of tweets that describe the quality, graphics card and software:

–FirePro V7900 is fast, stable in CREO/Elements Pro + Keyshot workflow. Can’t live without Eyefinity #FireUser

–FirePro V4900 is performing as expected in SolidWorks 2011 running a 2 million polygon model #FireUser

–Driving 6 HD displays for studio broadcasting using Viz Engine and FirePro V9800. Glitches not an option. #FireUser

–My new FirePro V5900 is outperforming my Quadro 2000 and shows no artifacts in CATIA #FireUser

–Once I cleared out old drivers and installed latest versions, FirePro V7800 started performing well in Maya 2011 #FireUser

What to include if you comment
Comments on http://fireuser.com/blog/experience_firepro can of course be longer and provide more detail including the applications you work in, how you have stressed the card and if you have any direct comparison using another card with these applications.

* Recent eligible graphic cards
Eligible graphic cards for the sweepstakes include the FirePro V3800, FirePro V3900, FirePro V4800, FirePro V4900, FirePro V5800, FirePro V5900, FirePro V7800, FirePro V7900, FirePro V8800 and FirePro V9800.

You can download a PDF copy of the official rules as http://fireuser.com/images/downloads/Experience-FirePro-Sweepstakes_Official_Rules.pdf.

3D CAD Tips

PTC has been working on mobile apps for some time now, and is set to deliver its first generation with the 10.1 release of Windchill, in March.

In a phone call today, David Blair, VP of Product Management for PTC, provided some background on PTC’s mobile plans.

The company is delivering first on the iOS platform (iPAD and iPhone), with Android to follow.

Initial use cases will include:

• Search for products, part numbers, and documents
• Viewing of metadata, including attributes and lifecycle state
• 3D viewing of parts and assemblies
• Viewing of workflow tasks

Here are a couple of screen shots, as a preview:

There is more to come. These are some of the apps in development at PTC, and headed for the market this spring:

Mobile PLM for the engineer: Being able to log a problem report on a mobile device from the factory floor or in the field. Having access to your access PLM information on iPhone and iPad, such as accessing and approving tasks assigned to you, searching your development database, viewing product info such as meta data, and visualizing objects through a 3D viewer.

Mobile PLM for the administrator: Being able to check the server, and quickly see how everything is running without having to go into the office to fix any issues. In addition, the administrator can provide support for advanced modules, such as project data, advanced reports, or manufacturing process plans – again, without having to be in the office.

Mobile PLM for the service technician: Being able to access, update and implement relevant technical service information from the field to keep crews working.

Mobile Social Product Development: Being able to access all of your social product development communities from your mobile phone. Watch the team feed, see what people are talking about, how they are solving issues while you are in the waiting room at your doctor’s office.

CAD creation mobile sketching tools: Upgrade from back of the napkin drawings. Draw directly on your iPad and have the data automatically be stored in the PDS – or shared your social community.

3D CAD Tips

The software also provides a secure Proctored Browser which reduces cheating by ensuring students stay inside the Maple T.A. environment until the test or assignment is completed. While using this browser, students cannot access other web sites or programs on their computer. Other security enhancements include the ability to require that Maple T.A. tests are taken from a specified list of IP addresses, to ensure students can take assignments only from approved computers or labs. These and other security features are also available in the Maple T.A. MAA Placement Test Suite for institutions that want greater security in their placement testing process.

Maplesoft

www.maplesoft.com

3D CAD Tips

After creating the first designs in NX and preparing static-mechanical calculations with the ANSYS Workbench platform using STL file format data, icotec delivered prototypes using the laser sintering method for an evaluation by a surgical team. Concurrently, surgical operating tools were designed. According to Ramon Huppi, icotec project manager, “Due to the synchronous technology of NX, we have more possibilities to move surfaces and define manufacturing-ready roundings.” For example, different sizes and modifications for the cervical spine resulted in a large project family. The tool design team compensates for this variety using an efficient inlay technique. Huppi added, “For tool manufacturing, we send a Parasolid file to our service provider who uses it as a starting point for the programming.”

Once the first genuine samples are made using one of icotec’s CFM machines, the approval tests can be conducted. Static and dynamic tests as well as studies under compression, torsion, or shear are performed by external labs in up to five million cycles. Changes are done quickly using synchronous technology.

Teamcenter handles all aspects of part management. This includes controlled check-in and check-out directly in the CAD system and searching for precursors, revision status, and handling a comprehensive and daily drawing management process for the development team.

In the future, the company plans to use special Teamcenter capabilities to support the approval processes for the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In addition, the company plans to start leveraging the powerful data organization functionality to streamline the management of more than 30 years of aircraft spare part inventories and warranty obligations.

Siemens PLM Software

www.siemens.com/plm

3D CAD Tips