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Issue #611 : : July 14, 2009 |
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In this issue: Inventor Fusion vs Synchronous Technology: What's the Diff? Digital Prototypes Fail Toyota
Out of the Inbox, and our other regular columns.
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Write the editor. Make him smile! Through Paypal, consider donating $25 in support of upFront.eZine. Or else... We're trendy. We have a Weblog. WorldCAD Access. |
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Inventor Fusion vs Synchronous Technology: What's the Diff? Guest Editorial by Jim Phelan In the lead article of upFront.eZine #610 there is a statement regarding a comparison of the recently introduced Fusion technology with Siemens PLM Software’s Synchronous Technology. The statement says that “synchtech only recognizes features in newly created drawings, or ones imported from Siemens' own software, like Solid Edge.” We understand that this was a marketing quote from a competitor and not your own words. Nevertheless we believe it is important for your readers to understand that this statement is factually inaccurate. Synchronous Technology, which has been in productive use with NX and Solid Edge customers for more than a year, recognizes feature intent automatically and on the fly. It does not rely on predefined features. For example, fillets are recognized from their geometric properties (tangency, etc.) and those properties are maintained during editing. Synchronous Technology also recognizes complex compound features, such as ribs and pockets, allowing users to work on any type of imported CAD data without the unnecessary clutter of building features that have no meaning or usefulness for downstream editing. Since Synchronous Technology does not rely on features being imported, it is not limited by the source of the CAD data it works with.
[Jim Phelan is director, PLM media relations at Siemens PLM Software.]
Digital Prototypes Fail Toyota NPR [national public radio] reported one morning on the problems faced by Toyota and the success enjoyed by Hyundai in the American car market. Now, I know that general interest reporters reporting on specialty topics usually get their facts wrong, but one sentence fascinated me. It had to do with Toyota's quality failings, some of which I have experienced with the Corolla I own. (The radiator burst after just four years, and so on.) The report included a quote from analyst saying that car development cycles are shorter -- from four years, to three years, two years, and now 1to 8 months. The sentence that caught my attention: Quality had fallen apparently because Toyota relied too much on digital prototyping, which had let them down; as a result, the world's largest automobile manufacturer would now go back to constructing a larger number of physical prototypes. Of course, there are other theories, as well. One is that Toyota outsourced too much of its production to firms whose employees don't understand the concept Continuous Improvement. A New Book and a New eBook Two new books are available: AutoCAD 2010 Update Guide: What's Inside? is the print version of my What's Inside? AutoCAD 2010 ebook. It is published by Autodesk Press, and I have a few signed copies available for a donation of $29.00. 128 pages. (Overseas customers please add $15 for additional postage; sent by surface mail). Tailoring AutoCAD 2010 CUI updates customization of AutoCAD 2010's mammoth Customize User Interface dialog box. This is an ebook that is delivered to you as a PDF file. 168 pages; $25.20. More details at its Web page: www.upfrontezine.com/wiaX To receive either book, you can pay by PayPal to the account of grabowski@telus.net or send a cheque or money order to upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd.
We can accept cheques made out in Canadian $, US$, Euros, or British Pounds.
