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CAD
STANDARDIZATION!!
B.C.:
Before
CAD
Yes many
of us
were
doing
engineering
before
CAD.
What was
used?
Oh yes
the
drawing!
The
drawing
was the
only
document
needed
or
actually
available.
They
made
BLUE
PRINTS.
I
remember
working
at
Boeing
in the
late
60's and
checking
out all
the blue
prints
(copy of
drawings)
that
were
necessary
to
modify
or
create
new
parts.
There
were
blue
print
girls.
They
provided
a
wonderful
dating
pool for
all the
young
drafters.
I left
Boeing
to go
job
shopping
(Contract
Engineering).
Years
later I
came
back to
Boeing,
but now
they
were
using
microfiche,
no more
blue
print
girls,
sad to
say. We
would
look up
the
drawings
on cards
and
print
the
drawings
we
needed.
Then if
we need
to
modify
the
drawings
or
needed
them to
trace an
existing
part we
would
check
out the
originals.
Boeing
used
undimensioned
drawing,
mostly sheet
metal
part
(flat
patterns) and
frames and
basically
photographed
the
parts on
to metal
to make
the
tools.
Many of
you are
laughing
saying
we all
know
that,
but
realize,
many
have
designers
have not
made a
drawing,
and
never
used
2D/3D
wireframe/surfacing
and
never
have
done
anything
but
Solid
modeling.
The
drawing
provided
the two
standards
in one
system.
Standard Drafting Procedures:
Drawings were the domain of Drafters. You were trained in all the standard drafting procedures. At Boeing you had to know all procedures before you started working in the company, we had many design standards and manuals that were unique to Boeing. Like, you never showed the bolt, screw, nut or any fastener, they were shown as a cross on the drawing. You had to try to match the print on the existing drawing. So we, as drafters proceeded to create drawings with the close scrutiny of the design/drawing checker or engineer. No engineer beside the new engineer would do drawings. Basically the tools of the job were a drafting board, mechanical pencils, compass, triangles and maybe a drafting machine.
Data Verification:
The Drawing provided all the data required to create the part. Part verification??? It was all recorded on an ADCN (Advanced Drawing Change Notice) or on the DCN (Drawing Change Notice) Drawing Revision. Many companies call these ECO (Engineering Change Orders). Simply, clear concise document control.
A.C.: After CAD
I am not going into another history of CAD (I am sure to your relief). TECH-NET has been selling and supporting CAD/CAM hardware and software and providing engineering services for over 22 years. I have seen it all.
Standard Drafting Procedures:
Today what is the requirement for a design job!
What system/systems are you experienced?
Yes that is the first question. Today a company really can not afford to train an individual on a new CAD System. Pro/E, Catia and UG can take up to half a year to get up to speed. More than a year to get proficient. Just imagine (many of you don't need to imagine because you are living it) losing an expert user and designer and bringing in a less experienced person to follow up on maintaining and creating new design. The large companies are now recognizing the enormous hidden costs. You will hire someone on a resume that prior to CAD you would never hire because his/hers engineering discipline was in a different area. Personally I, being aerospace) got a job doing plastic product design only because I knew Computervision (Which was wonderful, plastic product design is the most fun).
Pro/E, Catia, UG, Solidworks, Solid Edge, Alibre and Inventor are all based on the Pro/E paradigm and CANNOT edit each others data!!!
Let's say your company uses one of those system. You now have limited your potential employee to having experience on your system. If you see an applicant with the desired engineering experience but is not familiar with your system, you will have to have access to training to get him up to speed which could take months maybe upto a year. In the beginning many companies that were using Pro/E felt like they were Pro/E training centers. Many designers (seeing their new value) would learn the system and demand a higher wage or start looking for a new job. Even today many companies are at the mercy of the experienced user. The user has a vested interest in making sure a company is saddled with an ineffective and difficult system. So now a company has a choice, bring a person in because of the CAD system and train them in engineering discipline of your industry or train them on your CAD system. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to bring that design expert in and have him/her up to speed within days????
