",, ,

We all know that making t few reladvelv simple

changes in 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 off
these chanBes.
Transltlonlng product development from a 2D
rleslSn system 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
. n d th n e e d to re l r,i n
h a r dwar c r equire me n t6 a
the
iceberg.
sraff arejust th tip of

nanagers who have navigated such a parh, and

yourU read in their o{n word8 that tleir obsracle!
sere and how they serc ul tl maLel yovercome i n
the real world. Yourll also read how migraiing ihelr
designs ro 3D r$ulted ln bi8 poyoffs to ihei.
producl develoPment Process.

O S o t t ! n -l, lr. 8 . . . 1 lt t
Trade magaztnesand 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,

flt^

In today s manulacturlng world, who ha-sthe 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 evaluaLinga 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

g
e
b

It drrllnin! lt tulomrttd n.rhlm t$.mtll.l h 3D,.n!in..tl d

Irumlll Enllnaarhoty. a battorlaylo||concll!th.!.h!Ylorol
pad!rlthlnri s53i1bly,dnslh.llt dudn0mnlt
Indlvldu.l
!|ry!l.rl pmlotpli{ r|ld .ls0 ?rltnn!n! d.sl![ rytl. ry 20l.tt!d.

fasrer desiSn changes, and, ultimalely, higheF

Though thes advantageshave 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 t ak e a l o o k a t th c s e p .o p o s e db c n efi l s
o n e hy onc and. x a m i n e w h ! s o m a n y .o mp a n i rs
are deciding to migrate to a 3D solid modeling
d e s ignenv ir onme n t.

e
$
{

g
8

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,
d s ignc r sy r or k in g i n a 3 D d c s i g n e n v i ro n mc n lcan
creaLe p.oduction-ready detailcd drawings
a u t om at ic ally ,eli mi n a ti n gti m e -c o n s u m i n gd .a w i ng
vlew crealion, manipulation, and maintenancc.
Thc y c an als o s ho w th c i r d e s i g n sfro m mrl l i p l e
anglcs and ca)i enlarge dctails of speciiic
co m ponent swit h j u s t a fe w mo u s c c l i c k s .
Dvery new Dfoduct design tnusr
u n d e rg oc h a n g sa q l r e v ol ees
th ro u g h th e rl e v .l o p ment
c y c l c . E a c h c h a n g ca

S p..dl ng

l rD P l oduct o.tl gr

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 cntri es ti an i t w oul d i n
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

ConvcrscLyin thc 3D world, one linc can bc uscd k)

esrabl i shrhe i , g, : coordi nai csand rhen can be
movcd, copi cd, s.al ed, or somchow mani pul rtcd t o
..eare l he 3D modcl . Once l i e 3D model i s c.ealed,
i somctri c, cxpl odcd assembl yvi cw s - or dctai l and
sc.ri on vi ew s of a draw i ng - can bc crsi l y
general cdby most 3D oA D packaS es.A l i gnmenl.
and di mensi onl ngi n most C l D softw are p.ograms
are aurcmati c by si mpl J cl i cki ng on Lhec.l gesor
c.nt..s of w hat musr be di mensi oncd,

r 2 D d ra w i n g o.

rll

A U d ra w i ng
F lhodrdln d$t
0ot.?Hlilwrl 3coolsr, d i me n s i o n s ,a n d a n n o ta ti ons
oakao.lhft Llmned
update automatically, so the
u$d I i0 solldmodcllng designer never has to redraw
a section, detail, or isomei.ic
ablrlDl'dur. [s dlilqn
view
manuaUy, g.eatly
cycloby50p3ffinl,cullls
thc possibility or
rducing
by
50
developmEnlcosts
pon.nl,.xFdnethe
dor!lopmsd
ol noldrtid

Bcing ablc to usc online 3D parl.slibraries also savc

slgniflcant design l,ime when crcaring 3D CAD
modcls- Thcsc 3D pans libraries pro.luce naiive,
feature-based,mechnicaldcsign componcnts,such
s fasicncre, bcarings, and 6reel shapes,which arc
base.l on indusl.rystmdards o.on manuia.turer
cataloSs.Evry pan has custom propcfty data
associatedwirh 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 to add the components mto
iheir designssithouthaving to remodol them from
thc mmufacturer's specilications, a huge timesavcl
O

0..l gr

cnarg!r

on tl c

tl y

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

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 the user that all elements of a model are
associated or connccted. when a change is made to
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
c hangeor de. s (EC O S ).O ti g i n a l l y d e v e l o p e dIo.l he
aerospace and automorive indust es fo. desiSnine
complex cu.ved forms, paramel.ic modeling wo.ks
like a numertcal sprcadsheet. By storing lhe
r elat ions hipsb e tw e c n th e v a .i o u s c l e me n tsofthe
des lgnand t r c a ti n g th e m l l k e ma th e ma ti .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^. am eir lc -b a s e d s o l i d m o d e l e rs , a U
f ealur es and d i mc n s l o n s o f a mo d e l a re sLored
as dc s ign par a me l e rs , a l l o w l n g d e s i g n e . s l .o
m ak e f as r c les i g n c h a n g e s b y s i m p l y c h a n gl n8
r hc v et uc of r h c p a ra m e r... W h a n a ta l u e i s
c hanged, t he mo d e l l s a u ro m a ti c a l l y u p dal ed i o
Lhe new v aluc, a n d a l l o i h e r m o d e l te a l u res
and dim c ns lon s a fte c rc d b y th a l c h a n g . update
aut om at ic ally . So l i d mo d e l i n g s y s te ms l hst
of f c r boih bi- d i re c ti o n a l a s s o c i a ti v i ty a n d
par am et r ic de s i g n fu n c l i o n a l i ty n o t o n l y speed
des lgn c hange s , b u t a l s o S re a tl y .c d u c c the
c hanc e ot e. . o rs .
O

f , r x t nt 2ln!

th ! u a l u . o t 3 D P ro d | | ct 0rt.

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.ocessesJincluding
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
di S i ral .Th. abi l ' rJ tn resr produ.l s w hcn 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.
Modul ari l y i s anol he. trend i n manufacruri ngt hat
has beneftted from dcaiSn rcusc. As cons!m.r
markets becomc increasingly flnicky,
manufacturers have responded by creating families
of products, ach w i th subtl e dl tferencesto appeal
to di sti ncri vegroups ot users,{ hi l sl i l l usi n g
.ommon componcnts.Thcsc modul a. producls m ay
vary i n si ze, w ei ght, di mensi on,or capaci i y-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 i crng 2l ' , rr s no.rl y i mpossi bl ero dcvel op va f 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

2
GHAPIER
::
0nce a company recognlzes the need to move from
2 D t o 3D des lgn,t h re l s a p l e th o ra o f h u rd l e sboth technlcal and cultural - that must be
overcom, Englners and deslgners must b
re t r alned on t he n e w s y s te m.w h l c h l s o ft n
radlcally different frotn the sysrem wlth whlch
th e y ' r e ac c us t ome d .Ex c u l tv e smu s t b e fl rm l y otr
b o ar d wlt h t he pr o j e c t, u l tl n a te l y c o n v l n dth at
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 ln 3D. Faster
dslgn cratlon, easler and more accuraie deslgn
ch anges ,bet t r c o mmu n l a tl o no l d e s l S nl n te n t,
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 m anageme n t,h o w e v e ., m l 8 h t s e e th e
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 buyjn. The only way to successftrlly implement 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 companyw l l l l ncur as a resul t ofthl s

Once upper management has been convlnced, lt s

essentl alto keep thm l n the l oop, hol dtng tnont hly
l nternal user-groupmcctl ngsto assesshow the
plannlng and lmplementatjon are progresslng.
Keeplng managemnt abrast of the lmplementatlon
vl a reS ul arreports w tl l bel p to al l evl ate
uncertalntles and to assure thelr contlnued support,
w ht.h l r crucl al ro rhe cuccecsof (he proj ec..

H.rln6 ln'Ilalional,a narufa.Urs ol cllrom

padrgiig macniner],nedd3Ds.lld modelhgcpahilhlBro
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 lesrriefi
befdeboildingp.rrs, $ich uldm.relyeMlled diemro shonente
d6lgr rnd Mnufctrn'g qde tromfm monhsrojulr rllo nronris,

lr ot c c t ing

l | rY e s tm.l ts

i n 2 I)

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
c apableof del i v .l n g e v e n m o re b e n e fl tsto
veryone withln the manufacturlng organization
and it s c ollabo ra d v es u p p l y c h a l n .
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
all d.aolng vtews,
'nodell
dimenslons, and annotatlons update automattcally.
So th deslgner nevor has to manually redraw a
secdon, detall, or lsometrlc vlew, gratly reduclng
t hepos s t bt lit yo f ffo r. U n l tk e 2 D te c h n i q u cs.sol l d
ftodellnS dslgn methods allow englneers to produce
drawlngs much faster.
In addltlon, solld modls greatly facllltat the
c om m unlc at lo no fd e s l g n l n te n t th ro u g h o u tthe
organlzatlon. An accurate 3D model, wlth all tts
as s oc lat ednon g e o m e trl ce n g l n e e rl n Sd a ta attached
to jt, becomes a complete dlgttal product for destgn
r ev t ews ,analy s ts p
, ro c u re m e n t,a n d ma n u facturl ng.
Pllrs, lts form ls immedtately usable by all
per s ont c l lnv o l v e d l n p ro d u c t d e v e l o p me nt,boi h
technlcal and nontcchnlcal, maklng lt lnftnltely
nofe valuable to a company than its legacy 2D data.
Des plt et hls f a c t. m a n y c o m p a n l e sh a v e Ia r ge
am ount s of lnt e l l e c tu a l c a p l ta l tl e d u p l n thel r 2D
systems - from the actual drawlngs to the
k nowledgeolt h e tr d e s l g n e rs- w h l .h o fte n 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 CrD3y'r.n .r Inisi.p. potymarO6|lp(tpc), .

ma tactlftr ol sp.cl.lhd polyolflnphnlc rd p!!.. p..t.{tng
producann rFlom., rss![ad h sho.r.neddddopnsn tlm6hy l0
pa.cqn;lo$gld dovoloFnd co.r! bys5p|corllrl.|! s6ddro.i
b, t0 prcsu tnd rducedrdro.i D, 75p..onr.
productl vl ty on those new sysremsw i l l not l nt t t ally
be up to par w i th w hat l t w as on the 2D systen,
and some processesw i l l chang.H ow ever,mosr 3D
C A D systemsdo al l ow for the l ftport of2D da t a.
Therefore,a companys tnvestmcntl n 2D l egacy
data wlll not b lost as a result o{ the

For these conpantas,a safer path to 3D rntght be a

transltional 2Dl3D deslSn system that employs 3l)
dsl gnfor new desl gnproj ects w hl l e mal ntatnt ng
the 2D deslgn process for deslgn modlftcattons.
This way, prolects are not dtsruprcd, the rranslrlon
can take pl ace ove. a pertod oftl me, and dest gnar s
w l l l have dme to rcei veproper tral nl ng.

(D Mt t h s V e r3 u 3nG . lit t
Lt s take a l ook ai somc of the common obj ct t ons
that uppef managefnntoften have w hen
considrtng a rnove fron 2D to 3D CAD.