SpaceClaim ships SpaceClaim 2009 SP2 with these new and improved features:
http://www2.spaceclaim.com/Products/SpaceClaim_2009.aspx
Geometric Limited releases NestLib 2009 R2, software that optimize 2D packaging. New are:
http://nestlib.geometricglobal.com - - - Eagle Point Software Corporation introduces a new version of LANDCADD that adds landscape design to Autodesk's Revit Architecture software. LANDCADD's plant, hardscape [hardscape? -Ed.], and site components are added directly to the building model. Due to ship in October. www.eaglepoint.com MecSoft Corporation announces VisualMILL for SolidWorks, starting at $999, and featuring seamless single-window integration, full model associativity, and the ability to generate 2-1/2 axis, 3 axis, 4 axis, and 5 axis indexed tool paths for high speed machining. www.visualmillforsolidworks.com Open Design Alliance and Redway3d are cooperating to develop accelerated 2D/3D graphics for the DWGdirect and DGNdirect platforms using the RED engine graphics technology. Redway3d is the only company to offer a single API for all forms of CAD visualization, from 2D to real-time 3D and photorealistic rendering through a royalty-free business model. www.redway3d.com ModuleWorks releases v2009.6 of its CAM software series with improved 3-5 axis toolpath creation and new STL machining capability. www.moduleworks.com The ISD Group has announces HELiOS 2010 multifunctional PDM system, with enhancements to document management, its workflow engine, the Internet server, and the Vault Server. Software is due to ship in the second half of this year. www.isdgroup.com ASCON and Z Corp reseller Cybercom are partnering to integrate 3D printing into KOMPAS MCAD software. www.ascon.net Design Master Software releases Design Master Electrical 7.2 electrical design and drafting program with support for AutoCAD 2010, circuiting to individual phases of breakers, more wire sizing options, and equipment groups. LineType Software announces version 2.0 of the Banjo Digital Signature plug-in for Adobe Acrobat, allowing suers to customize the graphic appearance associated with digital signatures. www.linetype.com - - - These were some of the news items that were posted during the last week at the WorldCAD Access blog < http://worldcadaccess.typepad.com >:
And at the Gizmos Grabowski weblog <http://worldcadaccess.typepad.com/gizmos >:
Conferences COADE User Conference is Sept 28-30 in Houston TX USA. Early registration discount available until 1 Aug. www.coadeuserconference.com/2009
People/Companies on the Move Geomagic appoints Robert Kody as general manager of the company’s dental business. Mr Kody is the former general manager of the digital orthodontics business at 3M Unitek. Procedural appoints Dieter Hofler as svp business development. Mr Hofler is the former ceo of Neopost Germany and Switzerland. Procedural's software develops CityEngine, a 3D modeling tool for urban environments. Siemens PLM Software appoints Suman Bose as vp and managing director for its Indian operations. Mr. Bose is the former country director (India) at Dassault Systems.
WorthWhile Web http://daringfireball.net/2009/07/chrome_os_context
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,531380,00.html
Letters to the Editor "Autodesk is now selling the new AutoCAD Inventor LT Suite 2010, yet they don't have any manual / documentation available for it. This is despite the page in the software package that tells the purchaser to go to www.autodeskdocandmedia.com 'to receive a copy of the printed documentation available for your product.' "Also, they don't have a discussion group for Inventor LT. "So, they have a software package that they are marketing fairly heavily, yet they aren't really supporting it. Doesn't that seem odd?"
The editor replies: "Autodesk sees its LT software stepping stones. You buy this software cheap, and then Autodesk anticipates upselling you to full-price AutoCAD, Inventor, and other software."
Mr Renfrow responds: "I've been using AutoCAD since version 10, and have had a relationship with the local dealers for about 13 years. The local sales guy seems to have been caught off-guard by the lack of support as well. "One of the reasons I bought the software was to see if it could be useful for what we do at work. I might have suggested switching from AutoCAD to Inventor, or switching our AutoCAD LT seats to Inventor LT. But if there's not even basic support, no way. "I think Autodesk would do well to understand that from my perspective I've been used, and the next time the owner of my company complains about the cost of purchasing and supporting AutoCAD, I won't be defending the expense as strenuously as before. I hold grudges. "What I still don't get is that AutoCAD LT has a users guide, but the new hot product, Inventor LT doesn't. How does angering customers help a company?" - - - "I've always admired your no-frills look, but I gotta say, this new format is easier to read!"
Spin Doctor of the Moment “We've come to appreciate that the beta tag just doesn't fit for large enterprises that aren't keen to run their business on software that sounds like it's still in the trial phase."
Notable Quotable "We consumers seem to becoming pawns in the power struggle between internet behemoths Google and Microsoft. To Google, we are products to be sold to highest bidding advertiser, and to Microsoft we have been reduced largely to a software license."
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