Advanced CAD Application Part 2

8/10/2019 Advanced CAD Application Part 2

1/65

", ,

,

We all know

that making

t few reladvelv

simple

changes

n our

uves:

like loslng

thai

last 10

poun&,

committing

to a dtlly

er.erclse

r$me,

or

gtving

up an unhalthy

vlce or iwo

-

can

lead to

tremendous

payoffs down the

road.

we all know

Ir's for

the besi

ln ihe long

r n, but

we often

seem

io

ftxate mo.e

on the

shornrcrm

paln'

dlscomfori,

and siarvation

as

compelling

reasons

to

put

of f

these

chanBes.

Transltlonlng

product development

from

a 2D

rleslSnsystem

to a

gD

solld

modellng

deslgn

8y8teft

fslls hto

tlls

srm category.

While

vou

mighi be

convinced

ihat

ultimatelv

it's

the rlght

move

and

blleve

wholehes.riedly

ln ihe botiom'llne

competitlve

beneflts

of maklng

the move,

vou

mlght also cringe at ihe ihought of th immediate

probtms

that

thb convFion

*ould

bdn8.

Productlvity

downttme,

data

translation

woe8, hlgh

lnittal

entry cosls,

loss

of legtcy

data,

tncretsed

hardwarc

equirement6.

nd

th need

o

relr , in

sraff

arejust

th tip of

the iceberg.

In

today s manulacturlng

world,

who

ha-s he

ttme

to deal

wtth even

one of

those

problems? There

cert.inly is

d case for

some

destgn

work to rematn

ln the realm

of 2D

-

AEC,

CtS, and

schematic

design,

io name

a iew.

Iiowever,

the m4ioritv

of

design

done by mdufacturers

would

gratlv

benefit

from

rhe use

of 3D destgn

tools

Throughout

thts e-book,

we'll

take a

closer look

at

aU the

concerns

that manufacturing

compantes

have

when

evaluaLing

a coneerston

to

a 3D design

environment.

We'll

examine

topics

such as

the

evaluatton

of

3D softwarc

packages;

implementation

issDes,

boih

technical

dld cultu.al;

the

preservation of legacy

data;

and the

use

of

downstream,

add-on

soft1'are

tools.

We'U also talk

to engineers

dd engineering

nanagers

who have

navigated

such a

parh,

and

yourU

read

in their o{n

word8

that tleir obsracle

sere and how they

serc ul t lmaLely

vercome

n

the real world. Yourll also read how migraiing ihelr

designs

ro 3D r$ulted

ln bi8

poyoffs

to

ihei.

producl

develoPment

Process.

O

Sott n- l , l r .

8.. .1 l t t

Trade

magaztnes

and dsi8n

consultancies

ha've

long

Droclatmed

ihc benefii8

of 3D

design

technlque

and how

ihese benefik

can dralticauv

lmprove a manufacturerrs

abillty to

compete

AmonS

the benefits

touted are

shortened design

cycles, streamllned

manufacturinS

proc3s3,

faster tlmeno-market

due to the

lmproved flow

of

produci

deslgn

Information and

communication

throughout

an organlzaLlon,

reduced

d$i8n

cos13,

fl

t^

t

b

g

e

It drrllnin lt

tulomrttd n.rhlm

t$.mtll.l h

3D, n in..tl d

Irumlll Enllnaarhot

.

a battorlaylo

|concll th.

.h Ylorol

Indlvldu.l

ad

lthln

i s53i1bly,

nslh.llt

dudn0mnlt

|ry l.rl

pmlotpli{

r|ld

.ls0 ?rltnn

n d.sl [

rytl.

ry

20

.tt d.


2/65

e

$

{

3

g

8

F

fasrer

desiSn changes,

and, ultimalely,

higheF

Though thes

advantages

have been heavily

publicized

for

yea.s,

many manulacturing

companies

have becn

p.oducrive

using

2D design

rools and might

question

why

they need to make

such a t.ansition.

To answe.

this

question

and

mo.e, we u take

a look at thcse

p.oposed

bcnef i ls

one

hy onc and.xamine

wh so many.ompanirs

are deciding to

migrate to a 3D

solid modeling

design

environment.

In the

2D world, drawings

are continually

modified

and reintrp.el.ed

throughoul.

a

product's

liiecycle

While all designs

8o

th.ouSh multiple ite.ations,

dsigncrs

rorking

n a 3D dcsign

environmcnl

can

creaLe

p.oduction-ready detailcd drawings

automat ical ly,

l iminat ing ime-consuming

.awing

vlew crealion, manipulation,

and maintenancc.

Thcy can

also show hcir

designs rom mrl l ip le

anglcs and ca)i

enlarge dctails

of speciiic

components

with

just

a few

mousc cl icks.

O

Sp..dlng l rD Ploduct

o. t lgr

To compete

in today's manulacluring

envi.onment,

compdics are under

L.emndous

pressure

not

only to c.ank

out new

products su.passing that of

rhei. competitors, bul,l,o

beat them to the shelves

as well. 'ew

would argue that once

maste.ed, 3D

solid modeling systems

p.ovide

a fastcr and more

cfficienl

means to c.eatc

product

designs.

In the 2D

wo.Ld, c.eating a detailed

component in

o.rhog.aphic vicws can requi.e

four to fivcs times

the number

of .ommand cntr ies ian i t

would in

3D, mosr of which are duplicales

of othcr

commands. I).awing

creation adds subsiantial

lime

and expensc to a design p.ojecl, especiauy whcn

thc iask involves

int.icate

pafis

or complex

ConvcrscLy n thc

3D world, one linc can bc uscd k)

esrabl ish he ,

g,

: coordinaics

and rhen can be

movcd,copicd,

s.aled, or somchowmanipulr tcd

to

. .eare lhe 3D modcl . Once ie

3D model s c.ealed,

isomctr ic,cxplodcd

assembly icws

-

or dctai l and

sc.r ion

views of a drawing can bc crsi ly

generalcd

by most 3D

oAD

packaSes.

l ignmenl.

and

dimensionlng n most ClD sof tware

p.ograms

are aurcmat icby

simplJ cl icking on Lhec. lgesor

c.nt . .s

of what musr be dimensioncd,

Bcing ablc

to usc online 3D

parl.s

ibraries also

savc

slgniflcant design

,ime when crcaring 3D CAD

modcls- Thcsc

3D

pans

libraries

pro.luce

naiive,

feature-based,mechnical

dcsign componcnts,such

s fasicncre, bcarings,and 6reel

shapes,which arc

base.l

on

indusl.ry

stmdards o.on manuia.turer

cataloSs.Evry

pan

has

custom

propcfty

data

associated

wirh it, such as the

parl

name,

manufacturerrsnarne,

pari

rype, md sizc.

Severalmiuion

pa.ts

a.c availabl online through

various rcsources,and all

parls

can be dited

to fi1

useB specilic

requi.cmcnts. Thesc online 3D

parts

librarics cnable designe.s

o add the components mto

iheir

designssithouthaving to remodol hem from

thc mmufacturer's specilications,

a huge imesavcl

O

0.. lgr cnarg r

on t lc t ly

One change to a

part

often impacB muliiple

views

ofthe d.awin8, requiring

rhe enginee. to mmually

update aU assembly models, drawings,

view",

details, and bills ot

matedal

(BoMs),

an inhrcnrly

Dvery new

Dfoduct

design

tnusr

undergochangs

q r evolees

through

he

r lev. lopment

cyclc. Each

changca

r 2D drawing o.

rl l

AU drawing

F lhodrdln d$t

0ot.?Hlilwrl 3coolsr,

oaka

.lhft Llmned

u$d I i0 solld

modcllng

ablrlD 'dur. [s

dlilqn

cyclo y50

p3ffinl,

ul ls

developmEnlcosts

y50

pon.nl,

xFdne

he

dor lopmsdl noldr

id

dimensions,

nd annotat ions

update automatically,

so the

designer

never has to redraw

a

section, detail, or isomei.ic

view manuaUy,

g.eatly

rducing

thc

possibility or


3/65

enor-prone

process.

MakinS a change

in 2D also

often necessitates an addiiional round of drawing

checking, a time-consuming

and tedious

process.

On the other hand, making

a change to

a 3D solid

modcl is much

simpler and faste.-

Solid modeling

sysiems

offer bi-directional

sssociativity,

wnich

assures he user

that all elements

of a model are

associated

or connccted.

when a change

is made o

a 3D model, ii

is automaticauy.efLected

in aU

related

d.awinSs and associated

vicws.

Pa.amet.ic

design functionality

is anothe.

Iearure

of many solid modelers

that facilitales

enginecring

changeorde.s

(ECOS).

Ot iginal ly

developed o. lhe

aerospace and automorive indust es fo. desiSnine

complex cu.ved

forms,

paramel.ic

modeling

wo.ks

like

a numertcal sprcadsheet.

By storing

lhe

relat ionships

betwecn he

va. ious clementsof the

deslgnand trcat ing

hem l lke mathemat i .a l

equations,

it allows any elcment

ol the model to

be

changed, and then insran

y

regenerales

the model

in much the same

way that a sp.eadshect

auiomar.ically

recalcularcs

any numerical

changes.

ln

p^.ameir lc-based

sol id

modelers, aU

fealures and dimcnslons

of a model

are sLored

as dcsign

paramelers,

al lowlng

designe.s

l .o

make fasr c lesignchanges

by simply

changln8

rhc

vetuc of rhc

paramer. . . Whan a

talue is

changed, the model

ls auromat ical ly

updaled io

Lhe new

valuc, and al l o iher

model tealures

and dimcnslons af tecrcd

by thal chang.

update

automat ical ly.