My t h: S c nior - I e v e l e n g i re e rs
d on' t get 3D de s i g n .
In . ealit y , wc all l i v e l n a 3 D w o rl d a n d h a v e a n
l nr at e s ens cof h o w to n a v i g a tew j th l n i t. T h e
d ev eloper sof 3D C AD s y s te msh a v c w o rk e d h ard
to c f eat e not onl y l n tu l ti v e u s e r i n tc rfa c e sb rr al so
l ogic al wor k s t r u c tu fe s fo . d e s i S n j n g3 D mo d el s.
A. r r e\ ulr . r hc sr s ) s re msa re \u rp rl s l n g l v \i mp1.
for enginees to lcarn.
D es pit et hjs f ac t ,l t s re a l i s ti c to a s s u meth a t m ost
e ngiDeer sov er t h e a g e o f 3 0 w c rc ta u g b t
e nginc er ingln t h e Z D w o rl d . fh c s c e n B i n e e .s
many of whom are n o w s e n j o rl c v c l e n g i n e e rsand
d es igner s- wc r c tra i n e d o n 2 D . c l th e r C A D o r
d r awt ng- bas c ds y s l e m s .T h c g o o d n c w s i s th a t
th es c s am c dc s lg n e rsa l s o u n d c rs ta td ftrs th a ndthc
h he. ent wc ak ne s s e so f 2 D ; th c fc fo re , ma n y wi l l
e as lly r c c ogniz eth e a re a s l n w h l c h 3 D me l h o d s

Whllc s om c dc s lg n c rsw l l l re ma l n fc s l s ta n t to
l c ar nlng 3D, lns l s ti n g th a l th e y a fc s d l l p .o d x.ri vc
u s lng 2D m c t hod s .ma n y w tl l v l c w th l s c h a n 8 eas
a n oppof t unlt y t o a d v a n c . th e l r s k i l l s c t a n d wl l l
cager lyem bar k u p o n 3 D t.a l n l n g . In l a c t, m a n y oi
th es e pr oac t lv ec n g l n e c .s ma y h a v e a l rc a d y
p a. t lc lpar edln s o m l c v c l o l 3 D d e s l g ns c l f
cduc at lon- v la tu to rl a l s . o n l l n e g u l d e s ,o r VA R
sc m lnar s as a w a y to b o l s rc f th e i r fu l u fc j o b

O f t en r ef er r ed I o a s " c a rl y a d o p l e rs ,' th c s c
e ngi. ec r s and de s tg n e rss h o rl d b c a m o n g th e ftrst
to be t r ained ln 3 D C AD . A fte r s e e i n gth c
p r od, , . rjr i, y gJ irs a , h l .r F d b ! ,h c c a rl y 3 d o p tFri
g r oup - or per ha p ss p u rre d o n b y c o n .c rn o v c r
fut ur ejob s ec uri ryi n to d a y s u n .e rta i n
m anuf ac t u. ingin d u s try - mo re e .g i d c c rs w i l l
follow r he s am c p a th .
M y ( h: I a c os t s to o mu c h .
W hen dr l\ ed b) u p p e . mJ n d Ac m F n lrf rh i ' rh d n S ni \
g o jng t o c os i a lo l , y o rr a n s w e r s h o u l d b e , " Yes.'
Howev er ,lhis is a l s o y o u r fi rs t o p p o rtu n i i y to
b e gln bullding t h e c a s e fo r th e fo l l o w i n g fa c t: Thc

savi ngsi n l abor and the bcncfi ts deri ved fnornth

new systemw i l l !l ti matel y makc fof a sol i d retu r n
on rhe .ompany' s i nvestment.Morc on that 1atc r ,
but l er' s fl rst take a l ook at thc spcci l i c costs.
One w aJ to dl verLdi saste.and di scourscdow n thc
roa.l l s to be compl el el y honestw i th managem cnt
from Lheo!tset. Inform them upffont of the cxact
costs of rhe sol tw are, ha.dw a.c, traj nj ng,and
.amp up ti me requi .ed for a 3D i mpl cmcntati on.
A fter rhese.osl s a.e di scusscd,eval uatcw hat thc
.proj ectedl abor savi ngsw i l l bc oncc thc systcm is
up and runni ng. Labor savi ngs,coupl cd w i th thc
savi rgs derl ved from a reduccd numbcr of physical
prororypes,.an qui ckl y - ol tcn w l thtn thc fl rsl
year pay back the startup costs for thc

Ler' s break dow o the spccl l i c costs of an

i mpl .mcntarl on. I.l rst, rhere l s the ac(ual cost fo r
rhc sol tw ar. as w .1l as thc Integratedl hl rd party
softw arc. Forrunatcl y,the cost ot 3D C A D system s
has comc dow n sl gni fl cantl ysl nce l hel r
l ntroducti on,duc l n parl to l he surge oi ml dran gc
C A D prodtr.ts !hat havc drl vcn dow n costs w hl le
gl vtng hl gh cnd pa.kagcs a run l or Ihci r moncy ln
terms of fun.ti onal i ty.
A ccordl ng to D aral ech.a m6rkct rcsearchfi rm,
thcse mi d.angc or val uc p.l ccd 3D C A D packi gcs
w hi .h w erc p.evi ousl y bi l l cd as 80 pcrccnt ofth c
functi o.al i ry at 20 pcr.cnt of thc pri cc now ot lcr
cl oscr to 90 pcrc.nt ofthe functtonal l tyand,l n
most i nstances,at 50 pc.ccnt ofw hat thc hi gh-cnd

l\,{osrlikely, there also wlll bc jncrcascd hardware

reqri rements.though thcsc costs havc bccn
\omeshd, mi ,i gdr.d i n r.,.nr ycJr\d\hi A h
pow ered,W i ndow sr basedP C s have pl ummctcdin
cost. O(her hardw are expensesmi ghl resul t from
rhe need for 3D graphi csa.cel rators.Tbere w i ll
al so be costs assoctatedw i rh tral ni ng engi neer son
3D desi gnsystems.w htch .ar be Ineasrredboth
monetarl l yand i n l oss ofman hofts.

Tho! gb t hes c in l ti a l c o s ts w i l l b e s i g n l fi c a n t,
per hapst he bcs t w a y to o v rc o me c o s t o b j e .ri ons
j s t o point out t h a t y o u r c o n p a n y ' s tra n s i tl on ro 3l )
CA D ls an inv c s tm e n ti n i ts frn rre , a w a y to bettcr
c om pet e in t hc y c a rs a h e a d .Mi g .a ti n g to 3 D C A I)
will hav e long t e i m tm p a c ts o n b o l h s a l e sa n .l .osrs
by c nabling c om p a n l e sto b u tl d b e tte r p ro d ! .ts i n
s hor t c r des i8. c y c l e s- w i th l e s s w a s tc o fttnc a.d

efficiently and, in the process, shave enough time

off existing pfocesses to pay for itself. To quantify
rbi s argument,make a l i st of al l the w ays i n which
3D C A D coul d i mprove upon curenr process esand
then cal cul ate- l n both l abor and ti me the .ough
ti me savi n8sassoci ai edw i th each one. Thorgh t hjs
l s one w ay to quanti fy th benefi ts ol 3D C A D, t he
real savi ngsw i l l ul ti matel y resul t from hi gher
ql al i ty p.oducts thal are desi S nedand
manrfacturcd taster, S ome.ompani csw tl l conLendthat 3D sol l d mod elnr g
technology is ofcompeti(tve advantagconly to
companiesdesiSnlngand manulacturlng complcx
partsand assembl j cs.' l hcreal i tyi s that any
manufacturer evn thosc desiEring relativcly slmple
by
products- w l l l S ai na compcti tl veadvanl aS e
products
fastcr.
and
manulacturlng
bett-"r
dcsignlng
D

Wi$ vr.ylig sllll $ts, hrctgrollnds,dd wals orloafllng,30 CAo

t iiliq lor englnossstoutdt IndlvldulllyLilotsd optlonsInclutb
rr.dilonal tnhing das' r o.t.ls, vARseminn, usrgrouPs.id

M y t h: 2D wor k s fo r u s . W h y c h a n g ?
W hlle 2D CA D c a n b e a n e fftc l e n t w a y to c re al e
pr oduc ! dr awtn g s ,3 D C AD fu rth e ts e ffl c i e ncyby
s pc c dt ngup ev e ry a c tl v tty a n d b y o p ti mi z i n g
dc s t gnst hr oug h th e re mo v a l o f ma n y s o u rcesof
pot enUalinac cu ra c ya n d e rro .. Mo re o v e r,th e
bc nef it s of 3D C A D w l l l b e s c c n n o r j u s t i n t he
c ngt nee. ingdcp a rtme n tb u t a l s o l h .o u g h o ut rhe
enrire enterprisc. The transition to 3D deslgn wtll
hav c a s lgnlf ic a n tj mp a c l o n a rc a s s u c h a s qual i ty
w6rranty costs. manufactufing, and assembly as
well as s ales a n d m a rk e ti n g .
T o c ounr . r r hb o b j e c ri o n . p o rn t o u r rh F a rP a\ rn
whlc h 3D CA D c a n s o l v c c u rre n t p ro b l e m sm o.e

P i cki ng thc ni ght P roj ect ard thc

R i ghl P .opl c

It mt8hr provc dl fl i cul t l or some companl esto st op

usi ng 2D abruptl y and move compl ctel y to 3D lor
al l dsl gns.U ngi ncc.l nSmanagc.snccd to ass ess
careful l y w hl ch proJectand w hi ch pcopl e to s t ar t
out l n 3D C A D . The bcst w ay to begl n a 3l l
tmpl cmentattonl s w i th a ptl ot proj ect ro cnsu r e t he
decl stonsmade duri ng rhc earl i er stagesare well
rho!ght out. l ' l l ot proj e.rs al l ow sl nal l , focused
gro!ps to test the tnpl emenrati on,docoment adon,
and tral ni ng processesw i thl n a smal l er. more
conrrol l cd cnvi ronment.They al so al l ow the t eam
to make ml nor adj ustmenl sor changesto the se
processesas they are betng esl abl l shed.
Ii s essenllal to the succcssofa 3D implementatlon to
choose rhe rtght tjmc and task in which to try 3D
CAD. Since many designsare merely modincations of
existtng systemsin whichjusr a few areas of thc
design need changing,it would be impracttcal to use
3D dcsign on these lypes of projects. A belter
app.oach mighr be to maintain legacy dara ln 2D and
hold offon using 3D until a new design project arises.
P i l ot proi ccts shoul d be shorter term proj ecl s t hat
are easily manageable and relativcly low risk. Afte.

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 assesswhat 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 manaSersshould b both realisttc and
honest ln thelr expectatlons of these early adopters
These englneersand destgnerswttt probably become
the projecCschamplons who wlll mntor other users
durtnS thetr transtdon _ lhe oncs whom orhe'
englnerswlll seek out when they encounter
problems ot have quesdons.One way to ncouraSe
llill lmplomdiry . nfl 30 CID systm 0troqhootn! oqJllrdlor,
Ecco,. mnutftnlt. ot bachDwlnln! alrm3 tor tucrr.nd n fly
s$lpmem, Incra|sd rw6ir6 !y
lrl|ding I |Ew, contlgunbl.tmrtrcl
li|r, curlts d6lgn crcl6!y a0lscorl
|ldcGd $r.p bY$10 Ps...n, .nd
.d ov.d nlg!.. L$b orc.ll.!or.lhr1,
conmunlc.lion,ild smchncy.

these mentors is to provide simple rewards to

acknowledge thelr effons While these rewards need
not b elaborate, they a.e an important way to
.ecognlze the above'and-beyondefo.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 cl ass ftts al l .' S everal educ.ttonal optl ons a r e
avallable, tncludlng tradltlonal tralnlng classes,
tr.rtorlals,VAR semlnars, user groups, snd onllne
guides. Before sny engtneer partlclpate! ln a rull'
fledged Falntng class, lt s lmPeradve to do solne
prel l ml nary Investl S adontnto 3D tcchnl que!
rhereby ensurtng that ttme ls not wasted whn the
forrnal tralnlnS bglns.
The Managr' s P erspectl v: Todd Mansftl d,
S ystems E ngtne.l ng Team Lcadar, E C C O
ECCO ls the world's largest manufacturer of
backup al armsand amber w arnl nS l l ghts for
comme.ctalvehl cl es.The companys trsnsl tl on
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.
& ; tl ow dl d you l dendfy w hl ch engtneersto
t.ansltion first to 3D?
A: I would say there are two ways lo look at iti

Who are the most agreeable people? And whre is

It m os t needed ?Yo u ml g h t h a v e s o me o n ew ho 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

you re gotngto waffle betweentwo systems

forever.Inlttally, thre s golngto be somepaln' but
the rewa.dsbeyondthat are weil worth it Last
ln documenrs
yar,we hada 42 percentincrease
createdand fevtsed.

