Technical Communication Page 2

SOLIDWORKS is not just a CAD application. The integrated add-ins and supporting applications make it a complete engineering solution. I recently took advantage of these tools to complete a project that has been at the back of my mind for some time. It was a great opportunity to show how to use the SOLIDWORKS integrated platform from design all the way through the manufacturing and post-manufacturing process.  

From an engineering perspective, if you’re looking into the world of Model-Based Design (MBD) or have already been shifting that way, you’ll want to start researching some of the new standards that are being developed by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). In particular, the new standard that they are developing as a product definition for additive manufacturing. In this article, we will provide a quick list of the standards being looked at this year and touch on how you can apply these and other standards in a SOLIDWORKS workflow.

Recently, I had the opportunity to attend the Model-Based Enterprise Summit at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, MD. This was the 10th annual MBE Summit and was focused on highlighting the practical implementations of MBE in the world, with the main theme being Democratizing the Implementation of MBE.

This event was possibly the most in-depth technical summit I have ever been to. The amount of applications for model-based engineering is amazing and getting to see how people are leveraging this technology is truly eye-opening. The list of speakers was staggering and humbling. It was truly exceptional to see so many experts in their field speak to how digital engineering has been completely transforming their businesses. As a mechanical-minded person focused on technology and interconnected systems, I believe there are certainly some exciting leaps coming in the future.

At its core, the 3DEXPERIENCE platform is a collection of cloud-based software applications for 3D design, analysis, simulation and communication. It allows team members to be in the same environment looking at the same data and the same files in order to make changes and comments in real time. Just like with a smartphone, there are different applications available for the platform to customize the experience for your specific project needs. And since the platform is cloud-based, all of what we are about to talk about is accessible through a web browser, not a dedicated computer.

We’ve looked at reasons to use the cloud, reasons to avoid the cloud, now let's take a look at the benefits from the 3DEXPERIENCE platform and see how they outweigh the reasons not to make the move to the cloud. The 3DEXPERIENCE platform is geared and poised to make engineering in the cloud not only seamless but provides substantial benefits to the entire design process. Here are the five main reasons I think design in the cloud on this platform is the future:

You may have been seeing a compass icon in SOLIDWORKS videos, web pages and even in some of your design applications and wondering what it is or what it’s there for. Well, that compass represents the central navigation of the 3DEXPERIENCE “business experience” platform. In this blog, we are going to explore what that means and how SOLIDWORKS users can benefit from knowing how to use it.

I recently created an article on the “Top 5 Reasons to Use the Cloud for 3D CAD.”  And in true engineer fashion, I made a list of pros and cons and wanted to follow it up with the top five reasons to avoid the cloud when working with CAD. The cloud is great for design and there are substantial benefits, however, there are some drawbacks and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention them as well.

When I saw an article request come across for the top five reasons to use the cloud for 3D CAD, I snagged it before it could be distributed. This is something that has always fascinated me and I’m often wondering why the design world, the world in which I live, has been so slow to adopt it. I use Netsuite, Office 365, Gmail, Amazon, Netflix, Pokémon Go and Fortnite almost daily but anytime I want to design, I’m sitting behind my laptop working locally. Here are my personal top five, of many, reasons to move the design to the cloud.

SOLIDWORKS makes it easy for engineers to design in 3D. But once the design is complete, we have to manufacture the parts, ensure they meet quality standards and assemble the product. Assembly fixtures and molds need to be designed, assembly guides have to be created for the manufacturing floor and parts have to be checked against the engineering drawings.

Here at TriMech we don't think our job ends once the sale is final. We want to help throughout your entire SOLIDWORKS journey. Instead of flipping through manuals and Googling question after question, we have a handy Technical Communication Webinar Series to answer your MBD, Inspection and Composer questions. 

With so many new enhancements, it’s hard to decide which SOLIDWORKS 2018 features to try first. If you work with multiple CAD systems, consider adding SOLIDWORKS Inspection 2018 to the top of your must-try list. Here's why the new Smart Capture feature is a TriMech favorite!

Model Based Definition (MBD) is becoming more and more prevalent in today's designs.  Through SOLIDWORKS MBD and the DimXpert tool, we can add our dimension and tolerance data directly to the 3D model, helping to eliminate the need for 2D drawings, while more effectively communicating our designs. Keep reading to learn how SOLIDWORKS Inspection 2018 now allows us to utilize this information to create first article inspection reports right from the 3D model.