Sol id model ing

systems lhst

of fcr boih bi-direct ional

associat iv i ty

and

parametr ic

design funcl ional i ty

not only speed

deslgn changes,

but also

Sreat ly.cducc

the

chance ot e. .ors.

O

f,rxtnt2ln th

ualu. ot 3D Prod| |ct

0r t .

Onc

problem

inhe.ent

io 2D desiSn is

the fact that,

afre. all the work is done to create the many levcls

of drawin8s ftat

oltimately represent

a

product,

that

data is

practically wo.thless to other

applications

such as structural

analysis and

downstream manufacluring

p.ocessesJ

ncluding

tooling creation and

nume.ical control

(NC)

pfogramming.

These funclions requi.c

3D drta,

which musr then be created

f.om the

original2D

Another way

to derive value from a solid model is

to analyze md test dcsiSns rhile they ar stitl

d iSiral .Th. abi l ' rJ

tn

resr

produ. ls whcn

designs

still reside in tho computer not only saves on

protoryping

costs,

but also

p.ovides

engineers wiih

a way to

quickly

iterate and oltimize designs

witlout woftying about

delays or

prototyping

costs

rhar.mighr de.ail

production

schedules and

Traditionally, designe.s

have had a defind window

ol oppo.tuniry to improvc upon a dcsign bcfore

having to move it for*ard

in o.der to adiere to

p.oduct

schedules, oftcn rcsultinS in an it s

good

enough attirudc

-

hardly l.he

hallma.k oftruly

oplimized designs. Today, horcvcr, duc to solid

modeling rools that arc fully

inreS.ated with

analysis, as

well as simulalion tools running on

affordable

yet powcrful

PCs,

enginee.s can

simulate models,

go

back and make a change to thc

CAD model, and thcn ve.y

qriclly

sec

the effecrs

of that change.

Modular i ly s anolhe.

t rend in manufacrur ing hat

has beneftted from dcaiSn rcusc. As cons m.r

markets becomc increasingly

flnicky,

manufacturers have responded by creating families

of

products,

ach

with subt le dl t ferences o appeal

to

dist incr ive

groups

ot users, h i l s l i l l using

.ommon componcnts. hcsc modula.producls may

vary in size, weight ,dimension,

r

capaci iy-

Fo.

the manufaclurer,

p.oducts

that sharc common

moduLeswirhin a

p.oduci

famlly are more

efficient

to design and manufactd.e

a.e easie. to upgrade

and maintain, and enable the reus of

product

dara

-

all ot which reduce

the ovc.all lifecyclc cosls of

l icrng

2l ' ,

r r s no.r ly impossible o dcvelop

vaf ious

confiSuratioru of

producrs,

assemblies,

o. families

of

products

etficiently,

since each individual

assembly must bc .edrawn from scratch. sohe

:lD

CAD systems otle. configu.ation managemcnt

tools, which enable uscrs to create mulliple

variations of a

product

in a single documcnt. Thcsc

tools also hclp users to develop and manage

families of

parts

and models

wiih different

dimensions,

components,

propcrtics,

and other

Anothe. area in rhich 3D

producl.

data

can be

leveraged is

itownstream in

p.oduct

documentation


4/65

GHAPIER

::

0nce

a company recognlzes

the need to move from

2D to 3D deslgn, hre s a

plethora of hurdles

both technlcal and cultural

-

that must be

overcom, Englners and deslgners must

b

retralnedon the new system.

whlch ls of tn

radlcally different frotn

the sysrem wlth whlch

they'reaccustomed.Excul tves

must be f l rmly otr

board wlth the

project ,ul t lnately convlnd hat

the lnltlal costs

and loss of

productlvlty

are wortn

the lnvesrment over the

long term,

Oftcn, CAD managers,

as well as the nglneers and

dslgners who report to them,

are the ftrst to

rcognlz the bneflts of deslSnlng

n

3D.

Faster

dslgn cratlon, easler and more accuraie deslgn

changes, et tr communlat lon l deslSn

ntent,

and th ablllty to test dslgns

whlle stlll dlgltal are

among th many beneftts that come

to

mlnd

when

ponderlng

such a t.ansltlon.

Upper management, oweve.,

ml8ht see he

sttuatlon completely

differendy, The Jlrst

objecdo.s

thar

mlSht pop tnto thetr heads when

thtnktng

about embarktng

on that same

path

could

be lncreased

costs, the

need

for addttlonal staff

tralnlng,

reduced

producdvlty, ind the

posstblllty

of losing legacy data that have taken years to

accumulate.

Whtle

some of these concerns mtghl

be easily mlttgated, othrs are

grounded

tn reallty

and shoutd h carefully addressed before an

jmplementatlon

ts lnttiated.

The

fi.st task is to

attain

upper management buy-

jn.

The

only way to successftrlly mplement a new

technology, srch as a

3D CAD

system, is to ensure

tbat

recurlves

have a full unde.standlng of the

tlme savtngs and competttlve beneflts that are

obtajnable uslng 3D CAD. ThouSh crtaln costs

mlSht prove dlfflcult to predlt, uppr management

must also be told upfront of all dflnable cosrs

-

both monetarlly and ln the loss of

productlvlty

-

that the companywl l l lncur as a resul t of th ls

Once upper managementhas been convlnced, lt s

essent la l o keep hm n the loop, holdtng nonthly

lnternaluser-groupmcct lngs o assess ow the

plannlng

and lmplementatjon are

progresslng.

Keeplng managemntabrast of the lmplementatlon

vla reSular eportswt l l belp to al levlate

uncertalntles and to assure thelr contlnued support,

wht.h l r cruclal ro rhe cuccecs f

(he

projec. .

padrgiig

macniner], edd Ds.lld modelhg pahilhlB o

qddry

elQr@

p.n

ad .embry rh4rl.riv

in rlal tm. h orde.

lo optml4 mchlEry

psrdmEe.

Usirg30

solidmodellq,

H.rlle$ dgineB wrc .bb ro d6ign .smllies

fid lesr iefi

befde boilding

.rrs,

$ich uldm.relyeMlled

diem o shonene

d6lgr rnd Mnufctrn'g qde trom m monhs

ojulr rllo nronris,

H.rln6

ln'Ilalional,a narufa.Urs ol cllrom


5/65

@

lrotcct ing

l | rYestm. l ts in 2I)

One lndisputable facr to

present

to management ts

that 2D CAD technology has matured to the

polnt

where

it has achteved all the

producdvlty

beneflts

tt ls capable of

provtdtng.

Conversly, 3D CAD ls a

dlffernt. reladvely new technology, whlch ls

capableof del iv. lngevenmore benef l ts o

veryone withln the manufacturlng organization

and

ts col laboradve upply chaln.

The adoptlon

of 3D solld modllng enables a

tompany

to make deslgn chanSdsmuch faster and.

ktth fewer Ifo.s than wlth 2D.qAD. Afte. a deslgn

change 3 made to a 30lld

'nodell

all d.aolng vtews,

dimenslons, and annotatlons update automattcally.

So th deslgner nevor has to manually redraw a

secdon,

detall, or lsometrlc

vlew, gratly

reduclng

theposstbt l i ty

off for . Unl tke 2D echniqucs. ol ld

ftodellnS

dslgn methods allow englneers o

produce

drawlngs much faster.

In addltlon, solld modls

greatly

facllltat the

communlcat lon fdeslgn lntent throughout he

organlzatlon. An accurate

3D

model, wlth all tts

assoclated ongeometr lc nglneer lnS ata at tached

to

jt,

becomes a complete dlgttal

product

for destgn

revtews,analysts,

rocurement,

nd manufactur lng.

Pllrs, ts form ls immedtately usable by all

persontcl

nvolved n

product

development, o ih

technlcal

and nontcchnlcal, maklng lt lnftnltely

nofe valuable to a company than its legacy 2D data.

Despl te hls fact . many companleshave arge

amountsof lntel lectualcapl tal led up ln thelr 2D

systems

-

from

the actual drawlngs to the

knowledgeolthetr deslgners

whl.h of ten makes

them hesitant to shift gears and move to 3D. At

these companles, the management mtght fear that

they wlll

no longer

be

abl

to use thelr prevlotrs

deslgn data

efflctndy

and that extenslve tralnlng

wlll be requtred on ncw systems. They inay also

feaf having to reorganize

the processes on whlch

their 2D

drawings

we. based tn the

past.

Some of these fears are

reality based. Designcrs

wlll require training on the ncw systems, thetr

lmplonlrrlng r 30 CrD

3y'r.n .r Inisi.p.

potymar

O6|lp

(tpc),

ma tactlftr ol sp.cl.lhd polyolfln hnlc

rd

p ..

p..t.{tng

produca

n rFlom.,

rss [ad h sho.r.ned ddopnsn

tlm6hy 0

pa.cqn;

o$gld dovoloFnd co.r by s5

p|corll

l.| s6ddro.i

b,

t0

prcsu

tnd rduceddro.i D, 75

p..onr.

product lv l ty

on those new sysrems

wi l l not lnt t ta l ly

be

up to

par

with wha t l t was

on the 2D systen,

and

some

processes

i l l chang.However,mosr 3D

CAD systems o al low for the f tpor t

of2D data.

Therefore,

a companys tnvestmcnt

n 2D legacy

data

wlll not b lost as a result

o{ the

For theseconpantas,a

safer

path

o 3D rntghtbe a

transltional 2Dl3D

deslSn system that employs

3l)

dslgn or new

deslgn

projects

whl le malntatntng

the 2D deslgn

process

for deslgn modlftcattons.