A: How do you motlvate th englneer who s

hesltant to move to 3D7

A: lt s paramount.lCs the numbrone lssue.lfvou

don\ havethat, you haveno authortty and no
authntlcltyln what you'rc doit8. tf managenent
doesnt shareyour viston,then you re dead ln rhe
warer.You have to implementthls whue actln8 oo
th authorlty ot senior management

A : lf y ou look a t th e p e o Pl ew h o a re mo s t d ow n 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 off
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
des lS n. ' Chang el s s c a ry ' Bu t l fy o u c a n p a r tner
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_deadd'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.

Q: How tmpoftant ls it to a successful

implementattonto haveman.Sementbuy-tn?

How tmportantls tt to prform sohe tyPeof

'"11.
advanceROI study on movtngthe companys new
to 3D?
productdeveloPment
A: I thlnk tCsverylnportant.ROIls easlly
calculatedand lnportant, but I thlnk lt's really
seconda.yto Plnpointlngwhat yoLrrexact lssus
are.Youmlghtthlnk you knowwhatyourproblemr
you d reallzethat
ar:but lfyou dld someanalysts,
they ml8hi be dlffrent. lf you don't know where
you sre of whefe you're 8oln8,5ny toad wlll Set
you there. Untll you deftneyour lssues.you don t
know what the posslblesolutlonsare,
We madethe declsionto move to 3D for buslness
feasons,becausecustomersare exPectlnsthat lvel
olnodllng. Manyof our customrstoday would
not accepta 2D drawlngat all. They are asklnSfor
solld geometry.as we!l as ICESand STEPtles.
outputsthat only 3D canglve you You cani l.se
your focus on th fact ihat lt's a b sinessdeclsion
to go to 3D lhsedays lt P.oJectsyour technt.el
competence.Today,3D ts no longersomethlngonlv
the latst and greatestdo. You.e shootlngpar golf
lfyou're uslng3D. h s no longerbtrdle golfi lt's par
and headtngfor boSeybecausethingsare movingso
fast. Onceyou makethe buslnessdectslon,you get
out your checkbookand ask, "Okay.what s it golng
to cost to get us the.e?"You know lcs Sojngto take
tlm and money,but you do tL.And onc tt s done,
you're damnglad you did it.

Jeff Ha ErcD, Englncering

User Pcrspcctlve:
Analyst, Pap.r Convertllg
Softwarc
Systems
(PCMC)
Machtae coa'pany
PC M C has baen a Sl o b a lm a n u fa c tu re ro fPa p e rco nv er t ingequlpm e n ts tn c e 1 9 1 9 .L e C sta l k to Jeff
Hallgren, engtne.lng systems software analyst
about how the company made the t.ansltion rrom
2 D t o 3D CA D.
*: Ilow dld you tdenttfy {blch enginecrs to
transltion fhst to 3D?
A: usually you look at startlnS wlth the eng,oee'sln
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 to an englneerworldng in
an enStneered-to-orderenvlronment wlth anywhefe
from a couple ofdays to a few months turnarodnd
tlme. You ned to transltlon them dtffrndy than the
new product development team Also the new
product developftent group can usuallysqueezein
th tlme to do the experlmeniatlon,so the
productlvtty hlts are not as great
{li How lmportant ls tt to attatn manaSementbuyln
for such a transltlon?
A: I f s abs olut elyc rl ttc a l l fh a n a g e m e n t d o e sn\
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?

lf deploYng. 30 dcslgn
3ynsn, .ll( Mold,I l6.dlng
protldd oll gi4!d, cnm9ld
moldst r d.rio hjcdo|!
nol{6d p.rb rid .hmlnun
.ddmdh c.tdng,ai s
moldd6lgn cFl. by50
p.!o|n,incFriod t! .blliv
roInpo.l fid upon varlou3
dd.for |r, inFwed thslgn
rd enbncGdlr3
crJnomrs,
moldx|tlFb c.p.tllltlei

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?"It s
lmportant to look al ROI notlust f.orn engtneerlng
but also as a total organtzation tool because lt s
8oin8 to lmpact the entlr company. Typtcally, the
ROI does not come fromlust englneerlnSi ln fact,
sometlmes you actually take a ost hlt by Solng to
3D In the englneerlng group. The real tangtble
beneflts are seen ln 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

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.

two yars,or flve years.The.e s no bnent b

convertinga product ltne that isn t selling.

A flrn ROI can be extremely dtfflcult to obtatn

becausesome ofthe lntanglbles do not correlate
dtrecdy to {lscal return. The beneflts of 3D rnodllng
a.e more far-reachlnSthan as a deslSn tool utlltzed
solely by and for enSlneerlnS.Those orSanlzadons
that don\ inlgrate to a 3D systm in the next 3 yearc
vtll b lelt behhd and wlll be placed ln a posltlon
where they wlll be at an extreme dlsadvantaSeto theh
competltors. Four dlstlnct beneflts of 3D modllng
recognlzedby PCMC were lmProved deslgn efflclency,
Improved deslSnquallty, shortned development
cycle, and lmproved assembly efflctency. We
cornpleted a projected ROI based on a senstttvlty
analysls that evaluatd the 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.

User Pcrspccttyc: AIAtt Larscn, Englncc

Analyst for IT at Au,otlv Asp, Inc.

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 it 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.

{lr Whatwr the tmportantfactors to your

companyin chooslngthe rlght 3D CAD systm?
A: We looked for large assmblyperformance,
con0guratlonmanagement,easeof use, and th
suppo.t of the companyltself. Whlch companyts
rhe leader?Whats th flnanclal health of the
Whenyou'redolngthe evaluatlor.
companyT
that
each of thessystemsls golng to grow,
rallze
and the technoloSyls changlngat a rapld rate,so
look at whtch o.ganlzatlonts respondlngbestto
the needsof thelr customers.
ng

of AutollvInc.,lsa
AutollvAsp,Inc.,a subsldtary
global manufacturerof auiomobllesafetyrestralnt
systems.The companybeganthe road lo 3D
In 1998.Thoughnot completed,
lmplenentatlon
lt s speakwith Alan Larsen,an engtneerlnS
analyst.to seehow they got th ball rolllng and
how they overcamelnltlal reslstanceto lhe project.
G: flow dld you ldentlfy whlcb nglneeBto
transitlonflrsr to 3D?
A: We plckedthe guyswho movedthe fastest,llke
thoseln new product development,who haveto
movefast. I was a memberof that 8roup. once we
reallzedthe valuefor us, w lookedat how we
could malnstreamtt. Thenw went out and tound
engtnrswho haverepeadngprocessesthat took
2D or 3D and remodeledas they movdto e.ch step
- whetherlt was analystsfor gasflow, suchas CFDi
structuralanalysls;or an lllustradon step,whre
as
they had to maketllustratlonsand remodeUnS
proS.anmlng
into
CNC.
they wre hand
tli How dld you determlnewhich project to usefor
your Ptlot program?
A: Therewas a ptlot project group withjust a few
seatsthat were doing toollng. processequipme.t,

and fabrtcation,but they wereJust hanglngout

there without a net or any s'rpport.Now w ve
turned the .esourcesof ihe companyto support
that effort and haverolled out comPanystandards
So the ptlot projectwas klnd ofa casestudyfor the
companyto p.ove lt works. Thenwe went to the
R&D Sroupwho has a lot inore CAD dtverslty.
They'rethe harderonesto brlng ln. But they wre
also lsolated,so I could toll tt out wtth them
orlSlnallyand not lmpact the rest of the comPany

gotng to be gonetomoriow," and they lmmediately

seerhe value ln lt. Whenyou try to tell them that
it's btter, there'salwayssomeonewho s golng to
questloneverythtngyou say. We dldnt want to turn
thts into anythlngother than a slam-dunk.Bven
thoughthey dtdn't enti.ely understandlt, they
understoodlt on thelr level.Now we re gotngback
ro reeducatethem. we've done Phaseone,so now
what dosphasetwo entall?They can t really
dlgestit ln one blte,3o theres a contlnualelment

4l: Dld lheseearly usershelp iransitlon other

fi: llave you completedyour tmplementarlonol3D?
Ai Not really. Our pllot project was usedprlmartly
to removes roadblockIn the company.From that
pfoject, however,we cratdcompanystandafds
that madelt okay to do what we were dotng,whlch
was a llSnlflcant step ln trylng to roll lt out In the
colnp.ny.
buy-ln for the
fir How dld you attaln msnaSement
transltlon?
A: I plcked ny battlesvery carefully.We Iookedfor
aressln whlch lt would be a slam-dunk,wherewe
were 8ttin8rld ofwork processes.It Isn\ hsfd to
You say, "Thls step ls
deflne that to manBgement.

A: No. We'reabout a year away.We started movlnS

to 3D In 1998,but the companydldn t fully support
the ffort. It was an undergroundffort. lfs
tmportantto makelt a gra$roots effort rather than
an undergroundone.Now we ve madelt vlslble to
mana8emnt
- a solutlon that 8ts rld of redundant

t
GHAPIER
A

Once an organirar.ion decidcs to plungc into the

{o r ld of llD des i g n ,a p l e th o ra o f tc c h n i c a l s s ues
m ns t bc . es olv e d .T l ' e c o mp u tc r s y s tc m so n w hi ch
yo u wer e r unnin g 2 D d c s i g n s o ftra rc w i l l n o t be
a blc t o handle r . h ei n c rc a s c dd c ma n d so f 3 D . I n
{d dit ion, onc e . o m p u tc rs a n d th c i r rc l a te d
su bs y s t em sa. e o b ta i n e d ,a s o l i d u p g ra d efl a n musl
b c im plem enl. e dto $ s u rc c o n ti n u c d p ro d u c tivi ry i n

o n c c om m on c r r o r c o m p a n i e s e n c o u n re r w hen
.m ba. k ing on a 3 D i m p l e me n l a ti o n i s th i n k i ng
that t hey c an r un 3 D C A D s y s te m s o n rh e i .
cu r . ent har dwarc . T o d d M a j e s k i , !.e s i d c n r of
Ohio- bas ed3Dv i s i o n T e c h n o l o g i e s ,a v a l u e -r ddcd
.es eller ( V A R) o l 3 D C AD s y s te ms ,s a y s , ' T h
mi s l a k c $ c s c . i s p c o p l . $ h ..
b .r ic ! e r har r hFi r.x i s rrn q h a rd w a ro w i l l b .
sof f ic ienr lus r t o g c t s ta rrc d i n 3 D . T h e y l o a d the
sof t war e, and it . u n s h o ..i b l y . T h c n rh e y re a l i ze
th c y hav e t o s pe n d mo re mo n c y , a n d th e y g ct
rc ally ups el. T ha t u s u a tl y c o m c s f.o m
managem enlwh o a rc n t 1 0 0 p c rc e n t c o mmi r l .edro
mak ing lhe c han g e a n y v a y , b e c a u s eth c y a .e
try ing t o s av e m o n y h e rc a n d th e re -'
C om paniest r ans i ti o n i n gto 3 D n c c d to c a .e fu l l y
spccify all necessary hardware components !o
handle the increased dcmands b.ought on by 3D.
You need io select powerful and .asily lpgradeable
com put er swit h a m p l e mc m o .y (R A M ), e n o u gh hard
disk space to mcct inc.eased file-storage ne.ds, a
Pr ot F r s ional- qu a lyi J D g ra tf i .. .a r.l rn d d ri v.r, a
stable net wor k , a n d , i t p o s s i b l e ,a s c n e . d e d i cated
to t he needsof e n g i n e e ri n g .