SOLUTION! EXPLICIT MODELING!!
Just hear what Pro/E and Siemens/UG are saying in their ads about explicit modeling. Can Catia be far behind??
Seimens/UG Synchronous Technology
PTC/Pro/E CoCreate
Standard Drafting Procedure: A Wider employee pool.
Yes, explicit modeling is the future and the solution. All of the above problems with incompatible CAD systems is solved. It takes just days to get a designer up to speed on an explicit CAD package, no matter what system he/she is familiar. Like the mechanical pencil, compass and triangles we now have a very familiar set of tools. No complex feature history to sort through, just instant productivity.
Reusing Data. Incredible cost savings.
With explicit modeling you don't care where the part was made, even if they were made in a history based system. You can instantly start being productive. If your company needs to talk to many customers, suppliers or vendors using different systems, you cannot afford not to be using an explicit modeling system. There is really nothing more to say, the writing is on the wall.
More Future!! Creating the data information standard.
PLM, PDM, Drawing, etc.
So at this time now that we have a standardization of CAD solved. How do we standardize data? Yes we can now read the 3D model. But how do we get the tolerancing, material, specs, rigging instructions, etc.
We still have the problem with PLM (Product Lifecycle Management). This was all done by the drawing in the past.
What do we do now???
The 3D part. The PDF spec sheet or drawing. The PMI (Part Manufacturing Information)
This all has to go together. We need a system where all this data goes in one document. With the new explicit modeling system we can start creating a standard that can be readily available.
Large companies with large multiyear projects need a PLM system. This needs to assemble the product and keep track of all parts and assemblies and the changes.
SOLUTION!! or at least a start.
We need a product that can keep all the data in one document. Imagine an assembly with links to all the parts, in these parts are the drawings with all the tolerancing and specs. The industry is now struggling with 3DMBD (3D Model Based Definition). With the part model goes 3D dimensions showing the GTD information. For simple parts this is okay, but imagine a complex part with many features holes, flanges, etc. that have to be defined. This of course becomes a nightmare for manufacturing. You cannot just print this out you have to have the model up and look at it in 3D. It would be nice to be able to put these dimensions on a drawing so you can view all the critical dimension on one printed document.
SpaceClaim: Leading the way!
SpaceClaim is leading the way in explicit modeling. Founded in 2005, SpaceClaim was designed from the bottom up as an explicit modeler. I wondered why would anyone bring another CAD system to market. It took me awhile to see the light, but now with Pro/E and Seimens rushing to compete in this incredible technology, it is very clear this is the next generation CAD system, and it is being driven by the introduction of SpaceClaim.
As I was investigating SpaceClaims compatibility with Catia 5, I realized that this was the future of CAD. As I imported the Catia 5 file with the PMI data and converted it to a usable drawing, I could see the industry standardizing on this format.
SpaceClaim is very economical as compared to Pro/E and Siemens basically one third the cost.
This is truly just the beginning. SpaceClaim has the most experienced design team available with a management team that understands the mechanical engineering market place.
Please take the time to review this product. We can get a 30 day evaluation including the sheetmetal and translators. Feel free to call me or go to:
Download an evaluation copy at:
http://www.spaceclaim.com/getdoc/dd5e13e3-4902-490a-8933-7ce0fcd95a55/Explore30.aspx
When you fill out the form make sure you put TECH-NET as the VAR.
CONCLUSION: Try this Explicit Modeling design approach today!!
After a while things become normal, time to do a job, time to modify a job, etc. We don't have to wait for the other systems to play catch up, you can start increasing your productivity today by moving to this new design approach today!! Look at the advantages:
1. Easy to learn and use! 2. Familiar operations (Allowing new designers/engineers to get up to speed fast!) 3. Easy to modify parts and assemblies (No matter where they were created) 4. Design on the fly (No design intent required) 5. Incredible flexibility 6. Standardization (Parts can be modified in any system)
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