This way, prolects

are not dtsruprcd, the

rranslrlon

can take

place

ove. a pertod of t lme,

and destgnars

wl l l have dme

to rceive

proper

ralnlng.

(D

Mtths

Ver3u3 G.l i t t

Lt s take a look ai somc of the

commonobjct tons

that uppef

managefnnt f ten havewhen

considrtng a rnove fron 2D to

3D CAD.


6/65

Myth: Scnior- Ievel engireers

don' t get

3D

design.

In

.eal i ty, wc al l l ive ln

a

3D

world and have

an

lnrate

senscof how

to navigatewjthln

i t . The

developers f 3D CAD

systems avc

worked hard

to

cfeate not only lntul t ive

user ntcr faces

brr

also

logical

work structufes

o. desiSnjng D

models.

A. r re\ulr . rhcsr s) srems

are \urpr ls lnglv

imp1.

for

enginees to lcarn.

Despi te hjs fact , l t s

real ist ic o assume

hat most

engiDeers ver the age

of

30

wcrc taugbt

engincer ing n

the ZD wor ld. fhcsc enBinee.s

many of whom are now senjor lcvcl engineers nd

designers wcrc t rained

on 2D. clther CAD

or

drawtng-bascd

yslems.Thc

good ncws s that

thescsamcdcslgners

lso undcrstatd

f t rsthand hc

hhe.ent wcaknesses

f 2D; hcfcfore,

many wi l l

easl ly ccognize

he areas n whlch 3D

melhods

Whl lc somc dcslgncrs

wl l l remaln cslstant

o

lcarnlng3D, nslst ing

hal they afc sdl l

p.odx.r ivc

uslng2D mcthods.many

wtl l v lcw thls chan8e

as

an oppoftunl ty

o

advanc.

thelr ski l l

sct and

wl l l

cager lyembarkupon 3D t.alnlng. n lact , many oi

these

proact lve

cnglnec.s

may havealrcady

pa.t lc lpared n

som cvcl o l3D deslgn

scl f

cducat lon

vla

tutor la ls.

onl lne

guldes,or VAR

scmlnars as a

way to bolsrcf their fu lufcjob

Often referred

o as

"car ly

adoplers, ' thcsc

engi.ecrsand destgners

hor ld bc among he f t rst

to be t rained

n

3D

CAD. After

seeing hc

prod,, . r

r

i ,

y gJirs a, h l . r

Fd

b

,hc car ly

3doptFr i

group

-

or perhaps purredon

by con.crn ovcr

futurejob

secur iry n today s un.er tain

manufactu. ing

ndustry

-

more

e.gidccrs wi l l

fo l low

rhe samc

path.

My(h: Ia

costs too much.

Whendr l \ed

b) uppe. mJndAcmFnrf

rhi ' rhdnSn \

gojng

o cosi

a lo l , yorr answershould

be,

"Yes. '

However,

his is also your f i rst opportuni iy

o

beglnbul ld ing

he case or the fol lowing

act:Thc

savings

n labor and the bcncf i ts der ived norn h

new system

wil l l t imately makc fof a sol id return

on

rhe .ompany's nvestment.Morc on that 1atcr ,

but

ler 's l rst take a look at thc spcci l ic costs.

One

waJ

to

dlverLdisaste.and discourscdown thc

roa. l

s to

be

complelelyhonestwith managemcnt

from Lhe

o tset . Inform them upffont of the cxact

costsof rhe sol tware,

ha.dwa.c, rajnjng,and

.amp

up t ime requi .ed or a 3D mplcmcntat ion.

After

rhese osls a.e discusscd, valuatcwhat thc

.projected abor savingswi l lbc oncc thc systcm s

up and running.Labor savings, ouplcd with thc

savirgs der lved

rom a reduccdnumbcr of

physical

prororypes, an quickly

-

ol tcn wlthtn thc f l rs l

year pay back the star tup costs or thc

Ler 's breakdowo the spccl l ic costsof an

impl.mcntar lon.

. l rst , rhere s the ac(ualcost for

rhc

sol twar. as w.1l as thc Integrated hlrd

party

sof twarc.

Forrunatcly, he cost ot 3D CAD systems

has comc

down slgni f lcant lyslnce helr

lntroduct ion,duc

ln par l to lhe surgeoi mldrangc

CAD prodtr . ts hat havc dr lvcn down costswhl le

glvtng

hlgh

cnd pa.kagcsa run lor Ihcir moncy n

terms

of fun. t ional i ty.

Accordlng o Daralech.

a m6rkct rcsearch i rm,

thcsemid.angcor valuc p. lccd 3D CAD packigcs

whi.h werc p.eviouslybi l lcd as 80

pcrccnt

of thc

funct io.al i ry at 20 pcr .cnt of thc

pr icc

now ot lcr

closcr o 90 pcrc.nt of the funct tonal l tyand, ln

most

nstances, t 50 pc.ccnt ofwhat thc high-cnd

l\,{osr

ikely, there also wlll bc

jncrcascd

hardware

reqr i rements.

hough hcsc costshavc bccn

\omeshd, mi, igdr .d n r . , .nr ycJr \d\hiAh

powered,

Windowsr

basedPCshaveplummctcd n

cost . O(her

hardwareexpensesmighl resul t rom

rhe need or 3D

graphicsa.celrators.Tberewi l l

a lso be costsassoctated

irh t ralningengineers n

3D designsystems.

whtch .ar be

Ineasrred

both

monetar l lyand n loss

ofman hofts.


7/65

Tho gb

thesc nl t ia l

costs

wi l l be signl f icant ,

perhaps

he bcst way

to ovrcome

cost obje.r ions

js

to

point out that

your conpany's

transi t lon

o 3l)

CAD

s an invcstment

n i ts f rnrre,

a way

to bet tcr

compete

n thc

ycars ahead.Mig.at ing

o 3D

CAI)

wi l l have

ong teim tmpacts

on bolh

salesan. l

osrs

by cnabl ing

companles

o but ld

better

prod . ts

in

shortcr desi8.

cycles

with less

wastc of t tnc

a.d

Wi$ vr.ylig sllll $ts, hrctgrollnds, d wals or oafllng, 30 CAo

t

iiliq lor englnoss

toutd IndlvldulllyLilotsd

optlonsnclutb

rr.dilonal tnhing

das' r o.t.ls,

vARseminn,

usr

grouPs id

Myth: 2D

works for

us.

Why

chang?

Whl le

2D CAD can be

an ef f tc lent

way to creale

produc drawtngs,

3D CAD

furthets

ef f lc iency

by

spccdtngup

everyact lvt ty

and by opt imizing

dcstgns

hrough he removal

of many

sources

of

potenUal naccuracy

and

erro. . Moreover,

he

bcnef i tsof 3D

CAD wll l

be sccn nor

ust in the

cngtnee. ing

cpartment

but also h.oughout

rhe

enrire enterprisc.

The transition

to 3D

deslgn wtll

havc

a slgnl f icant

mpacl

on arcassuch

as

qual i ty

w6rranty costs.

manufactufing,

and assembly

as

wel l

as salesand market ing.

To

counr.r

rhb objecr ion.

pornt our

rhF arPa\

n

whlch 3D

CAD can

solvc current

problems

mo.e

efficiently and,

in the process,

shave enough time

off existing

pfocesses to pay for itself. To quantify

rbis argument,make

a l ist of a l l the

ways n which

3D CAD could

improveupon curenr

processes nd

then calculate

ln both abor and t ime

the .ough

t ime savin8sassociaied

with eachone.

Thorgh thjs

ls one way to

quant i fy h benef i tsol3D

CAD, he

real savingswi l l u l t imately

esul t rom

higher

qlal i ty p.oducts hal are

desiSned nd

manrfacturcd aster-

,

Some

ompanicswt l lconLend

hat 3D sol ldmodelnrg

technology

s ofcompeti(tve

advantagconly

to

companiesdesiSnlngand manulacturlngcomplcx

parts

and

assembl jcs. ' lhceal i ty

s that any

manufacturer

evn hosc desiEring

relativcly slmple

products wl l l

Sain

compct i t lve

dvanlaSe y

dcsignlng

and manulacturlng bett-"r

products fastcr.

D

Picking

thc night Project

ard thc

Righl P.oplc

I t mt8hr

provc dl f l icul t lor somecompanles

o stop

using 2D abrupt ly

and move complctely

o 3D lor

al l dslgns.Ungincc. lnS

managc.s

nccd to assess

careful lywhlch proJect nd which

pcople o start

out ln 3D CAD.The bcst

way to begln

a

3l l

tmplcmentat ton s

with a

pt lot project ro

cnsure

he

declstonsmadedur ing

rhc ear l ierstages

are wel l

rho ght

out. l ' l lot

proje.rs al low slnal l , ocused

gro ps to test the tnplemenrat ion,

docomentadon,

and

tralning

processes i th ln a smal ler .more

conrrol lcd

cnvironment.

They alsoal low the team

to make

mlnor adjustmenls

r changes o these

processes s they are betngeslabl lshed.

Ii s essenllal

o the succcssofa 3D

implementatlon o

choose rhe rtght

tjmc and task in

which to try

3D

CAD. Since many designsare merely modincations of

existtng systems

n whichjusr

a

few

areas of thc

design need changing,

t would be mpracttcal

to use

3D dcsign on these

ypes of

projects.

A belter

app.oach mighr be to maintain

egacydara n 2D and

hold

offon using 3D until a

new design

project

arises.

Pi lot proiccts should

be shorter term

projecls

that

are easily manageableand

relativcly low risk. Afte.