Q t Wh . l' s ! rd . f t h . t lo o d ?
S ol i d modcl i ng fequl ressubsran!l al l ymore
@ mputi ng resorrccs than 2D . In rhe pasr, C A D
softw a.c, be.ause i t i s g.aphi c- and comprri ngi ntcnsi v,requi rcd .xpensi ve tl N IX o.based
w orkstati ons to run. E nti re compani cs,su.h as
(lompute.vision and Inte.g.aph Corporation, were
foundcd on Lhe basis of p.ovi.ling a ha.dware
phtform powefful cnough b nrn O,\D sorlware.
E ven S un Mi crosystems,Inc., todrJ a naj of
systcms vendor, sta.ted our by p.oviding rechnical
worksLal,ionsfo. the CAD commDnfty.
Today's 3D CAD systens run on powrlul
Windowso-bascd PCs, somerimcs referred to as
" C A D w orkstati ons-"that' s good new s tor
manutacturing companies who a.e upgrading to 3D.
More good new s i s that chi p vendors Intcl
.-orporari onand A 1.1D
havc bcen cmbroi l cd i n
iierce competition for years, which has
siSnificantly driven down rhe costs of 1,heif
respcciive chips.ts .esul ng in LoweGpricedPCs_

A good-qualily workstarion capable of running tD

cAI) systems will cosr approximarely $2,000to
$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, though 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
e i r he. W indows 2 0 0 0Pro fe s s i o n a lo r W i n d o w s X P
I'.olessional (rlz-bit). A performancc advanrageoI
Windows X P P . ofe s s i o n a li s th c J OB mo d c , w hi ch
i sn' l av ailablein Wi n d o w s 2 0 0 0 .R e c e n tl y ,
Microsoft int.oduced lhe Windows XP Professional
64'bii ope.arjng syslem, which wiU grcaily b.nefil
e n glr eer s wor k r n g i n i l l ) r-AD .
An oihc . f { c t o. t o .o n s l d e r l s l h e c a c h cs i z c o f thc
co m puic r . A O I ' lt w i th a 2 M B c a c h c w i l l o ffc .
better pc.fo.mancc than one with only I MB. To
bettc. cvaluaic r.hc va.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 Ho x l |u cn Manorylr 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 times are infinitely slowcr
inan mcmory access ilmes.
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
3 D CA D s y s t em sr c q u i re a mi n i mu m o f 6 1 2 M B 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, the 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,accu.ai e pi cl ri .e, tatrnchthe 3D OA D
sysremal ong w i th other appl i cati ors thnt you
{ool d l ypi cal l y bc hrnni ng on you. systcm,Y ou can
track and.epo.l memory osed i n rhc W i ndo* s
Irerto.mancesystemmoni to..
K eep l n mi nd that as the compl exi l y ofthc modcls
devel opedi n..eascs,so does i hc dcmand for
memory. Fo.tunatcly, mcmo.y upg.adcs have
becomel al rl y l nexpensl v.H ow ever,you nccd to
antlcipaLe the need fo. future memo.y upgradcs.
One rul e of thumb i s thar i he R A M on C ,\D
w orkstati onsshoul d be doubl ed every three ycar s.
Fo. those uscrs who havc ve.y complcx modcls o.
pul l l .ogetherpi eces i nto an assembl y,they may
fi nd that they are .eachi ngrhe ti mi rs of a 32.brt
operari ngsystem.Ii your machi nehas 4 C B of
memory and thi s condi ti on i s renched,i i i s oftcn
seen a^sa " bl ue screen"condi ti on 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

Ti r l mporl ancr ot l cl trol kl n,

While raw CPU processing speed is 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

mistakc comPanies make whcn

implcmcnting a 3ll CAD systcm,
according to Lutz Feldman, thc
m ar k t ingdir c c to . o i S o l i d L i n eAA .
Headquarrcrcd in Geflnany, the
c om pany is a V A R o r 3 D C A D s y s tc ms .
' ln m os t c as c s .c u s ro m e .sre n d to fo c u s
on r he qor k s t a ti o n ," s a y s te l d ma n .
" Rdr ner wor k p c rfo rma n .e i s e v e n m o rc
im po. l, anl.F r o m o u r c x p e ri e n .e , w e
hav e t ound r hc g rc a te s tb o tl ,l e n e c k
t he. e. l) er f o. m a n c ci s , mrs l i n rh i s
ar c a f o. all c om p o n e n ts ,i n c l u d i n g
nelwo. k . a. ds , ro u tc rc , a n d s w i tc h e s ."
when im plem e n ti n gJ D C A D , t' e k l ' n a n
bc liev esa goo d n c i w o rk i s th e n ro s ri mp o i . ant
c onr ponentt o c o n s i d c r.
l hc pr c s enc eo i a n e n g i n c c ri n gs e rv e r d c d k atcd to
t h. us e ot eng i n c c rci s a n o l h e r c rl ti c a l c o m poncnt.
A t t DV is ion T e c h n o l o g i c s ,Mq j c s k i n o te s th at onc
of t hc f i. s r que s rl o n s h . a s k s o l c o m p a n i c s
r r ans it ioningio J D i s w h c th c . o r n o t l h e y havc a
dc dic ar edc ng i n e e ri n gs e rv c r.
' lt lhc y don' t , th e n i t' s a .e d fl a g fo r u s ," s a ys
M 4ies k i." W e i c L l th c m rh a l y o u n c c d to 8 c Lan
. ngineer ings e rv e . i f y o u re g o i n Eto s o rk i n a
c ollabof al. iv .w o .k c n v i ro n m e n r,e s p e c i a l l yi f the
dalas et sar e la .g e .I w o u l d s a y l .h a t8 0 p c rc ent ot
t he r im e, . om p a n i c s h a v e a n e n g i n e e fi n gs c.vcr.
! o. r hc 20 pc r c c n t o f c o m p a n i e sth a t a rc s l ,i l lon
one big net { o. k , i h c d a ta s e l srre g o i n g to b ccome
a hot . r lenec k I. h e y l l c a l l u s a n d .o mp l a i n that the
CA D s y s lem is .u n n i n g s l o w l y , a n d L h a ts o ftcn the

A nor her c om mo n mi s ta k c i s i g n o ri n g th e s crcr

when it c om es l i me to u p g ra d .O o mp a n i e sw i 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
ev e. y one' ss y s te ms .

O T t r P o * rr o l 0 n -! o a rdE r. Dh lc a
l l ven w i l h rhe fastestcompul cr avai l abl c,an
i nadequal egraphi cscard can LcadLo sl ow rcir csh
r^roq andj rnrr' r scrc.n b, hr\i or To di srl r)
geomct.y on Ihe screcn, most currcnr 3l )
appl i .al i ons use el ther OpenC L (d.vel oD cdby S( ; l)
o. D i re.rX _ (.l evebpcd by Mi crosoft). l hi nk ot
OpcnGLand D i .ecl X as A I' l s, w hi ch appl i calions,
such as C D p.og.ams, us. ro pl acc " cal l s" th r oxgh
to display gcom.try.
Ilolh slanda.d and profcssional g.aphi.s ca.ds
suD por[OpenGLand D i .cctx; how evc., C D use. s
si l l necd, trot.ssi onrl graphi .s.r.d
Thn m r r n
.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
di re.l s l he acl ual p.o.essi ng of Lheconrmandst o
rhe car.l, freeing up lhe compute.'s CPLl fo. its
mai n compul i ng rrsk.
S ol tw are vendorstesl ,each of l he professi onal
E raphi cscards and dri ve.s l o ce.ti fy w hi ch ones
w ork co.rectl y w i th rhei . sol rw are, Theseresr s
check for i ssuessuch a$ s.reen errors and du al
di spl ay support-On thei r W eb si tcs, vendors list
lhe supporied ca.ds and drivers. If you purchasc a
ill) graphics boa.d md drivcr, make su.e that thc
C A D vendo. has certi fi ed them.

WI en y ou c hoos ea g .a p h i c s c a rd . th c tw o mo sr
importanl things to consider are irs graphics
processing unit (GPIr) and thc soft{a.e drive. lhat
takes a.lvantagc of it. Th bus betwen the CI'U
and the g.aphics card is another important
consideraLion. Thc PCI express bus provides a
com put e. wit h: r b i d i .e c ti o n a l l i n e to c o mmu ni cate
vith lhe g.aphics ca.d, thcrcby enhancing both the
look and speed of the computr's g.aphi.s With a
clea. path to the CPU and the system memorv, PCI
Dxp.ess provides a much faster, morc etricient wav
for a computcr to ger ihe inlo.malion it needs to
.e nder c om pt c x g .a p h i c s .
Som epr oles s ion a l3 l ) g ra p h i c sc a .d s a l s o o i fc r
dr iv e.s l h a t w o rk w i l ,hc c rta i n
o pr . inr iz ed
p .of es s ionalapp l i c a l i o n s .T h e ty p c o f d e s i g n svou
rre wo. k ing wir , hw i l l b c s l ,d e l ,e rmi n c* h a l tv p c or
g .aphic s c a. d y ou w i l l n e c d . l fy o u a r. mo d c l i ng
i a ir ly s m all as s cn rb l i c si n y o tr l l D C ID s v s tc m,a
Sood- qualit yc a. d l h a l s u p p o .rs y o u r a p p l i c a l i ol
wiU wor k . I f y ou a re u s i n g a s u ri a c c mo d e l e rto
cfc at e t he c onr p l c xs k l n s o f a c a r b o d y , fo r
e xr m pk r , y ou' ll n .c d a h i g h -c n dc a rd to d e l i v e. the
q u allt y jm agest h a Ly o u .c q u i re .
C hangesin t ut u.c o !e m l i n g s y s te m sw i l l g i v .
g .aphic s hoar dsa n i n c rc a s i n g l yi m p o rta n l ro l c i n
com put ingpowc r. Wi rh th e i n tro d u c ti o n o f
Mic . os of l s net o p c ra l ,i n gs y s re m ,c o d c n a mFd
"L on8hor n, "t hc O I)U w i l l h a n d l e m u c h mo re o f the
com puling t han i n p re v i o u s .e l e a s c so f w i n d o w s,
mak ing ihe g. aph i .s c a fd q u a l i ty e v c n fto re

{t

H. r d 0lt k : H o w MIc i

s p .E r l s E l o !!h ?

