March 1, 2006
By DE Editors
Nissan Picks NX; UGS Also Announces Parasolid V17.1
UGS announced that Nissan Motor Co. has selected it to be the provider of the new global PLM system that Nissan and Nissan affiliates will deploy to design and build its next generation of vehicles. UGS expects the selection to represent its largest win in 2005 and it should bolster momentum in the CAD segment of PLM.
Nissan will use NX CAD software to design its vehicles on a global basis and UGS’ Teamcenter collaborative product development management (cPDM) software to digitally manage product data and enable digital prototyping for all Nissan vehicles. The company will deploy the software as part of a fully integrated, common R&D infrastructure for use inside Nissan.
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| Nissan Picks NX |
“Nissan is one of the world’s most innovative and successful companies, and UGS is proud to help strengthen its strong automotive industry leadership by providing the new technology foundation for its innovative, knowledge-enabled vehicle development process,” said Tony Affuso, chairman, CEO, and president of UGS.
Nissan evaluated CAD systems for the purposes of identifying a standard PLM partner for its three-year business plan “Value-Up,” which began in April 2005. Under the plan, Nissan has aimed for global sales of 4.2 million units, measured in fiscal year 2008.
In other news, UGS announced the availability of Parasolid version 17.1, the latest release of its geometric modeling component software. Parasolid V17.1 includes new capabilities to support more efficient 3D model construction, editing, and refinement as well as to enhance CAM applications. This latest release also includes extended support for advanced Microsoft technologies to deliver general productivity improvements for users of Parasolid-based systems.
Parasolid V17.1 includes significant extensions to its functionality and ease-of-use across a variety of application domains. They include new manufacturing support functions for tool-path simulation and hole identification; added capability for fast local editing with new patterning and face patching controls; blending and filleting extensions to increase end-user productivity in complex configurations; and enhanced modeling operators for efficient sheet modeling and construction.
Parasolid V17.1 uses the new technologies released in Microsoft Visual Studio 2005. In particular, the 64-bit Windows platform is now fully supported, using the X64 compilers released with Visual Studio 2005, enabling advanced applications to use Parasolid with very large data sets to achieve improved performance and scalability. Parasolid has also been released on 32-bit Windows using the compilers from Visual Studio 2005 to deliver improved performance and reduced code size.
Parasolid V17.1 also features a .NET binding, allowing Parasolid customers to integrate Parasolid into applications based on the latest Microsoft .NET technologies. Parasolid can be called via the binding with minimal performance overhead, laying the foundation for a new generation of Parasolid-based products.
Microsoft
Redmond, WA
Nissan Motor Co.
Tokyo, Japan
UGS Corp.
Plano, TX
Delcam Adds Power Features to PS-Moldmaker
Delcam, in its latest version of PS-Moldmaker software for the 3D design of injection molds for plastic components, has introduced a new parametric component incorporating Power Features. The new release also offers a wizard for the design of mold locks, the ability to create stepped split surfaces in the Die Wizard, and faster creation of 2D drawings from the 3D model.
Power Features maintain relationships. Thus, if the pin moves, the associated holes move with it. PS-Moldmaker recommends standard sizes if these are available from a catalog within the system. Similarly, it will recommend the nearest alternative component when changes are made to the design, rather than use simple mathematical changes to the component dimensions. This reduces the need for non-standard components.
The new Mold Lock Wizard provides an automatic method to define these parts. The locks can be created and edited individually, or a complete set can be generated using common predefined layouts.
Since many mold design projects need as much time to create 2D drawings as to generate the 3D model, an outline general arrangement drawing and a full set of component drawings are created automatically by PS-Moldmaker from company-specific templates as the computer model is developed. It enables faster initial production of drawings and faster associative updating of the drawings if the design is changed.
For more information, visit go to the Delcam website.
Delcam, Inc.
Windsor, ONT
The Open Prosthetics Project, a privately funded nonprofit enterprise that offers free exchange of hardware designs for prosthetics, has adopted the Alibre Design parametric modeler from Alibre, Inc., as its CAD standard.