8/65

the completion of the

pilot

p(ogram, iCs

tmportant

for the

englneering

team

leaders

to conduct

a

posrmortem

of

tlle

p.oject wtth

the entire

pfoject

tam

to assess

what did

and didn

t work

and to

determlne

the

best ways

to lmprove

upon

these

To avotd

dlsrupting

and

overwhel'nlnB

deslSners

engineertng

m.nagers

mtght

also

try a step_by_step

tmplemntation

that slovly

lntroducs

3D

nodellng

methods,

dependlng

upon

the task

at hand

and

the

varlous

sklll levels

oflndlvtdual

users At

thls

potnt

the manager

must hotesdy

analyze

whlch

enSlneers

are quallfld and inotivated enough to ftake the

ftrct transltlon

to 3D. Addlttonal

tralnlnS

and

posstbly extra

work rnay

be requlrcd

ofthese

englneers,

so

manaSers

should

b both

realisttc

and

honest

ln thelr

expectatlons

of

these early

adopters

These

englneers

and

destgners

wttt

probably become

the

projecCschamplons

who

wlll mntor

other users

durtnS

hetr transtdon

_

lhe oncs

whom

orhe'

englnerswlll

seek

out when

they

encounter

problems ot have

quesdons.One

way to ncouraSe

llill lmplomd ry . nfl 30 CIDsystm 0troqhootn oqJllrdlor,

Ecco,

mnutftnlt.

ot bachD

wlnln alrm3

tor

ucrr.nd

n fly

these mentors

s to

provide simple

rewards to

acknowledge

helr effons While

these rewards need

not b elaborate,

hey

a.e an important

way to

.ecognlze he

above'and-beyond

fo.ts

of enployees

who are cructal

to the

successofan

tmplementation.

In order to

determlne

who wlll be

on a

pilot prolect

team, as well

as what

type oftralnlnS

will be most

approprlate

fof usefs.

a managef m$t

ask sevefal

questlons:

Do they

have a 3D CAD

background?

Wtll

they be

'powr' users?

Wlll they

be reqri.ed

to

work wlth

complex assemblles

or

parts? Wlll they

be rqutred

to lmport

Seomelry

from other

Another

critlcal component

of

any succssful

technology-re,ated

tmplementatlon

ls tralnlfl8.

Because all

englneers

have dllferent

sklll sets

backgrounds,

and

ways of learnlnS,

tralnlng

must

be lndtvtdually

tatlored.

There ls

no such thlng

as

'one class

t ts al l . 'Several

educ.t tonal

opt lons

are

avallable,

tncludlng tradltlonal

tralnlng

classes,

tr.rtorlals,VAR

semlnars,

user

groups, snd onllne

guides.

Before

sny engtneer

partlclpate ln a

rull'

fledged

Falntng

class,

t s lmPeradve

to do solne

prel lmlnary nvest lSadon

nto 3D tcchnlque

rhereby

ensurtng

that

ttme ls not

wasted whn the

forrnal tralnlnS

bglns.

The

Managr 's

Perspect lv:

Todd Mansftld,

Systems

Engtne. lng

Team Lcadar,

ECCO

ECCO s the

world's

largest manufacturer

of

backup alarms

and amber

warnlnS lghts or

comme.ctal

vehlcles.

The company

s t rsnsl t lon

from AutoCAD

ro a 3D

solld modeltng

sysrcm

i'tproved collaboration,

communicatton,

and

efflctency:

helped cut

design cycle

dme by 40

percentr and reduced scrap by 5 to 10 percent Let s

hear from

Todd Mansftld,

systms

englneerlnS

team leadef,

on how

they ovefcame

the cultrrral

barrlers

to lmplementatlon

at ECCO.

&;

t low dld

you ldendfy

whlch engtneers

o

t.ansltion first

to 3D?

A: I would

say there are

two ways lo

look at iti

s$lpmem,

Incra|sd

rw6ir6

y

lrl|ding

I |Ew,

contlgunbl.

mrtrcl

li|r,

cur ts d6lgn

crcl6 y

a0

scorl

|ldcGd

$r.p bY

$10

Ps...n,

.nd

.d

ov.d nlg ..

L$b or

c.ll. or.lhr1,

conmunlc.lion,

ld smchncy.


9/65

Who

are the

most agreeable

people? And

whre is

I t most

needed?

ou

mlght have

someone

who s

very

proactlve,

but they

really

don t

have any

lssues

that

are costlng

the company

time and

money.

Convrsely,

yorl mlght

have

someone

who s

not lhat

proactlve. but

they miSht

be

tn a sltuation

ln whlch

-

lfyou

don't

flx lt

-

you r

&olng

to

hsve

blgger

lssues

as far as

producttvttv ts conce'ned

A:

How

do

you motlvate

th englneer

who s

hesltant

to move

to 3D7

A: l fyou

look

at the

peoPlewho

are most

down

on

tmplementlng new technology, lfs often the sentor

people

tn

rhe shop

who are

holdinS

on to

systems

that they

may welt

have set

rP themselves

So they

have a ral

sense

of ownemhlp

on

those

older'

antlquated

systems

lfyou

can

8o

after

them

tntrlally,

turn them

stound,

and

8et

them

into a

proacttve

posltlon, thn

you suddenly

have

a

tremndous

asset. You'll

have

turned

your blggest

crltlcs

lnto

your

blggest

advocates.

and thatJust

changes

the

whole face

of lmplementatlon

They

say,'l

ve done

tt thls way

forever.

and

I don t

want io change.' So you say, 'What lf I can show

you

how

to take

all thls

admlnlslratlon

stuff

of f

your

plate?

Instead

ofspendlng

all day

creathg

drawinSs

that areJust

a

by_Product

of 3D

deslgn.

you

get to spend

youf tlme

dolnS

what

you

went to

school

for and

what

you love to

do

-

and

that

s

deslSn. 'Change

s scary'

But l fyou

can

partner

with

them and

assure

thm that

thts ls

what

you

have

to do to

remaln competltlve

you

can

hopefully

work

vith them

to drlve

out th.t

fear' lt s

a blg shlp,

and lt

tums slowly.

But

onc h

starts to

turn, suddenly

tt'sJust llke

a wlndfall

for

vou

/i:

How

dtd

your company

begin its

A: As

palnful as lt

was, we

set a drop_dead

d'tc

after whlch

all futura

work

-

both

new and

existhS

-

would be

done ln 3D. W

had

thls huge.

huge

pile

ollegacy

AtrtoCAD

drawings-

It was

patnful. and

,nitiatly

a ftve-mlnute

change

sometlmes

took

a fw

hou.s.

But

lf you don't

draw

a lin ln the

sand.

you

re

gotng o

waffle between

wo systems

forever. nlttally,thre s golng o be somepaln' but

the rewa.ds

beyond

hat are

weil worth it

Last

yar,

we hada 42

percentncrease

n documenrs

createdand

evtsed.

Q:

How

tmpoftant s

it to a successful

implementatton

o

haveman.Sement

uy-tn?

A: lt s

paramount.

Cs the numbr

one ssue.

fvou

don\ have

hat,

you

have

no authortty

and no

authntlclty

n what

you'rc doit8.

tf managenent

doesn share

your

viston, hen

you re

dead

n

rhe

warer.You have o implement hls whue actln8oo

th

authorlty

ot senior management

'"11.

ow

tmportant

s tt to

prform

sohe

tyPeof

advance

ROI study

on movtng

he company

new

product eveloPment

o 3D?

A: I thlnk

Cs ery

nportant.

ROI s easl ly

calculated

and nportant,

but

I thlnk lt's really

seconda.y

o

Plnpointlng

what

yoLrr xact ssus

are.You

mlght hlnk

youknow

whatyour

problemr

ar:but fyou

dld some

nalysts,

ou

d real lze

hat

they

ml8hi

be dlffrent.

f

you

don't

know where

you sre of

whefe

you're

8oln8,

5ny toad

wlll

Set

you

there.Untll

you

deftne

your

lssues.

ou

don

t

know

what the

posslble olutlonsare,

Wemade

he declsion

o

move o 3D for

buslness

feasons,

ecause

ustomers

re exPectlns

hat vel

olnodllng.

Many

of our customrs

oday

would

not

accepta 2D drawlng

at all.

Theyare

asklnS or

solld

geometry.

s

we l as ICES

and STEP les.

outputs

hat only 3D

can

glve you You can

l.se

your

focus

on th

fact ihat lt's a

b sinessdeclsion

to

go to

3D

hsedays

lt

P.oJects

our technt.el

competence.oday,3D s no longersomethlng nlv

the atst

and

greatestdo. You.e

shootlng

par

golf

lfyou're

uslng3D.

h s no longer

btrdle

golfi

lt's

par

and headtng

or boSey

ecausehings

are moving

so

fast. Once

you make

he buslness

ectslon,

ou get

out your checkbook

nd

ask,

"Okay.

what

s it

golng

to cost to

get

us

the.e?"

You know cs

Sojng

o take

tlm and money,

but

you do tL.And

onc t s done,

you'redamn

glad you did it.


10/65

User Pcrspcctlve: Jeff

Ha

ErcD,

Englncering

Systems

Softwarc

Analyst,

Pap.r

Convertllg

Machtae

coa'pany

(PCMC)

PCMChas

baena

Slobal

manufacturer

fPaper-

convert ing

equlpment

tnce

1919. eCs

alk

to

Jeff

Hallgren,

engtne.lng

systems

software

analyst

about how

the company

made

the

t.ansltion

rrom

2D to 3D CAD.

*:

Ilow dld

you tdenttfy

{blch enginecrs

to

transltion

fhst to 3D?

A: usually you look at startlnSwlth the eng,oee's n

the new

product

development

area

Thev are

th'

ones

who typtcally

start

out wlth

a clean

shet ofpaper.