By uLiliz ingt hc fl s I re a d w ri te ri mc s o f a h ...1

disk/controLlcr, you .an improve rhc rate al which
OA D s oLt wa. cis re a d i n to a c o m p u tc r' s m e m o rv
Fas rdis k s . nd . o n rrn l l e rs 5 l \n n p rrmi z erh e
rerding and writing of data, making them arorhor
i m por m nr c om p o n e n t.T h c h a rd d i s k tv p e , s p i ndl c
spced, and data rrnnsfe..atc all alfect the svstem s
ovcrau perro.mancc.
W hc n alele. m ini n Sh o w mu c h h a rd d i s k s p a c evoD

w i l l need,bc generous-C al cul atehow much spacc

you think you rill need over thc next three years
and then doubl c i t, Y ou w i u need i t - an.l the l arge.
the hard disk- the lowe.lhe cost'pcr-megabyte of
disk space. tn addtion, regularly rcview lhe
amount oI f.cc disk space availablc on cAD
workstaiions. tI Lhe.e is less than 400 MB of frce
disk space, it can cause pcrformance problems. U
rhe operating syslem has littlc of no disk spacc, thc
systcm can become unstable or Ireere up.
The avaihble disk space shonl.l be periodicauy
chccked on l ocal hard dri vcs, l he C A D systenr' s
backup di re.rory, the w i ndow s remporary
di rectory, l he i )ocunrcntsand S el ,l i ngsdi rccto.y ,
an,trho norqork.l ri \n\. l t.rr J nf l hnse l u..ri ons
start runni ng l ow on avai l A bl espace,you haw cr wo
opti ons; add more di sk spa.e o. removc fi l c.
and/or appl i cati onsto frce up addi ri onalsl ace
l ' ragmcntari onol thc hard di sk i s another p.oblem
that.an affecr your systcm' sperl o.mancc,Thi s
happcnsrhen l i l cs becom. s.aLi eredon tnc har d
di sk, an.l i t .equi res mo.c ti me l o acccssti l .s- l t
r.hcdi sk bccomcahi ghl y l raS mented,i t ai l l take
mul i i pl c i rcrati onsLo dof.agmcntyour di sk to an
a.cepi abl c l evel . l o prcvcnt fraS menl rl ron,.un
regul srl y schedul cdmai ntenan.eon your system ,
O

If,!l l l D l .

Morl t!f s

1herchavebeensornemqjor chang.sin the monitor

mdkct that benenl the cngincering and CA! industncs

t
t

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 for engineers {o.king in 3D CAD- The other change
h6 ben thc deflating p.ies of flat panel displars over
the Lastcouple ofJars.

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."

T he higher r es o l u ti o n o f h i g h ' e n d m o n i to rs cnabl e

engineers working in 3D CAD to see more detail in
lhei. m odels- a s w e l l a s mo .c o f th e i . d e s i S n
layout - due to the additional screen real estatc
p.ovided by biggcr displays. In addiiion, dual
m onit o. s enab l e n s i n e e s to d i s p l a y th e i . m odeLs
on one s c . een ,w h i l e k e e p i n g th c c o m m a n d son

i: What s thc biSgcst har.lwa.e change a company

should anticipato when moving ro 3D?

P r r lI ar

t r llh.

VA R

T odr y , t he v al u c -a d d c d.e N l l e . (VA R ) p l a ys an

es s ent ir l r ole i n 3 D i mp l e m e n ta ti o n .A g o o d V A R
will do m os t of rh e l e g w o .k fo r a c u s l o m e r
im plc m c nt inga 3 D C A D s o l u ti o n a n d 1 ]v i lhl el p
down t hc t ine a s c o mp a n i e sa d d l n e u s c o f
intcgrated third.party software lools. vARs were
onc e pr im ar ily i n th e h u s i n c s so f re s e l l i n g
s of iwar ei how e v e r, th e i r ro l e h a s e v o l v e d .
Cusl.ometsnow expecr thc "value"add" io include
s uppon and ex p c .tts e ,
A s a r es ull, V A R Sa re n o l o n g e r s i mp l y p u s hi ng
"boxes," buL rather are playing a kcy role in
deliv er ingiot a l s o l u ti o n s to i h e i . c u s to me .s V A R S
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, file 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

The Msnf,ger's Pe16pective: Todd Mstrsfield,

S ystems E ngi nceri ng Team Leader, E C C O

Ai It lakes a lot morc of a compuie. to run a 3D

sysLemthan ir dos a 2D system- With AutoCAD@,
yoo .an get away with not up8rading you.
machi neson a reS ul arbasi s. B ul w hen you move t o
3l ), rhe.e s goi ng to be morc data Lo.runch and
that reqri .es a hi ghr-l cvclsystcm.w i rh l he cost of
P C s dfoppi ng, rhar rcal l y i s no l onger a barri er .
U ack i n 2000,to buy a ni cc C A D w o.ksLal i onyou
had to spend $2,000l o 53,000.Taday,you can buy
one that w oul d run 3D C A D sofi w are w tl h no
probl em for $1,000or l css, cven w i th I GB of RAM

:; W haLdo you fecl are thc most c.i ti cal har dwar e
componentsro consi der?
Ai Everyone always talks about CPU, bur RAM is
definitcly going to be a pfimary, if nol l,hr prlmr.y,
componntto consi der.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

H ard di sk i s the onl y other key componentthat

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 i n8 $| l t 260K fi l cs. you re goi ng to bc
de.ling with 25MIl files. Thcs. JD files are higge.
becausethey obvi ousl y hol d more dara. one o f ouf
lcnses is a 25MB file, and thaCs just 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 ihe
informalion, lots of RAII so you don t page out, a

bi8 hard drive to hold all the files, and a high RPM
hard drive so il can seek vcry quickly.
whar . hA ngesd o .o n rp Mi e s n e .d ro m rk c i n
.cgard to networking?
A: File transfer will be c.itical- Instcad of passing
2 5 6K f iles , y ou' . e p a s s i n g3 , 5 , o .? MB fi l s o v er l he
n e t r or k , S o net w o rk s p e e da n d c o n n e c l i v rtva re
pa.amount. You must have al teast a l0lo-100
Ethernet network v.irh good hubs and switchcs'
b cc aus ct he t im e y o u ' .e g o i n g to s p c n d s i tti n g al ,
yo " r dc s k r np $ai ri n g i o r l i l c q Io .o m c d o s r
directly relates to the quality ofvour network
l i W hal. . ons idc ra l i o n sd o c o mp a n i e sn e e d to
mak e . ega. dingt n e n e tw o rk ' s s c rv e .?
Ai 'l'he key hcre is not only the size of lhe scrver,
bul also lhe lault tolerance lf lhc s..ver is goinS to
b c y ot . . c pos it or y , y o u n c e d l o mi rro . v o u r d ri ves
a nd w. it e t hem t o L a p eb a c k u p . Yo u a l s o w a n t to
hsvc a seNer that performs decentlv Therc a.e
!w o m is t ak esc om p a n l e sma k e w h c n i t c o m c s to
sc r v c r s .O ne is en s u d n g th a t y o u r s e rv e r i s g o od
enough. PeoDle will typlcally build a server and
then ncvcr upgradc it llnlike a desktop machhe
that you wofk on cvefy day, all day, rhev don'r
ralize that they work on a server everv day roo'
Since it's nor visibLe to l,hcm, thev don t see
perfo.mance degradal,ionover timc Becausc it gets
ignorcd, it's nver upgradcd
Tha sccond mistake involves lhe number or
sc r ui. r s r unning o n a s c ru c .. Smrl l o r .o mp a ni .s
wiu havc one o. two servers. They'.c going lo be
.unninS DNS, p.int sefver, netwo.k antivirrs, on
down the lisl. At the end of the day, trafti. matters.
So a dc dic at ed sc n e r, i r a t a l l p o s s i b l e ,i s
important. All those services a.e taking up CPLr
time. So once again, yod'rc noi seeing the
p c r f or m an. c oul o t ! o ' rr s c n F r I h a l v o u o l te r w i se
would- tn our case, engincering puchased a scrver
dedicatcd just to our PDM vault and our
enginee.ing files. It s tougher for smaucr
.om panir s be. au s . re \o u r.c s a re l i n i rc h u
so m c ||m . s I hc y .c rn a l l ! s h o o ri n Sl h c m s c l \A . i r

th foot. Many people don't do the ROI on what il,

costs to have an expensive engineer sitting thefe

The Mrnsgr' s P erspecti ve: Thrd P erki ns,

D i rector of Mcchani csl E ngi nee.i nS , P apcr
C onverti ng M.chi ne C omP anY .
Whafs ihc biggest hardware.hangc a company
shoDld anticipal.e whcn moving lo lD?
A: lncreasing the frequcncy wilh which you .eplace
your machi nes,w hi ch mcansgoi ng from a tw o' ro
th.ee-year cycle to a 12- to 1S'month cycle 'l'he
a.lual long.vity of l,he wo.kstations thcmselves is
key. Thc po* e. ofthc w orksl .ati ons.thc amount of
rhe memory, and rhe video ca.d arc also impoftant,
Y ou nccd l o do a very tho.ough anal ysi sto evaluat c
what thc bcsl selup is fo. your spplicarion Whcn
w e' re gcti i ng .eady to upg.adeour machi nes,w e
scrual l y condtrctthe bcnchmarktesti ng p.ovi ded
by our 30 C ID vendor to val ual cdi fterent
worksrauons and video cards. I think lhal s .eauv

':i What do you teel are rhe most critical hardwarc

componentsto.onsi de.?
A : The R A M i s cri ti cal , but l he C P u and the vi deo
card are aU kcy ingredicnts.
W I^ar.hanB cs.l o .omFani Fsn..d ro make i n
regard to nctworking?
A : Y ou w ant the l i mi i ati on to l i e w i thi n your
w orkstati ons,not w i thi n your nel w ork W hcthe r
you're working locally o. rcmotely with other
facilities, you don't want your network io be the
w eak l i nk- Y ou al so have to consi d. w hat
hardwa.c upgrades you need lo make to stat
curren[ with your nerwork in ofde. to support the

( urrFnrl y,,e ro l ookrngar seD ara' cre0osi rori. s

that would givc us the capability to only pass the
data that changcs, instead ofpassing eve.ythinS.
Wc re trying to get our Imlian operations up to

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. ic at ion( U P L ) s y s re ms .

lhahileUeslg:r Lom

Advancingthe art of moldmaking

Unconventionaltoolmakingcuts significanttime from what's usuallyn
Paql Dvotak
SeniorEdltor
budget And once
,'s not hardfor toolingcoststo devour400,6ol a development
constr0cled,moldscan makeonLyone product And whnproductionfinlshes,molds
uslally collectdust on warehouseshelvesfor years.A few recent deas,however,
on thelr head.
promise!o turn thesetraditLons
off traditionaltoolin; leadtlmes'
moldcanchopup to 1oo/o
For Instance,a Laminale
channelshelpshave
and
flood-cooling
producuon,
pu!
lts
conformal
into
And when
clcles
evenmoretlrneoff manufacturlng
a
ard marrnepartserlmrnares
Anothertecfniquearmedat for- r9 largeae-ospace
ior
needed
tlme
LsLallv
900/0
otr
the
lo! of -ough,ng,lt alsocuts up to
molds when thls tool is no longerneeded,ils suffacecanbe
lowtempe-ratuie
adlustedandcut againfor new parts
MOLDSLAYERBY LAYER
ar Faat4m,Troy,l'1ich,,oo.roweoan ideafrom rapld p.otolypingto make
Enoineers
of plastc so why
bu'ldspansfro|.]ma4yth n laYers
la;inatemolds,RPeqLipment
stock?
of
sheel
layer
out
layer
by
not bulldlnjectionmolds
Thetechnique,callediamlnatetoollng,slartswith a cAD modelof a part software
'lilds a mold basearoundthe part and then slicesthls assemblylnto manylayers,
laserclts and punches
cachlhe thicknessof selectedsheetstock.A high_speed
detailsof eachsllceofthe mold into a steelor aluminumsheet Th layersare then
pressedtogethet bondedto achieveabout940,6of th tensileand shearstrengthol
i-20 steel,and flnlshedmachlned.This lasttask putsa fine finishon the part
surfacesand machinesejectorsand other moldleatures class_Asurfacesmay
reourrcolatinotne laminatetool. however,sorre tiserssay3s-'nishedlaminale
Rob
too,no iart surracestrrrnoLt acceplaolepa.ts,' saysFast4-nVicePresident
Esling.
Laminatemoldsare madeol coldrolledsteel,300 and400 stainlesssteels,and 6061
molds
and pressur-injection
T-6 al!minum,Steelswork bestfor high+emperaturc
pressure
But
applications
and
whilealominumis betterfor low-temperatur
over aluminumve|sions For ins|ance,good
tools haveadvantages
stainlesssteel
toolsperformsimilarlyto
1et
ventingand lhin-wallconstruction stainless-steel
aluminumlools but stainlessdoesnot corrode,patternsare moraccurateoue to
lessthe|lnalexpansionandconlraction,and it far outlastsaluminum.

