Moldflow Celltrack 2.1 Aimed at Improving Performance

By DE Editors

Moldflow Corporation(Framingham, MA; ) announced the immediate availability of Celltrack2.1, a realtime performance management system that measuresefficiencies, automates reporting, and optimizes physical and humanassets on the manufacturing floor.

Improvements in Celltrack 2.1 include new statistical process control(SPC) options that allow for the monitoring of new process parameters;an enhanced SPC/SQC profile display with unlimited animated overlay fordiagnosing manufacturing problems; an easier-to-use interface for PCclients and machine operators; scheduler improvements provide bettervisibility of estimated completion dates; improved part traceabilityvia the recording of every event; and the ability to label parts asgood, bad, or quarantined to eliminate the chance of bad parts enteringthe supply chain.

According to Dave Rotondo, director of technology for MoldflowManufacturing Solutions, “Celltrack 2.1 demonstrates our ongoingcommitment to providing new features and enhancements in ourmanufacturing solutions to help our customers improve operatingefficiency as well as product quality.”

In other news, Moldflow announced release 6.0 of Moldflow PlasticsInsight (MPI). MPI 6.0 was designed to deliver new technologies and keyenhancements to help users work more efficiently, cut solution time,and interact better with CAD, structural analysis, and other Moldflowapplications. It also should help users better understand andcommunicate analysis results.

Two new technologies in MPI 6.0 amount to breakthroughs for 3D fillingand warpage applications. The new coupled 3D Flow solver is said to beup to eight times faster and renders more accurate temperature andshear heating calculations than before. There are new capabilities topredict air traps and simulate gas penetration in 1D beam elements, anda unique capability to simulate jetting phenomena. Similarly, new 3DWarp solver technology delivers results up to 35 times faster.

Other key features of MPI 6.0 include a more efficient, panel-baseduser interface: A reorganized display reduces screen clutter and allowsmore efficient workflow for most tasks with a new Tools panel andToolbox, consolidated Project and Study Tasks panel, and single logwindow for most textual outputs.

There’s also improved product integration: Export Part/Runner/Coolingmodel to CAD via IGES format, improved interfaces to ABAQUS and ANSYS,a new interface to LS-DYNA, plus new capabilities to exchangedesign-through-manufacturing data between Moldflow’s ManufacturingSolutions and Design Analysis Solutions products. The improvedintegration between MPI and industry standard structural integrationprograms means designers of high-performance plastic applications canaccurately predict how processing will affect the performance of theirmolded plastic parts.

MPI 6.0 also includes streamlined diagnostic and communication tools.Users can systematically validate mesh quality with directeddiagnostics navigation; generate reports in Microsoft Word orPowerPoint formats, in addition to HTML format; and share informationwith a distributed team by exporting Moldflow results files andcreating comparison criteria files for viewing in the MoldflowCommunicator utility.

The release also enables more informative result displays. You canisolate warpage due to unbalanced cooling, non-uniform shrinkage andfiber orientation in 3D Warp, view mold internal temperaturedistributions in 3D Cool, and see the plastic re-melt zone in 3DOvermolding. Visit moldflow.com for more.