They aie

usually

the

8o_8etters,

more

lnnovailve.

and

ready

to accepl

new challenges.

They

also

tvpicallv

have more

tlme as

opposed

o an englneer

worldng

in

an enStneered-to-order

nvlronment

wlth anywhefe

from a

couple ofdays

to a few

months

turnarodnd

tlme. You

ned to

transltlon

them dtffrndy

than the

new

product development

eam Also

the new

product developftent

group can usuallysqueeze

n

th tlme to

do the experlmeniatlon,

so

the

productlvtty hlts are not as great

{li How lmportant

ls

tt to attatn

manaSement

buyln

for such

a transltlon?

A: I fs absolutely

cr l t tcal

l fhanagement

doesn\

drlve

lt, tCs doomed

to fall

You really

need

to sell

msnagement

on the

beneflts,

snd

you also need

to

mak sure

they understand

how lonS

tt s

goinS to

take

and what the

ramlflcattons

ar.

Mana8ement

needs to

understand

that

there ls no

maSlc

button

There ls

no llght

swltch

you can tu.n

on

-

one

dav

you re

on

a 2D

system, and

the next

dav ve.yone

ls up and

runnlng

and as

efflctent

as

posslblc on

th

nev system.

You really

need

to sell then

on tbe

fact

that thls ls

not an overntght

process, that

the

beneflts

ar real

and langtble

and there

at the

endi

but

you dont want

to

8o

too fast.

and

you dont

want to

drag tt out.

ai

Should

you pe.forrn some

type of

ROI studv

on

moving

ro 3D design?

A: You necd

to do the research.

Cet a VAR

lnvolvd

ro

do s lot of th

legwork for

you,

and

get

a lot ol

rferences

f.om

colnpants

who ve done

lt

-

80

spak to them,

and then

sit down and

say,

"OX,

how ls thls

gotng

to help

the orSantzatton?"

t s

lmportant

to look al ROI

notlust f.orn engtneerlng

but also

as a total organtzation

tool because

t s

8oin8

to lmpact

the entlr

company. Typtcally,

the

ROI does not

come fromlust

englneerlnSi

n fact,

sometlmes

you actually

take a ost

hlt by

Solng

to

3D In the englneerlng group. The real tangtble

beneflts

are seen n

quallty, warranty

costs,

reworks

out on the shop

floor. Thls

ts

Solng

to

lmprove the

manufactu.tng

process

and

the

assembly

p.ocess, because

now

you

can

cre,te

these exploded

vtews, e'drawlngs,

and at madons

rhat will be used

on the shop

floor by those dotng

assernbly

work. They ll have

a better unde.sianding

lf deploYng 30dcslgn

3ynsn, .ll( Mold,

l6.dlng

prot

dd oll

gi4 d, cnm9ld

molds

r

d.rio

hjcdo|

nol{6d

p.rb

rid

.hmlnun

.ddmdh c.tdng,

i s

moldd6lgn cFl.

by 50

p. o|n,

ncFriod

t .blliv

ro npo.l fid upon

varlou3

dd.for

|r, inFwed

thslgn

crJnomrs,

d enbncGd

r3

mold

x|tlFb c.p.tllltlei


11/65

A flnanctal

evaluatlon needs

to be completed

prior

to the movement

of any englneering

SrouP

to a new

MCAD

platformi thts holds especlally

true for 3D

Whn

evaluadnS

the cost elements

of movlng to

3D,

all aspects

of the mlgratlon must

be sssssed

so that a reflectlve

'total cost ofovnershtp"

ls

obtalned. Financlally,

thls Includes

the costs

assoclated

wlth developlnS the fequired

lnf.astructure

(t.alntng,

VAR

support,

standard

llbra.y creation,

standard/best

practlces), PLM

software, engineertng

anslysls soltware

(FEA,

ndtton

analysts).

manufacturlng CAM

software,

and frequnt

updaies

io users workstatlons

to

ersure optlmum perlormance. Addltlonally, costs

should

Includ converslon

of legacy data.

A flrn

ROI can be extremely

dtfflcult to obtatn

because

some ofthe lntanglbles

do not correlate

dtrecdy to

{lscal return. The beneflts

of 3D rnodllng

a.e more far-reachlnS

han as a

deslSn ool utlltzed

solely by and

for enSlneerlnS. hose

orSanlzadons

that don\ inlgrate

to a 3D systm n

the next 3

yearc

vtll b lelt behhd

and wlll be

placed ln a

posltlon

where they wlll be

at an extreme dlsadvantaSe

o theh

competltors.

Four dlstlnct

beneflts of 3D

modllng

recognlzedby PCMCwere lmProveddeslgnefflclency,

Improved

deslSn

quallty, shortned development

cycle, and lmproved

assembly

efflctency. We

cornpleted

a

projected

ROI

based on a senstttvlty

analysls

hat evaluatd he impact

to cofpomte

workflow

resultlng from the 3D

modellng mlSradon.

AlthouSh

an ROI was

projectd, the 3D modeltn8

proJectwas really evalu.ted/sold

on the totd

cost of

ownershlp

and the faci

that as an organlzadon

PCMC

couldnt

arofd not to

.omplate a

mlgratlon.

dl: How

dld

you

determlne

whlch

project

to use

ro.

youf ptlot

progfam?

A: I hlShly,

highly recommend

a phased approach

ICs best

ro manage t through

new

product

development

or

products

that

are

Soing

to be

a.ound fo. a

while: as far as legacy

typ conversion

goes, you

reed

to tfack the

products you wo.k

o.

mosi.

Don't

worry about small, obscur

products.

You need to feally

look at what

products are

golng

to

be vtable for the

.orporatlon over

the next

year.

two yars,or flve

years.

The.e s no bnent

b

convertinga product tne that isn t selling.

{lr

What

wr he tmportant actors to

your

company

n chooslng he rlght 3D CAD systm?

A:

We

ooked or largeassmbly

erformance,

con0guratlon

management, aseof use,and h

suppo.t of

the company tself. Whlch company s

rhe eader?Whats th flnanclal health of the

companyT

hen ou' re olng he evaluatlor.

rallze

hat eachof thessystems s

golng

o

grow,

and he technoloSy

s changlng t a rapld rate,so

look at whtch o.ganlzatlon s respondlngbest o

the needsof thelr

customers.

User Pcrspccttyc:

AIAtt Larscn, Englncc ng

Analyst for IT at Au,otlv

Asp,

Inc.

Autol lvAsp, nc.,

a

subsldtary

f Autol lv nc., lsa

global

manufacturer f auiomobllesafety

estralnt

systems.

he company egan he road lo 3D

lmplenentat lon

n 1998. hough ot

completed,

lt s speakwith Alan Larsen,an engtneerlnS

analyst.

o seehow they

got

th ball rolllng and

how they overcamenltlal reslstance o lhe

project.

G: flow dld

you ldentlfy whlcb nglneeB o

transitlon

lrsr to 3D?

A: We

plcked he

guys

whomoved he astest, l lke

those n new

product

development, ho have o

move ast.

was a memberof that

8roup.

once we

reallzed he

value or us, w lookedat how we

could malnstream

t. Thenw went out and ound

engtnrs

ho

have

epeadng

rocesses

hat took

2D or 3D and remodeled

s they movd o e.ch step

-

whether t was

analysts or

gas

low, suchas CFDi

structuralanalysls; r an llustradon step,whre

they had o make

llustratlonsand remodeUnSs

they wre hand

proS.anmlng nto CNC.

tli How dld

you

determlne

which project to use or

your

Ptlot

program?

A: Therewas a

ptlot project group withjust a few

seats hat were doing oollng.

processequipme.t,


12/65

and fabrtcation,but theywereJusthanglng

ut

there

without a net or

any s'rpport.Now

w ve

turned

he .esources f ihe

company

o support

that effort

and have olled

out comPany

tandards

So he

ptlot

project

was

klnd ofa case

study or the

company

o

p.ove

t works.

Thenwe

went to the

R&D

Sroup

who has a lot

inore CADdtverslty.

They're

he harderones

o brlng n. But

they wre

also solated,

so I could oll

tt out wtth

them

orlSlnally

and not lmpact

he rest of

the comPany

4l: Dld lhese

early users

help ransitlon

other

Ai Not really. Our

pllot

project

was used

prlmartly

to remove

s roadblock n

the company.

rom that

pfoject, however,we cratd

company

tandafds

that made

t okay o do

what we were

dotng,whlch

was a

lSnlflcant step

n trylng to roll

lt out In the

colnp.ny.

fir

How dld

you attaln msnaSement

uy-ln

or the

transltlon?

A: I

plcked

ny

battlesvery

carefully.We ooked

or

aress n whlch lt would be a slam-dunk,wherewe

were

8ttin8

ld

ofwork

processes.

t Isn\ hsfd

to

deflne hat to manBgement.

ou

say,

"Thls

step

s

gotng o be

gone omoriow," and hey mmediately

see he value n lt. When

you try to tell them that

it's btter, here'salways

someonewho s

golng

o

questlon

everythtng

ou say.Wedldnt want to turn

thts nto anythlngother

than a slam-dunk.Bven

though hey dtdn't enti.ely

understandt, they

understood t on thelr level.

Now we re

gotng

back

ro reeducate hem.we've

done

Phase

ne,so now

what dos

phase

wo entall?

They can really

dlgest t ln one blte,3o

theres a contlnualelment

fi:

llave

you

completed

our tmplementarlon l3D?

A:

No.

We're

abouta

year away.