The mold3&tlon Ir m.d. by lEmln.tlng.hel

In th. Fa.t4m m.thod. Llght-Hq. fl@d.oollnl
aotohotlvc p:.t surtuund thc part ..vlty.nd
rh. In..t caD lnage,

Laminatemoldsalsolet designersplacecoolng lineswherethey are mostuseful'

Heatconducisfrom the molLenplastlcto the mold andis then removedby coolant
flo,,ringthrougha networkof internalchannels.Thennalanalyslsof lhe moldin the
designstageaccuralelypredictsthe locationof hot spots,coolinglinescanlhen
conr6rmto tne geometryor the part Theseconformalcoolinglinesremovefour to
gun-drilled
lines.
fivetimesthe heatof traditionally

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Lom

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Anotherinnovation,flood cooling.useslarqe-surfa.echannelsthat createturbulence

in the flowto carw awavmoreheatthan laminarflowin smoothwalllines,with
eithermethod,the goalis to maximizeheattransferfromthe part. A well-cooled
moldlets partscool uniformlyandfaster,thls minimizingintemalstressesand
trimmingproductiontims.Anotherbenefitis uniformsurfacetemperaturesacross
the corand cavityofthe mold,
shave30 to 50o/ootr a 60-sec
"ltore efficientcoolinglets manufaclurers
injectionmolding
cycle,"saysEsling."Largepartsare usuallymadein singlecavity
molds.So in a machinecapableof 7oo-tonclampingforcerthat equatesto saving
about$0.43/parr.If the job callsfor 10o,oooparts/year,that comesto $43.000
annually,"
saysEsling,
Laminatetoolingcanalsobuildlargemolds,However,currentequiprnentrestricts
costslessbecause
moldsof about4 to 6-ft3. Generally,laminalemold construction
materlalthat ls readilyavailable.
it's madefrom sheetslock,a relativelyinexpensive
lessthan the samemold lrom a
"costsfor a laminatemold may be I to 12o,.t
traditionalshop.And it may rake.bout 10o/olessthe," saysEsling.

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

SUSTRACTIVE
PIN TOOLING
surface Gsnr.tlon In the lJ,K,developedan apprcachcalledsubtradive Pin
Tolin9(SPT)to bulldmoldsthat usea grid of rectangular"pins"mountedon
threadedrods.Theirheightcan be adjustedto form a roughneFshapesurface.The
pinsare clarnpedand held in placeby a bolsterwhllethe workingmold surfaceis
roughedand flnishedwith traditionalmilllngequlpment.lvloldsmadethis way are
superplastic
usefulin abouta dozenoperationsIncludlngcompositemanufacturingr
fonhin9,vacuumformin9,and patternmaklrg
"sFrTshrlnksleadtlmesand costsassoclate4wlthlargeand short-runcomponenl
manuracluflng
by crealinqthe front fa.e of the tool, as opposedto an enti.es0lid
mold Insert,"sayslim Grayof llm D, Gray& Assoc,lnc., the NorthAmerlcan
dlstrlbutorfor SPTh Richardson,
Tex, "Plnscanbe of plastjc,metal,ceramic,and
evenwood,Graphitcouldbe usedto makea largeelectrodeand we'veven
proposedpinsof Inconelfor a hlgh-lemperature
application,"
Accordinqto the company,SPTtoolsslashcost and leadtlmesby up to 90oi, and it
And RoIs are prolectedIn slx to
cutstlme to marketby 350,6for largeaomponents,
18 months.

Th. CAO nod.l h lor .tr HVAC du.t on r er. '

po..lbl. wlth F..t4m'l
.hoM th. ohpl.rdry
oollnq lln.4 In blu..

'Thls approachallowsraplddesignlteratlonsby addlngmaterial,removlnglt, or

both, Over9006ofthe mold can be rusedin future projects,We suggestsavlngthe
produceone part," saysGray.
model,not lts mold,and the systemcaneconomically
"It's lmperatlvethat the flrst mold be madeas quicklyand cheaplyas possible,"adds
Gray."Toollngls only an assetwhlleits beingused,Sofor low-volumework, it is
ssentialtohavea reusabletool, when the surfaceon the tool ls no longeruseful,
pin hightscan be adjustedand rcutfor new parts."Grayaddsthat Strf alsolets
usersverifyassmblies,
manufacture
one-ol?s,and produceseveralprototypesfrom
the samemoldlo assesscompetingdesigns,
CADmd.l ru.ri<q oa. tln.l p.n.pD..r un.
wlro-fr.m. blo.kr th.t r.pMt
rh. plr.. r
SPTperformance
is governedby howcloselythe pinscanproducthe near-net
FoCnh n.& th. cAD nl...d.dlu.t. tt
p.nlily
shapeof the requiredgeometry.In mostcases,compositesPTtoolsare morestable ...ordlngt. h.
rbd.l (rl
FE.gd
{rL..
hd b..n rolgh.d Into th. cdtr
than conventional
steeltools.

Forductilemalerials,machiningparameterscanbe set to blendawaythe pin+o-pin

joint, usuallylessthan 50 m. And whennecessary,
a tempomrybondalongthe pin
boundarymay b usd!o createa "single"surface,
MODELTO CASTII{GII{ 10 DAYS
Fasttoolingalsocomesfrom skillfullyhandlinga .apid-prototyping
machineto build
with low-mel!materials,Thesecan be usedto makepatternsfor losFwaxcasting.
Forlnstance,whenengineersat TecumsehProductsResearch
Laboratory,Nw
Holstein,Wis.,spotteddesignchangesin a two-cylindrenginethy wer
developing,
they wouldmodifya CADfile and sent il otr to th rapid'prototyping
facilityat the company'scompressor
division,"Thecylinde|smeasuredabout12 X
14 x 16 in.," saysl4anufacturing
EngineerDavidWadsworthat Tecumseh
equipmentfrom 3D
CompressorCo., in Dundee,l4jch."Thesls rapidprototypin9

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w rd crI r E uc s r t s I r . Lu rrl

rage J or )

Systems built the enginecylinderin wax ovemight."After rorming,the wax pattern

was coatdin severallayersof ceramic.whichwas bakedand sentto a foundry.
Finishmachiningfollowed.But, notesWadsworth,total time irom receiptof the c:AD
Rleto new functionalpart took only 10 days.

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.

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'%.

Prototypeparts from productionplastics

Gttlngworkingprototypepartsln days let a vacuumcleaner
motor makerturn out workinglnodelsof a new deslgntn a week,
mor,englneersat Amatk tncr Paoll,Pa.,receivedinjectlon-moldd
parts In Rynite,a maierlalstrongenoughto survivethe
pressuregeneratedin performance
tests,
Beforebulldlngthe parts,Protodold lnc,, l,4aple
Plaln,lYinn,.let the motormaker"analyzepart hodelsfor elmenBthat mio
leadllme," saysAmetekvice Presldentof Engineering
Jamsshawcross."changjngdstgnson ne Insteadof descrtbtng
alterai
lhe phoneproveda hugeadvantageIn gettlnga functlonalmodelIn front of cllents\4lthinone week,"protomotdcreated1OOor
qualltypartsfor tstsby the engineeringand manrfacturtngdepartments,
and clients,
l,4osttradltlonalrapid-prototyplng
mthods,however,deliveronly one part per run and use matertatsth6t deformln rigorousp(
tests To solvesuchproblems,functlonaltestingwasoften put on holduntll producttonmotdscouldb devetoped,
typiia y a i(

Prctomld.lcslOn.pel.l|3tr
and Protoquotq the comp.ny'i.
Wbba*d quodho.nd dslEnanalyrb 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.

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rage 4 oI )

N{acnmeDesrgn.Lom

Moldmakingin a Rush
tchniquethat shortensthe
Rushor "Rapd useof shophours"is a lean-manufactu.ing
time requiredto makemolds,It was devisedby RonPleasanl,presidentof Pleasant
Preclsiontnc., Kenton,Ohio.to let moldmake.sworkwith key suppliers.share3D
designdata, reducethe numberof changes,and trim errors,
PleasantusesProlEWildfireto createmoldsbasedon customerdesignsThenhe uses
and high_speed
moldcomponents,
hisown 14odular
l4oldSystemfor standardizing
millingmachines.
featuresin ProlEwildfire letsus designmoldsevenwhenits detailsare
'"Ihe associative
jncomplete.It lets us describemold cavitieswithoutknowingthe shapeofthe block
whilechangesand fixesare madealong
itself,Thislets us moveaheadelectronically,
the way, confidentthat all lementswill be Includedin the final design."
At a trade-showdemonstration,
Pleasantand his teamset up a systemthat showed
howa mold couldbe compltdin just one day. Injectionmoldstypicallytake eightto
12 weeks,Eachmorningof the show,the team designeda new injectionmoldand
the
generatedthe corresponding
NCloolpathwith PrElE,then machinedand assembled
productioninjectionmoldfrom tool steel.At the endof eachday. a newlyfinishedmold
was installedon a 190+oninjectionpress,Overthe coursof the week,the team
designed
molds.
andbuiltfivedifferent

Pleent Pr6l.ld'.
c.vlty Rody p6rt'.
oalt nodql.r nold.ohmn6nt
th.t.ll
bulld .tcl. Ih. compon.nb.ro edy
@vlty d.r.ll In mny.ppllc.tlol

Production plastic ready for RP machines

and ABSthat comblnesthe strengthof Pc with the flexibilty ol ABS,
rc-ABS,a blndof polycarbonate
machines.stratalyt Inc.,
modeling)rapid-prototyping
ls readyfor sveralFDM(fused-deposition
blendsare wldelyusedto manufactureparts,a blendhasnot
l4inneapolis,
saysthat allholgh PC-ABS
beenavailablefor rapidprototyplngand productlon,
properties.lt is strongerlhan ABs,
ThecompanysaysPC-ABS
hasexcellentthermaland mechanlcal
and featuredetallis simllario that of StratasysABSmodellngmaterial.
includingthe FD14
Titan,VantageS, and
The new materialworksin severalStratasysmachines,
vantageSE.L-ayer
thicknesscanbe set for 0.005or 0.010in, A 0,007-in.layeris plannedfor future
releases,lJsersmust upgradeto the most currentsoftwareto usethe malerial,

lh. h.ndl. aorth..lrcr

mdc oa Pc-Aas.nd w.
stEt.ry.
npldprototypft
rh. duabl. h.t rl.l lct
bettsr pcdl.t .d-F
Frforman..