By creating an online collaboration between prosthetic users and designers, the project aims to make new technology available for anyone to use and customize. On the project’s website, medical product designers can post new ideas for prosthetic devices as CAD files, which are then available to the public free of charge. Prosthetic users or other designers can download the CAD data, customize or improve upon the prosthesis, and repost the modifications to the website.
Founded by members of the industrial design firm Tackle Design, the Open Prosthetics Project moved to Alibre Design because it offers a fully functional CAD modeler for free download. Alibre Design Xpress users have full capability to design parts and create associative 2D drawings, enabling them to make alterations or additions to a device. For a price, users can opt to add features for more advanced modeling or larger assemblies.
For more details, visit the Open Prosthetics Project For information on Alibre Design Xpress or other Alibre products, visit the Alibre website.
Open Prosthetics Project
Durham, NC
Alibre, Inc.
Richardson, TX
Tackle Design
Durham, NC
PTC announced a strategic partnership with IBM that will pair PTC’s product lifecycle management (PLM) software with IBM’s software and infrastructure products. The new agreement will primarily focus on China’s evolving PLM market, but will also encompass a targeted strategy in growth industries such as electronics, consumer packaged goods, and life sciences in Europe and the U.S.
PTC and IBM will offer an end-to-end enterprise PLM solution that integrates with other applications such as ERP, SCM, and CRM. They say that customer business challenges, including managing data from multiple CAD systems, environmental compliance, IP protection, geographically dispersed design collaboration as well as global product development can all be satisfied by this collaboration.
The agreement also combines PTC and IBM sales and marketing efforts and deepens PTC’s relationship with IBM, which began in October 2004 when IBM provided the infrastructure for PTC’s PLM On Demand package.
Concurrent with the announcement of the partnership, PTC also released financial results for the first quarter of 2006. The company reported revenue of $192.5 million, up 14 percent from $169.2 million for the same period last year. For more information on PTC, go to the company’s website.
PTC
Needham, MA
Planit Holdings Acquires Pathrace to Gain Cam Fusion
Planit Holdings, which is made up of companies involved in the CAD/CAM software development industry, has acquired CAM software company Pathtrace, continuing with a strategy of CAM consolidation.
Planit Holdings says it is hoping the addition of Pathtrace to the group will provide a major development in the engineering arena. The group’s leading brands already include alphacam, cabinet vision, cabnetware and radan.
“This is a further reinforcement of our commitment to this market sector,” says Planit Chief Operating Officer Bryan Pryce. “Pathtrace’s principal product line, EdgeCAM is a well respected and highly capable off-line programming system, which complements our existing strengths in the engineering sector. But just as importantly, with offices in the UK, US, China and Japan and a global distribution network, Pathtrace provides important additional routes to market for all our group’s CAM products. In addition, Pathtrace are Autodesk’s global preferred CAM partner and a certified SolidWorks CAM partner.”
For details, visit Planit Holdings website.
Planit Holdings
Ashford-Kent, UK
Pathtrace
Berkshire, UK
Stratasys announced it will be the exclusive North American distributor of Arcam rapid manufacturing and prototyping systems. Arcam’s electron-beam melting (EBM) process transforms titanium powder into solid metal parts for functional prototyping or end use. Also called CAD-to-Metal, the process is used primarily in the aerospace, automotive, and medical implant industries.
“This agreement launches Stratasys into metal-powder systems and closes the gap so that it can now go head-to-head with almost anyone in the world of additive fabrication technology,” said Terry Wohlers, president of independent consulting firm Wohlers Associates.
According to Stratasys, the EBM process is five times more efficient than most laser-based metal-fabrication processes. Stratasys also offers prototyping and manufacturing services and patented fused deposition modeling that creates functional models directly from any 3D CAD program using ABS plastic, polycarbonate, PPSF, or other materials. It also distributes PolyJet rapid prototyping systems.
For more information, visit the Stratasys website.
Arcam
Gothenburg, Sweden
Stratasys
Eden Praire, MN
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DE’s editors contribute news and new product announcements to Digital Engineering.
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