We

started movlnS

to 3D In 1998, ut the

companydldn t fully support

the ffort. It was an

underground ffort. lfs

tmportant o make t

a

gra$roots

effort rather than

an underground

ne.Now we ve made t

vlslble

to

mana8emnt a solutlon

hat

8ts

rld of redundant


13/65


14/65

A

good-qualily

workstarion capable of running tD

cAI)

systems

will

cosr approximarely $2,000

o

$3,000,

excluding the monilo.-

factors thal could

increase

the

price

in.lude added mcmory or thc

need

for a high-end

3D

graphics

card.

In most cases,

system

pe.formancc

is

proportional

to rhe

processor

speed ofrhe PC s OPU, hough il

is fa. f.om being the sole coniributor to

pe.formance.

Most CAD systcms will run

weu

on

systems based on Iniel's Pentium""4 or XeonrM

chipsets, or the AMD Opteroniv chips running

eirhe. Windows2000Professional r WindowsXP

I'.olessional (rlz-bit). A performancc advanrageoI

WindowsXP P.ofessional s thc JOB modc,

which

isn' l avai lable n Windows2000.Recent ly,

Microsoft int.oduced lhe Windows XP Professional

64'bii ope.arjng syslem, which wiU

grcaily

b.nefil

englreersworkrng n

i l l )

r -AD.

Anoihc.

f {cto.

to .onslder ls lhe cachcsizc of

thc

compuicr .

A

OI ' l t wi th a 2MB cachc

wi l lof fc.

better

pc.fo.mancc

than one with only I MB.

To

bettc.

cvaluaic

r.hcva.ious sysrcmi,

you

crn

.xn

benchnrark

tests

wilh real models, if

possible,

or

chcck out standafd benchn)ark scores ot systcms

.unning

various

3D

cAD sysrems ai

httpr/www.spec.or8/gpc.

O

Hox |ucn Manory r E| l ugh?

Memo.y is onc of the most important

componenLs

to considc., as mosr 3D OAD

systcms .rc fairly

memory-intcnsive. When

a system .unning 3D CAI)

runs out of memory,

you

will expe.ien.e a

significant dcclinc in

performance,

due to the fact

that hard disk access imes are

infinitely slowcr

inan mcmory access lmes.

So how do

you

know hor

much mcmory is enough?

The ansver to that

qxestion

depends largelyupon

the darascts bein8 loaded, as

weu as on thc numbcr

of

prog.ams

that

you

will run

simultaneously. Most

3D CAD systems cquire a minimum

of 612MB of

R-^M,although for most engineers

working in 3D

CAD, thai von t be sufficient -

1l

you

will be

running multiplc

programs

of working with la.ge

assemblies, he recommended RAM shoots up to 1

CB or more.

"The

first thing I tell my customers is thar they'll

ned morc RAM tha either they o. iheir IT

departmcnt thinks they'll need," says Jefrrey

Setzer, Technical Scrvices mana8cr fo. Graphics

Systems Co.poration, a Wisconsin based BD CAI)

systems

yAR-

I rccommcnd thcy starr, our wifh I

GB of 8AM

and

go

up from there, depcnding upon

how complex

their individual

part

modeLsare o.

the size of

their assembly models.

To lest how much RAM you wiU need, tcst thc

sorlwa.e with

rcal-worlal datasets. In ordcr to

8et

rhe mosr, ccu.aie

picl r i .e,

atrnch he

3D OAD

sysremalong with

other

appl icat iors

hnt

you

{oold lypical ly bc hrnningon

you.

systcm,You can

track and.epo. l memoryosed n rhc Windo*s

Irer to.mance ystemmonito. .

Keep n mind that as he complexi ly

of thc modcls

developed n. .eascs,so does hc dcmand

or

memory. Fo.tunatcly, mcmo.y upg.adcs

have

become alr ly lnexpenslv.However,

ou

nccd to

antlcipaLe the need fo. future memo.y upgradcs.

One rule of thumb is thar he RAM on C,\D

workstat ionsshould be doubledevery hree

ycars.

Fo. those uscrs who havc ve.y complcx modcls o.

pul l

l .ogether

ieces

nto an assembly, hey may

f ind that they are .eaching he t imirs of a 32.br t

operar ing

ystem. iyour machinehas 4 CB of

memoryand this condi t ion s renched, i is of tcn

seena^s

"blue

screen"condit ion or an

"oui

of

memory" error. Thcsc users will need to install the

Windows XP Profcssional 6{ bit oporating system

and upgrade their lD CAD application to a 64-bit

O

Tir lmpor lancr ot lc l t ro lk ln,

While raw CPU

processing

speed s impo.Dnt,

don't forgct the impo.tancc of a stable netwo.k,

wherc bottlcnccks can bring

producriviry

to a

siddstiu- Ovcrlookitrg thc nctwo.k is the biggest


15/65

mistakc comPanies

make whcn

implcmcnting

a 3ll CAD systcm,

according to Lutz

Feldman, thc

markt ingdirccto.

oi Sol idLineAA.

Headquarrcrcd in Geflnany,

the

company s a VAR or

3D CAD systcms.

' ln

most cascs. usrome.s

end o focus

on rhe

qorkstat ion,"

says

eldman.

"Rdr

nerwork

pcrforman.e

is even morc

impo. l ,anl .

rom our cxper ien.e,

we

have ound rhc

grcatest

bot l , leneck

the.e.

)er fo.mancc s , mrsl

in rhis

arca fo. al l components, ncluding

nelwo.k.a.ds,

routcrc, and

switches."

when implement ing D CAD,

t 'ekl 'nan

bcl ieves

a

good

nciwork is

the nrosr mpoi.ant

conrponent

o considcr .

l hc

prcsence

i an enginccr ing

erverdcdkatcd

to

th.

use ot enginccrc s

anolher cr l t ical componcnt.

At tDVision

Technologics,

Mqjcski notes hat onc

of

thc f i .sr

quesr

ons h. asks

ol companics

rransi t ioning

o JD is

whcthc. or not lhey havc

a

dcdicared

ngineer ing ervcr .

' l t

lhcy don' t , then i t 's a

.ed f lag for us," says

M4ieski . We

cLl hcm rhal

you

nccd to

8cL

an

.ngineer ing

serve. f

you

re

goinE

o sork in a

col labofal . iv.

wo.k cnvironmenr,especial ly

f the

dalasets

are a.ge. I would say

.hat80

pcrcent

ot

the

r ime,.ompanics have an engineef ing

c.vcr .

o.

rhc 20

pcrccnt

of companies

hat arc sl , i l lon

one

big

net{o.k,

ihc datasels

re

going

o bccome

a hot. r leneck.

hey l l cal l us and.omplain

that the

CAD syslem

s .unning slowly, and

Lhat of tcn the

Anorhercommonmistakc s ignor ing he scrcr

when i t comes

ime to upgrad.Oompanies

wi l l

often ser a schedule

fo. upgradin8 engineers'

personal

worksr,ations

but will forgel about

thc

seNcr, cvcn though an

outdated scner will

significantly

slow dorn the

perfo.mancc

of

eve.yone's

ystems.

O

Ttr Po*rr o l

0n- oard

Er.Dhlca

l lven wi lh rhe fastestcompulcr avai lablc,an

inadequale

raphics

ard can Lcad oslow rcircsh

r^roqandjrnrr ' r scrc.n b, hr \ ior To disr l r )

geomct.y

on Ihe screcn,most currcnr 3l)

appl i .a l ions use el ther OpenCL

d.veloDcd

by S(; l )

o. Dire.rX_

(. levebpcd

by Microsoft ) . h ink ot

OpcnGLand Di.eclX as AI ' ls, which appl ical ions,

such as C D

p.og.ams,

us. ro

placc "cal ls"

hroxgh

to display

gcom.try.

Ilolh

slanda.d and

profcssional

g.aphi.s

ca.ds

suDpor[

OpenGLand Di.cctx; howevc., C D use.s

si l l

necd,

t rot .ssionr lgraphi .s.r .d

Thn mrrn

.liltefen.e belreen the two tlpcs is thc drivc.. I

prolessional graphics

boa.d will offcr many more

supporred .ommands than a sranda.d card. which

dire. ls lhe

aclual

p.o.essing

of Lheconrmandso

rhe car.l,

freeing up lhe compute.'s CPLl fo. its

main compul ing r rsk.

Sol twarevendors esl ,each of lhe professional

Eraphics

ardsand

dr ive.s lo ce. t i fy which ones

work co.rect ly wi th

rhei . solrware,

These

esrs

check for issues uch

a$

s.reen errors and

dual

display support-On their Web si tcs,vendors ist

lhe supporied ca.ds and drivers. If

you

purchasc

a

ill)

graphics

boa.d md drivcr, make su.e that thc

CAD vendo. has cer t i f ied hem.


16/65


17/65

For one,

Smphi.s

cdds 3nd today

s operating sJfrems,

such rs Microsoft's

Window XP, now

p.@ide support

for dual monitors,

which cm

provide

big

prcductiviff

gains

or engineers

{o.king in 3D CAD-

The other change

h6 ben hc deflating

p.ies

of flat

panel

displars over

the Lastcouple ofJars.

The higher resolut ion

of high'endmonitors

cnable

engineers working

in 3D CAD to see

more detail in

lhei . models as wel l

as mo.c of thei .

desiSn

layout

-

due to the additional

screen real

estatc

p.ovided

by biggcr displays.

In addiiion,

dual

monito.s

enablensinees

to display hei .

modeLs

on one sc.een,whi le keeping hc commandson

Prr l Iar t r l lh. VAR

Todry,

the valuc-addcd

eNl le.

(VAR) plays

an

essent i r l

o le in 3D implementat ion.