The problems with traditional tooling

Largetools madethe traditionalway usuallystaft with largblocksofwrought mateial that take weeG to procure.sheet stoc!
laminate
on the otherhand,is readilyavailable.
tooldesigned
by Fast4m,
in tool designbecauseotherfactors,suchas ejectorlo
Waterlinesare anotherproblem.Theyare usuallythe las!consideration
constdercd
moreimportant.So coolingchannelsare placedwhereverthey fit, often not in the bestlocations.In addition,the u:
straighFdrilledpassages
rarelybringcoolan!to hol spots.StraiqhFlinecoolinglendslo producelaminarflowslhroughthe tool
lransferheatlessefficienuythanturbulentflows.
And lastly,manufacturers
of a traditionalmoldmayjust dial downthe coolingcycle.But partst
impatientwith the prformance

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4
CIIAPITR
,1

::a
tn the fi.st chapter, vreidiscussed the many beneflts
o f 3D des lgn,am o n g w h tc h a re fa s ter e n g tn eerin8
changes. automated drawtng creatlon deslSn
.eus, and easler deslSn and management of
a s s em blt esA
. no l h e r b y -p ro d u c to fa 3 D
l m plem ent at lonl s a h u g e e x p l o s to n o l 3 D d a ta a
com panym us t m a n a g ea n d s h a re w l th o th e f
d epar t m ent s ,s u c h a s m a n u fa c tu rl n ga n d
pur c has t ng.W h tl e l c g a c y 2 D s y s te msp ro d u ce one
type of engtneerlng flle - drawtngs - 3D CAD
s y s t em spr oduc s e v e ra lty p e s o f e n g l n e rl n 8tl l es'
tnc ludt ngas s em b l y ,p a rt, a n d d ra w l n g ftl e s .
Part flles are commonly reLrsedln lnultlple
a s s em blt esand d ra w l n Ss rc o c a re l u l tra c k l n gof
th e r elat t ons hl P sb tw e n p a rl s a n d th e j r
res pec t lv cas s e n rb l l e smu s t b ma l n l a l n e dto
effecttvly manage. There nay also be a need to
a s s oc lat enon- C A Dd o c u me n ts- p ro d u c t l maS s'
a naly s ls ,and r e s t re s u l ts - to rh e C AD l l l e frnm
w hlc h t t was c r e a te d .In o mp a n l e stmp l m e ntl ng
3D CA D I n a I nu l tl p l e -u s e rw o rk g ro u p w l th s uppl v
c haln par t ner s a s w e l l a s c u s to me rsn e e rl l n gaccess
to t hat 3D dat a . s o m e fo rm o fd a ta m a n a g e f tent
s y s t m m ay bc n e e d e d .
O

F . c t or ing

i n F i l e f,l .re g c m e n t

A n lm por lant f a c to r i n th e u l ti ma te s u c c e s sotany

3D CAD lmplcmentation ls effctlve ftle
m anagenent .w i th 2 D d e s l g ns v s re m s e n g i n ecrs
themsclves often name files in wavs that dlfte'
from those oI other use.s While thts might wo'k
wit h 2D s y s t em s ,i t l n o s t l j k e l y w l l l Ie a d to ' haos i n
a dat a r ic h 3D e n v i ro n me n t A .a re fu l l y th o u ght out

control schme that fully outlines the P.oper

procedurecand srandardsshoul d be dcvel ope d
very earl y tn the l mP l ementati on
Most 3D C A D systemshave a meansby w htch
assembl tesare creatcd by combj nl ngparts - a
l ogl cal approach,stnce dl fferent engl neersml ght
desi S nl ndi vtdual parts and asscmbl el heri l atc r '
Thl s approach,how cvr, can l cad to confusl on
l ater l f the processtsn' t control l ed. U sers need t o
be abl e to l tnd the l atest versl on of 3D fl l es and be
abl to eastl y dl sttnS ul sh3D assembl yand P ar t
rel atl onshtps.The rel atl onshl P sbetw een parts
must be tracked. and engl neersmust be abl e to
qutckl y dei erml ne " w here_used'to ascrtal nth c
tmpact of desi gnchanges
Todd MaJeskt,presl denrol
3D V i stonTechnol ogl s,a val ue
added resel l cr (vA R ) of 3D C A D
systems,bl tevesthat the vast
tncreasel n data p.oduced bY 3D
C A D systemsmakesi t di ffl cul t for
companl esto contl nua ustng
manual methods of managl ngfl l es
" l n a 2D C A D system.thc fi l e
st.ucture Is fatrly easy to manage
i n a manual fashl on,b!t w hen
usi ng 3D , you i ncorP oratea
minimum ol three dtfferent ftle
PDMsFems lElp d5ignle.ns manrge.ll
9p6 oIdesigninfoftation, holhdodmems
rnd da|., hcludit{ ProFniessuct as
d6criFim, srabs,nunhr,andc.sts

**

r ,, ^ - :l :l :':-

rypes: part, assembly, and dfawing, says Majski.

"Bc aus eof c han g p ro p a g a tl o ni n a p a ra me l '
system, most 3D applications maintain knowledge
o t rhe I nr er r . la, t o n l h l p s b F ru e c n fi l .s V a n a g lng
thcm ln a manual process is a bit overwhelming
when you arc in a multj user envi.onment Product
D at a M anas c m en t(P D M) s i mp l i fi e s th e p ro c e ssor
d cter m ir if lg wher e th e l i l e s a re l o c a te da n d w h i ch
re vls io. is t he m o s t c u r.e n t."
(D Dat : M r nagt m e n r: u h ,

spcific needs of the engineerlng workgroup

caprure ti l e revi (l on hr\rorl cs auromari cal l v
al l ow i ng membersof the desl gnLeamto i nstantly
access flles, determine who has workcd on rhem
and see exactly what changes were made
W orkgrorp P D M sol uti onsare easy to set up,
requtremi ni mum techni cal support,reqri re no
customl zatj on,and provi de control s to hel p dcsign
i am membersavoi d makl ng other crrors that can
si detrack dcsl gnschcdul es

Yo u Il e e d l t

Mosl 3D CAD systcms olfcr softe baslc data

ma nagem entf unc tl o n a l i tyb u i l t i n to th e i r s y s t em
whic h m ay pr ov id c l e a tu rc s fo r m a n a g i n gd a ra
co llabor at t on,an d v i e w l n g a n d m a rk u p c a p a b i l i ti cs
o l er t he I nt er net. F o r s ma l l e r c o mp a n te sa n d
e n gineer lngwor k g ro u p s ,th i s ty p c o f fu n c tl o n al i tv
' n add_
ml B hr s uf f lc e,but fo r mo s t m a n u fa c tu re rs a
w
tl
l
b
c
re
q
u
l
rc
d
s
y
s
tc
m
o n dat a m anaS em n t
PD M s olut ions l. y p i c a l l yl a l l l n to tw o c a tc g o rtes:
wor k gr oup and en te rp rts e l e v l s v s te ms
Wo. k g. oup P DM s o l u tl o n s ,w h l c h fo c u s o n th '

ofrhedeslgn
PDMeluriotls otrs vflllinq, whidr6.b16 members
reamroshamliles ststomarElD, ched(ig $em in andod ol the
srong
vdh onear . tme lo av.td wewnningffle6oredring d
'le

To prevenr englneers and desi8ners from

overw ri ti ng fl l es or spcndi nSti mc w o.ki ng on the
w rong versi on ol a fi l c, w orkgroup P D M system s
sccure fi l es throuS hvaul ti nS vaul ttng al l ow s
mcmbersof the desl gn team to share tl 1es
systematl cal l y,checkl ng them l n and out of the
vaul r one at a ti me. A ccessro vaul ted data l s only
poss!bl ethrough the user tnterfacctrsi og
adml ntstratl vccontrol s establ i shedby the
w orkS roup,prohi bl ti ng unauthorl zcdaccessto
val uabl edesl gndata.

Besides engineerinSflles, workgro p PDlvlsysrems

manag all types ofdestgn documents and data.
inclqding propertics such as description, status,
number,and costs.S omew orkgroupP D M sol utions

als o of f e. aut om a ti c!p d a ti n g o fb tl l s o frn a teri al

(BOMs). To nake changes to vaulted data. engjneers
simply select the items. ky ln lpdatd values, and
thc sofrwarc aulomattcally updates all rclaterl BOMs

o) plu r or the E nt.rP ris.

With tncreased ortsourcing, cotrpanles also need
t o bc able t o c ffe c i tv c l y c o l l a b o ra tco n d c s i gn
pr ojc c t s wit h ma n trfa c tu re rss, u p p l i c rs .a n d
c us t om c r swho ml g h t b e l o c a te d th o u s a n d sof
m ilc s and m any tl me z o n e sa w a y W h e n d c sl S n
team swor k ing o n a v i rtu a l m o d e l o fa p ro d u t are
conn. c r c o r r \ in g a d i Sl rn l n c rs o rk . rh o p ro .cs' i s
ref er r ed t o as c o l l a b o ra ri v ec n g i n e c rl n g A b v
pr oduc t of c oll a b o ra ti v ee n g i n e e .l n gl s th c v ast
a m ount ol digh a l i i fo rm a ti o ' r c a p tu re dd u rl ng tnc
dev elopm ento l c o -d c s l g D e dp ro d u c ts
l D M s o l u ti o n s p ro v l d e
I nr er pr t s e- lev eP
m anuf ac t ur er sw l th a w a y l o a u to m a tc p ro ccsses
and t o ef f lc ien tl y c re a (c .m a n a g c a n d s h a re dcsrgn
dar a not only a c ro s s th c o rSa n l z a l i o nb u t l o oursi dc
s upply c haln f ,a rtn c .s a n d c u s to me rsa s w e l l B v
t n d a u to m a tl ng
lm p. ov t ng dat a ma n a B e m c n a
wor k f low ac r o s smu l ttp l e s tte s .e n te rp rts cP D M
s olt r t ionshelp l n te g ra tp ro d u c t d e v e l o p m e nt

Tolacilibre colt.b.ratjd, somePoMsol$aresFems allownon_

CADuscrssoch.s manufactringandFfthasing $afi b .cds all
ddumenlslo $e vault
ddmqls andto .dd non-CAD

acri vi ti esof w i del y dj spcrsedcorporate di vi sions

departments.customers,and suppl j ers.
Ll ke w orkgroup P D M systems.entcrpri se l evcl
P D M softw are perml ts compani esto easi l y ' on f uol
the storage.eval uatton,and modi fi cati on of 3D
fi l es. A sccure vaul t enabl esal l a!thori zed
w o.kg.oups to qui ckl y fi nd and accessthc most up_
to-datefi l es. P rovi di ngacccssto the l atcst vPr sion
of do.umcnts and data straml i nesrh prodtr ct
dcvel opmentprocssand kecpsal l membcrs o l t hc
dcvel opme.t tean, i ncl udi .g .ngi nee.i ng,
manutacturj ng,purchasl ng,and matketi ng' i n sync
E ntcrp.i se l cvel P D M sol rti ons faci l i l ate
col l aborati onand automateproccsses,such a s
ngl neeri ngchangeordcrs (ti cOs) that can he lp
reducee.rors and l mprove ei fl cl cncy. ThcsP
hl gher l evcl .systemscan al so hel p companl es
automatethe creatl on ol B OMs w hl ch can
el i ml nareer.or' p.on manualprocessesand enahlc
bctter .ol l aborati on betw eenngi neeri ng
manufacturl ng.and othcr p.oduct devel opment