A

good

VAR

wil l

do most

of rhe egwo.k

for a cuslomer

implcmcnt ing

a 3D CAD solut ion

and 1]vi l l

e lp

down thc

t ine as companies

add ne usc

of

intcgrated

third.party software

lools.

vARs were

once

pr imar i ly

in the husincss

of resel l ing

sof iwarei however, heir ro le has evolved.

Cusl.ometsnow

expecr thc "value"add"

io

include

suppon and expc. t tse,

As a resul l , VARS

are no longer simply

pushing

"boxes,"

buL rather

are

playing

a kcy role in

del iver ing otal

solut ions

o

ihei .

custome.s

VARS

will be lnvolvcd

in all facets

of 3D implementattoni

p.oduct

sele.tion,

integral ion,

training,

implementation

supporL and

automrtion.

VARScan

make recommendatlons

rgarding

hardware

needs

as welt as troubleshoot

poienlial pitfalls,

suci

as

network issues,

ile management,

and dealing

with

legacy data.

"We

are much

more a

partner {rtn our customers

than wc were in

the

past,"

says Setze.

of Graphics

Systems Corporalion. 'ln

mmy ways,

wc vc

become

offshoots of thei.IT

department,

as it

becomes

more and more

difficuli to separate

software

issucs from nelwofk

issues from

g.aphics

ca.d issues.

So wc've become

much more

invorved

in other areas ot he

company s business- Plus,

we re educating noi only lhe engineers on new

techniques in 3D, bui the

IT

peopl

as well."

The Msnf,ger's Pe16pective:

Todd Mstrsfield,

Systems Engincer ing Team

Leader, ECCO

i:

What s thc biSgcst har.lwa.e

change a company

should anticipato when moving

ro 3D?

Ai It lakes a lot morc of a compuie.

to run a 3D

sysLem

han ir dos a 2D system-

With AutoCAD@,

yoo

.an

get

away with not up8rading

you.

machines n a reSularbasis.Bul whenyou move to

3l) ,

rhe.e s

going

o be morc data

Lo.runch and

that

reqr i .es a highr- lcvcl ystcm.

wirh lhe cost of

PCsdfopping, rhar rcal ly is no longer

a barr ier .

Uack n 2000, o buy a nicc CAD

wo.ksLal ion

ou

had o spend

$2,000lo

53,000. aday,

you

can buy

one hat would run 3D CAD

sof iware wt lh no

problem

for

$1,000

r lcss,cven

with I GB of RAM

:;

WhaL o

you

fecl are thc most c. i t ical

hardware

components

o consider?

Ai

Everyone

always talks about CPU, bur

RAM is

definitcly

going

to be a

pfimary,

if nol

l,hr

prlmr.y,

componnt

o

consider.

The amount of

p.ocessinS

yotr

can hold in that

.andom access memory is kcy.

Aecause

once

you

fiU ir up, lt slarts to

page

oui

and

utilize

the ha.d d.ive

-

and lhen il, becomes

much

Hard disk

is the only other key component

hat

CAD enginee.s

need to consider. I woul.l

recommend a decent-sized

hard drive that s

going

to be able to hold

your

filcs, because now, instead

otdeal in8 $| l t 260K i lcs. you re going o b c

de.ling with 25MIl

files. Thcs. JD files are higge.

because hey obviously

hold more dara.one of ouf

lcnses is a 25MB file,

and thaCs

ust

one

parr.

Thotrgh

those are important factors, it's really

ihc

eniire

ststem. You nccd a last

processor

to crunch

the dala, a

big f.ont-side bus to

pass

he

informalion,

lots of RAII so

you

don t

page

out, a


18/65


19/65

specd. They 6ha.e

some of the

designs that

we do,

so we need better

connectivity

to ihcm, If

we

go

with a typical connection,

it s

going

to bc

way roo

slow. We might even

have to

go

to thc ext.eme

of

getting

a scrver setup

that is

identical to

what we

have hre, and only

pass

data

wirh changs.

\:

What considerations

do companies

need

ro

make regarding the

network's

se.ver?

A: Th biggest issue

is comparibility.

You have

to

make sure

your

se.ver

is compatiblc

with

your

actual CAD systems

notjusl

mechanical bul.

also

electric (ECAD) and hydraulics, pneumatrc, and

lDb. icat ion

UPL)

sysrems.


20/65

lhahileUeslg:r om

Advancing

he

art of

moldmaking

Unconventional

oolmaking

cuts

signif icant

ime

from what 's usual ly

n

Paql

Dvotak

Senior

dl tor

,'s not hard

or tooling

costs

o devour

00,6 l a

development

udget And

once

constr0cled,

oldscan

makeonLy

ne

product

And

whn

production

inlshes,

molds

uslally

collect

ust on

warehouse

helves

or

years.

A few recent

deas,however,

promise

o

turn these

raditLons

n thelr

head.

For

nstance,

Laminale

oldcan

chopup to

1oo/o ff

traditional

oolin; ead lmes'

And

when

pu

into

producuon,

ts conformal

nd lood-cooling

hannels

elpshave

even

more lrne

off manufacturlng

lcles

Another

ecfnique

rmed

t

for- r9 large

e-ospace

rd marrne

arts

rlmrnares

lo

of -ough,ng,

t also

cutsup to

900/0 tr the

tlme LsLallv

eeded

or

lowtempe-ratuie

olds when

thls ool

s no

longerneeded,

ls sufface

anbe

adlusted

ndcut

again or new

parts

MOLDS

AYERBY

LAYER

Enoineers

r Faat4m,

Troy,

'1ich,, o.roweo

n

idea rom rapld

p.otolyping

o make

la; inatemolds,

P qLipment

u' lds

ans

ro|. ]

ma4y h n laYers

f

plast

so why

not bulld

njectionmolds

ayerby

layerout

of sheel

stock?

The echnique,

alled

amlnate

oollng,

slarts

with a cAD model

of a

part

software

'lilds

a moldbase

around he

part

and

hen

slices hls assembly

nto many

ayers,

cach

he thickness

f selected

heetstock.

A

high_speedaser

clts and

punches

details

f eachsllceofthe

mold

nto a steelor

aluminum

heet

Th ayers

re hen

pressed

ogethet bonded

o achieve

bout

940,6

f th ensileand

shear

trengthol

i-20 steel,

and lnlshed

machlned.

his ast

ask

puts

a fine inish

on the

part

surfaces

nd machines

jectors nd

other

mold

eatures class_A urfaces

may

reourrc latino

ne

aminate ool.

however,

orre

isers ay3s-'nished

aminale

too,no iart surracesrrrnoLt acceplaole a.ts,'saysFast4-n icePresident ob

Esl ing.

Laminate

molds

are made

ol coldrolled

teel,

300 and

400

stainless

teels,

nd 6061

T-6 al minum,

Steels

work

best or high+emperaturc

nd

pressur-injectionolds

whilealominum

s betterfor

ow-temperatur

nd

pressure

pplications

ut

stainlesssteel

oolshave

advantages

ver aluminum

e|sionsFor

ns|ance,

ood

venting

and hin-wall

construction

et tainless-steel

ools

perform

imilarlyo

aluminum

ools

but stainless

oes

not corrode,

atterns

re moraccurate

ue o

less he|lnal

expansion

ndconlraction,

nd t

far outlasts

luminum.

Laminate

moldsalso

et designers

lace

oolng ines

where

hey are mostuseful'

Heatconducis

rom he

molLen

lastlc

o the

moldand

s then removed

y coolant

flo,,ringhrougha networkof internal hannels. hennal

analysls f lhe

mold n the

design

tageaccuralely

redicts

he

location f hot

spots, ooling inescan hen

conr6rm

o tne

geometry

r the

part These onformal

ooling

ines emove our

o

f ive imes he

heat f radi t ional ly

un-dri l ledines.

The mold3&tlon Ir m.d.

by lEmln.tlng.hel

In th. Fa.t4m

m.thod. Llght-Hq.

[email protected]

aotohotlvc

p:.t

surtuund thc

part

..vlty.nd

rh. In..t caD lnage,

http://wrr,rv.machinedesign.com/ASP/articleLoader'asp?catld:o&path=D%3A%5CInetp'rbyosc

9ll0D0O5


21/65

Machrneuesrgnom

age o

Another nnovation,loodcooling.

ses arqe-surfa.e hannelshat create urbulence

in the flow o carw awavmoreheat han

aminarflow n smoothwallines,with

eithermethod, he

goal

s to maximize

eat ransferfrom he

part.

A

well-cooled

mold ets

parts

cooluniformly nd aster,

hls minimizingntemalstresses nd

trimming

production

ims.Another enefit

s uniform urface emperatures cross

the corand cavityofthe mold,

"ltore

efficient ooling ets manufaclurers

have30 to 50o/o

tr

a 60-sec

injectionmoldingycle," aysEsling. Large

arts

are usually

made

n singlecavity

molds.So n a machine apable f 7oo-ton lampingorcer hat equateso saving

about

$0.43/parr.

f the

ob

calls or 10o,ooo

arts/year,

hat comes o

$43.000

annual ly,"aysEsl ing,

Laminate

ooling

analso

build argemolds,However, urrent

equiprnentestricts

molds f about4 to 6-ft3. Generally,aminalemoldconstruction

osts essbecause

it's

made rom

sheetslock,

a relativelynexpensive aterlal

hat ls readilyavailable.

"costs

or a laminatemoldmay be I to 12o,.tess han

he samemold rom a

traditional hop.

And t

may rake bout 10o/oess he,"

saysEsling.

SUSTRACTIVE IN TOOLING

surface Gsnr.tlon In he lJ,K,developed n apprcach

alled ubtradivePin

Tolin9

SPT)

o bulldmolds hat usea

grid

of rectangularpins"

mounted n

threaded ods.Theirheightcan be adjustedo form

a roughneFshape urface. he

pinsareclarnped nd held n placeby a bolsterwhlle he workingmoldsurfaces

roughed nd lnishedwith traditionalmilllngequlpment.

vloldsmade his wayare

useful n abouta dozen perationsncludlng omposite

manufacturingruperplastic

fonhin9,vacuum ormin9,and

pattern

maklrg

"sFrT

hrlnks ead lmesand costsassoclate4wlth

argeand short-run omponenl

manuracluflngy crealinq he front a.e

of the tool, as opposedo an enti.es0lid

mold nsert," ays im Grayof llm D, Gray

& Assoc,nc., the NorthAmerlcan

dlstrlbutoror SPTh Richardson,ex, "Plns

anbe of

plastjc,

metal,ceramic, nd

evenwood,Graphit ouldbe used o make

a largeelectrode nd we'veven

proposed ins

of Inconel or a hlgh-lemperature

pplication,"

Accordinqo the

company,

PT oolsslash ostand ead lmesby up to 90oi, and t

cuts lme o marketby 350,6

or largeaomponents, nd RoIs are

prolected

n slx to

18 months.

'Thls

approach

llows

aplddesign teratlons y addlngmaterial, emovlngt, or

both,Over9006ofthe

moldcan

be rused n future

projects,

We suggest avlng he

model,not ts mold,and the system aneconomically

roduce

ne

part,"

saysGray.

"It's lmperatlvehat the flrst mold

be madeas

quickly

nd cheaply s

possible,"

dds

Gray. Toollng

s

onlyan asset

whlle ts beingused,So or low-volume ork, t is

ssentialto avea

reusable

ool, when he surface n the tool s no

longer

useful,

pin

hights

an

be

adjusted nd

rcut or new

parts."

Grayadds hat Strf also ets

users erify

assmblies,

anufacture ne-ol?s, nd

produce

everal

rototypes

rom

the

same

mold

o assess

ompeting esigns,

SPT

erformance

s

governed

y howcloselyhe

pins

can

produc

he near-net

shape f the required eometry.n mostcases, omposite PT oolsare morestable

than conventionalteel ools.

Forductilemalerials,machining

arameters

anbe set o blendaway he

pin+o-pin

joint,

usuallyess han 50 m. And

whennecessary, tempomrybondalong he

pin

boundarymay b usd o create

"single"

urface,

MODEL O CASTII{G I{ 10 DAYS

Fast

oolingalsocomes rom skillfully andling

.apid-prototyping achineo build

with

ow-mel materials, hese an be used o make

patterns

or losFwax asting.

For nstance, henengineers t Tecumseh roducts esearch aboratory, w

Holstein,Wis.,

spotteddesign hanges

n a two-cylindr ngine hy wer

developing,hey wouldmodifya CAD ile and sent l otr o th rapid'prototyping

facility

at the company's ompressorivision, The

cylinde|smeasured bout12 X

14 x 16 n.," says 4anufacturingngineer

avidWadsworth t Tecumseh

CompressorCo., n Dundee,4jch. The

sls rapidprototypin9quipmentrom 3D

lhe vertlcal llghtgold

lln

lt. coppalloy

b(

two eter eh*t3rna ramln.t

d mord.Th..llo

20 m

yet

shoE

d6e.ont.ct

wlth

tlre

Th. CAO nod.l h lor .tr HVAC du.t

on r er.

'

.hoM th. ohpl.rdry

po..lbl.

wlth

F..t4m'l

oollnq lln.4 In blu..

CADmd.l

ru.ri


22/65

.

l.l.nut durlng .n9ln.6 wlth

T4q|reh

C.rpr'sCo,In

Ounda, lllch,, ey th.y

rEdr rbout 20

v..latl6. of lh. .B.ll-.ngln.

.yllnd.r In ert

m.t.l, ech ln L- th.n two

w..k .

th nywh.cl-f.n lor r .onD. sr

l. h..L

or DuEForm,

a rugFd

pla

cr'Erwork

on

RP m.hln6fDm

30 S|at.hr. l*qm..l|'.

W.d.wonh

Ed thc

D.n

th.r wa.

t.ter

bolt.d io. .onpcsr

lor

phyJcat

tstttrg.

rage or

rhc rktangul.r

pln.

In.

Surt*. c.ne.rton

b.lnt .dls.t d

fo. h.lghr. Aft.M..dr

. .t.n

pln.

tlohtly tog.rhcr

tor rcushtns

.nd .urt.(

ott6 on th. Hru

h..hld.. Tht. SubrRdv.

Edq.d rad

tlre..nd c6r.

for t.EG not(

90'%.

Systemsbuilt he engine ylinder n

wax ovemight."After orming, he

wax

pattern

wascoatd n several ayers

f ceramic.whichwas baked nd sent

o a foundry.

Finishmachining

ollowed.But, notesWadsworth,otal ime rom receipt

f the c:AD

Rle o new unctional

art

ook only 10 days.

Prototype

parts

from

production

plastics

Gttlngworking

prototype

arts

n days et a vacuumcleaner

otormaker urn

out working nodels

f a new

deslgn n a week,

mor,englneers

t Amatk tncr Paoll,Pa., eceivednjectlon-moldd

arts

n Rynite, maierlal

strong

enough o survive

he

pressure enerated

n

performance

ests,

Before ulldlnghe

parts,

Protodold

lnc,, l,4aple laln, Yinn,. et

the motormaker

analyze

art

hodels or elmenB

hat mio

lead lme," saysAmetek ice Presldent

f Engineeringams hawcross.

changjng

stgns n ne

Instead f descrtbtng

lterai

lhe

phoneproved

a hugeadvantage

n

gettlng

a functlonalmodel

n ront of cllents

4lthin ne week,"

protomotd

created OO rqualltyparts or tstsby the engineering nd manrfacturtng epartments,nd clients,

l,4ostradltlonal apid-prototyplng

thods, owever, eliver

onlyone

part per

run and use

matertatsh6t deform

n rigorous

(

tests To solvesuch

problems,

unctlonalestingwasoften

put

on holduntll

productton

otds

ouldb devetoped,

ypiia

y

a i(

Prctomld.lcslOn.pel.l|3tr

and Protoquotq

the comp.ny'i.

Wbba*d

quodho.nd

dslEn-

analyrb

ry.tm,

lt

An.tck

6gheE ECiv wofklnq

pllot

panr

In fiv. daF for .u3torer

demonsFationi and

d6l9n

Th. moror deElopld

by AmGt

k

(rtshD

6rc.t th.

c.rbon bdrhs.nd

ai.-

hddltng

dfiu*r. lhe

arh.tlrF spport.nd

@rbon-b.ush

rysten

hang up.tde

down

iBted

of topltde up.

httpi//www.machioedesign.con/ASP/aniclel-oader.asp?catld:0&path=D%3A%5Clnetpubyo59...

9/tOl2OO5


23/65


24/65

CIIAPITR

,1

::a

tn the fi.st

chapter,

vreidiscussed

the

many

beneflts

of 3D deslgn,

amongwhtch

are

faste

engtneer i

8

changes.automated drawtng creatlon deslSn

.eus, and

easler

deslSn

and management

of

assembltes.

nolher

by-product

ofa 3D

lmplementat lon

s a huge

exploston

ol3D

data

a

companymust

manage

nd share

wlth

othef

departments,

uch

as manufactur lng

nd

purchastng.Wht le

cgacy

2D

systems

roduceone

type of engtneerlng

flle

-

drawtngs

-

3D

CAD

systems

roducseveral

ypes

of englner ln8

l les'

tncludtng

assembly,

ar t , and drawlng

ft les.

Part flles are

commonly

reLrsed

n

lnultlple

assembltes

nd

drawlnSsr

o carelul

t racklngof

the

relat tonshlPs

twen

par ls

and

thejr

respect lvc

assenrbl les

ust

b malnlalned

o

effecttvly

manage.

There nay

also

be a need

to

assoclate

on-CAD

documents

product maSs'

analysls,

and

rest resul ts

to rhe CAD

ll le

frnm

whlch t t was

created.

n ompanles

mplment lng

3D

CAD In

a Inul t lp le-user

workgroup

wlth

supplv

chaln

partnersas

wel l as customers

neer l lng

ccess

to

that 3D data.

some

form

ofdata

manageftent

systm

may bc

needed.

O

F.ctor ing

in Fi le

f , l . regcment

An lmpor lant

factor

n the ul t imate

success

tany

3D

CAD lmplcmentation

ls

effctlve

ftle

managenent.

wi th 2D

deslgn

svsrems

enginecrs

themsclves

often

name

files

in wavs

that dlfte'

from

those oI other

use.s

While

thts

might wo'k

with

2D systems,

t lnost

jkely

wl l l Iead

o

'haos

in

a data

r ich 3D

environment

A

.areful ly

thought

out

control

schme that

fully outlines

the

P.oper

procedurec

and srandards

hould

be dcveloped

very ear ly n the lmPlementat ion

Most 3D CAD

systems

have

a meansby

whtch

assembltes

re

creatcdby

combjnlng

parts

-

a

loglcal

approach,

tncedl f ferent

englneers

mlght

desiSn

ndivtdual

parts

and

asscmble her i

latcr '

Thls

approach,

howcvr,

can cad

to confuslon

later f

the

process sn' t control led.

Users

need o

be able

to l tnd the

atest

verslonof 3D

Documents

Advanced CAD Application Part 2