R egardl cssof !a,hattype of sol utl on you choo sc t o

tmpl emcnr,P D M w l l l S ready tacl l trarcyour
companys abl l l ty to managcthe copl otrsamo unt s
of producl dal a crcated by todry s 3D C A D sv st cm s
and (o prevent erfo.s tha(.oul d 3dd rl mc and . ost
ro desl gn P roj ecl s.B oth l ypcs of sysl emscan also
foster betrer and more el fecrl vedesi gn
col l aborati on.el rhcr w tl .hl othe w orkB roup or
throughourthe extendedenrcrl ri se
l cffrey S rzcr,techni calservi ccsmanagerfor
C raphl csS ystcns C orpo.ari on,a W tsconsi n- b. sed
V A R ol 3D C A D systems,says that P D M systc m s
grsatl y l aci l i tate col l abora!i veengi neertng.r r o. r s
and prevent nctw ork ovcrl oad w i thi n compi ni. s
usi ng 3D C A D . " 3D desi gntool s crcate v.,1!m. s of
ro
\l ,df.o o\er ' ncrw orr. ' n J
' l drd rhar rrFFd be
col l abo.ati veenvi ronment.W i l hout a P D M sysr em ,
users w oul d be l oadi ngal l ol that data acrosst hc
network every time they opencd th files. swallowi.g
enormousamouD tsof bandw j dth,"says S etzer '

He adds , ' A P DM s y s te m mi ti g a te sth e n e tw o rk

b a ndwidt h pr oble m b y c o p y i n g a l l o f th e fi l c >
n e ededt o wor k o n a p ro j c c t to th e trs c r' sl o ' a l
ma c hines o t hei. mi n u i e to mi n u l e s a v e o P c rati ons
a .e c om piet c lylo c a l On l y w h c n tb e u s e r w a n t s to
'ch ec k lr ' t hc c ha n g e sd o c s a n v th i n g fl o w b n ' k
o vc r t he wir c , an d e v e n th e n th e PD M s y s t mw i l l
automatically send only the files that havc actualry
ch anged,as oppo s e dto th e e n ti re d a ta s e t

L l Tar in gPDn one stePFurther

A p r oduc t llf ec y c l em a n a 8 e m e n t(P L M ) s v s re m
e nablesa c om pa n yto a u to ma te mo n j to r' a n d i ' ac(
p r odu. l dc v eloP me tta n d .e v l s i o n p ro c c s s c swl rh
i h ct r c us t om er s ,s u p p l i c rs a n d e mp l o v c c sa m l d
i n c r eas edr gula to ryc o mp l i a n c ,o u ts o u rc i n 8 and
s v s l e msa' e
tro duc t ac c ounta b l l tty T y p i c a l l v . P L M
s
E
n
l
D
rp
rl
s cR e sourcc
l nt c S r at c dwlr h t h e c o mp a n v
c
x
te
n
d
l
ng
(
E
RP
)
th
c
fc
b
y
s y s to m
Plar ning
" l tlcal
p
ro
c
c
sscr
a
n
d
p r odu. t inf or m a tl o Dv l s i b i l i tv
b c y oDdenglnc erl n gd e p a rl m c tts a n d p ro p a g atj nS
It ihr oughout t hc s u P Pl Yc h a l n
W hile P DM s y s lcmsc o n tro l th o p ro d u c fs
m ov c m entlhr ou g h o u t th e n Si n e e rtn gp ro c e s s'
Pl . M s y s t c m sgui d c th e p ro d !c t l h ro u g h l ts e ndre
l l f c c y c le.P LM t e c h n o l o g yp ro m ts ' s to c n h a n cc thc
d e s ignenv ir onm c n tb y p ro v i d tn ga n tn tc g ra te d
vi c w of pr oduc L.n 8 t e c ri n g . ma n u fa c tu rl n g a nd
p l ant r es our c es.P L M s y s l e msa p p l y a -c o n s l stcnt
sct ol bus lnes sso l u ti o n s i n s u p p o rt o l m c
collabo. at iv ec r c a ti o n , ma a g e m e n t a ' d u s e of
p r odu. r def lnit to n l n fo rm a ri o n .PIM s y s te m s
.c quir e a nuc h h i g h e r l e v e l o f IT s u p p o rt
m aint enanc e,an d c u s to ml z a ti o nth a n m o s t P DM

Dc alir g uit h L e g a c y D a t.

\' lo\ r nc s de\ i8n p ro j ' c r. a r' n o r i n i L i d rc dti o m

scralch but are based on exjsting dcslsns Often
th is legac ydat a e x j s ts s o l e l y i n 2 D fo rm m ^ r' otren
than not stored in DWC (AutoCAD') format' For
y a i a i s a n i m p o ri a n r asset
m any c om P anie s ,l e g a c d
great
lngths to prote't and
go
to
and one they will

rerajn. These companies havc spent ycars

accumul al i ngthts reposi toryol data and bei ng a ble
to use and managethi s data i s ar i mportant
componentto consi dcrw hen movi ng to 3D
For thcse typcs of compani es,i t s i mportanr ro
.hoose a 3D C A D system that provi dcs a meansol
.onvcrti tg l cgacy data to a usabl eform The 3D
C A D sysl emshoul d suppo.t the convcrsl onor
exi sttng2D draw i ngs to sol tds and cl earl y some
sysi cmsdo thl s bettcr l han others
for some draw i ngs,convcrsl onro 3D mi S ht be
si mpl e. For othe.s, l t w on t be S i mpl c 2D draw in8s
w i tho!l auxl l tary vtcw s draw n a.curarel y mav be oi
l i ttl e !al uc. S omc 3D C A D programsol i er
automati c constral ni ngtool s that may or may no l
he abl e l o sal vagcthese types of sl mpl e draw l ng s
C A D systemscan hel p bv
.l ,aramet.l c-based
enabl i ngthe user to al i 8n cdgesand teaturcs
6crossvi ew s ol thc draw i ng.
C onversl onol 2D draw i ngs thosc tbat havc be n
dcfi ned usl ng 3D mat.l ces to posi l l on ttre
proj ecrl on pl ancs ol ea.h vi ew - l s much sl mpl e r '
The conversi onof these types of draw i ngs by the
sol l d model i nSsysl cm l s fai rl y cl ear cut.
Tbc convcrsl onof.ompl cx 3D w l fcframe and
surfacemodcl s can al so bc dl l fi cul r' W hl l e the dat a
i s 3D , l he draw l ng s dl mensl onsml ght bc !n' l ea'
and i n.ompl ete. Ol der systcmsuscd to crearesom c
of thcse w i rcfranredraw l ngs ml ght nol bc
suppor(edby new er 3D C A D systems U sers mav bc
requtredto repai r the draw i ng by sew i ng or
sti rchtngsurfacestogetherto be abl c to conv' r t lL
ro 3D .
Most 3D C A D systemsprovi de some form ot i mpor t
tool s w l (h w hi ch uscrs can move l bei r 2D desi e ns
i nto the 3D system Once l he draw i ng has been
exportcd i nto the 3D sysrem,some type ol edi l ing
tool must be provi dcd so thc user .an di t th' l! les
To make l he edi ti ng easi er,some 3D C A D system s
p.ovi dc commandsand an i ntcrl ace that ml mi c t har
ol tbe 2D program so users can easj l y cdj t dralvings

without lcarnlng a complctcly new inle.lace and

command strucrure. Taking this a step further'
som e CA D s y s t e m sp ro v i d e a d i i l | g to o l s i n n ari ve
DW C f or m at s o 6 e rs c a n o p c n a n d s a v e a n v nati ve
A r t oc A D f ile w i th fi l c c o .v e rs i o n

l egacyfti es so that data can be acccsscdan.l r.

creatcd in 3D latcr, but only on an as neded basis

A not her pot c nt l a l b o ttl e l re c kto c o n v c rti n g r cgacy

dat a t o 3D is t h e u s e o fs o l i d mo d e l j n g s y s tcmsthat
don t s uppor t in d rs try _ s ta n d a rdtra n s l a to rs l ake
lflto accounl the limc, cost, and elfort required to
conv er t legac yd a ta to 3 D b e fo rc p ro c c c d i n S l t
m iB ht not be ncc e s s a ryto mo v e a l l l e g a c vd a ta to
rhe nr q 3D CA D \y s rc m: p e rh d p sl u \r .c rra i n
com ponc nt swi l l re q u j rc c o n v e rs l o n l h e re af
m any alt c r nat i v c sto c o n v e rti n Sa l l l e S a c yd al a and
t hes e s hould be c a re l u l l y e v a l u a te db c fo re anv
c onv ar s lonbeg i n s .

.:i r A s a company,how di d you deal w i th thc

Increascdfi l e managementi ssucsbrought on by
the use of 3D C A D ?

Lur z lr eldm an,th e m rrk c tl n 8 d l r.c to . o f S o l i dLl no

A C, V A R of 3D C A D s y s te msh e a d q u a rtc re di n
Cc r m any ,belt e v sth a ( i fs n o t e s s c n l i a lto try and
c onv er t all 2D d a ta to 3 D " l n m y rc a l _ w o rl d
er pc r lF nc o, I w o u l d h a t. to 3 a v c o n v e rt n o t hi ng
s ay s F eldm an .' D s l 8 nn e w p ro d u ts l n 3 D 'nd
m alnt aln old da i a l n th e s o u r.c s y s tc m o f l hi s dal a'
I f y ou hav t lWC d a ta , u s e a D W C e d l to r' If t bcre i s a
c onc r c ic nec d fo .3 D l tb ra ry p a rts s e e k a n e xternsl
pannc r t o c onv c rt l h e n e c e s s a ryd a ta fo r v o u '
M n y agr c e wii h rh l s a p P.o a c hto d e a l i n g wi th
legac yda|n 3D V l rl ^ n l F .h n o l o s l e s V d j e \ki
believ est har o rg a n t2 a tto n sh a v c c o m m o n
m ls pc r c epllon s.e g a rd l n gth e v a l u e o f 2 D l egacv
dat a. " T hey s t i l l fe e l l tk th e rc i s a l o t o f v al uc i n
r har 2D dalar b u t tn re a l i ty , o n c c p e o p l c a re up and
pr oduc t jv e ln 3 D , th e n c c d l o r l h a t 2 D d a ta
dim injs hesex p o n e n ti a l l y T h e y i u s t d o n t a " ess i r
as m uc h. T hey w i l l o c c a s l o n a l l yh a v e ro m a ke smaU
edir c hanges ,o r I]C O s ,o n e x l s ti n g p ro d u c t s rnat
ar e out in lhe l n d u s try , b u r I re c o m m e n dth at thcy
us e t heir lega c y2 D s y s tc m i o m a k e th o s c s mal l
c hanges , "s ay s Ma j e s k i
0nc opt ion M a j e s k i re c o mme n d sto h i s c u srome' s
f o. m aint ai. in g 2 D d a ta l s to c re a rePD F o r' IIIr!'
f ilc s of all t he j r p e rm a n e D td o c u fre .ts l i o n th' i r

The Manager' s P erspecti vc: Todd Mansfi e ld.

S ystems E ngi ncri ng Team Leade., E C C O

A: We dealt wilh ihat by implementtng a PDM

system-A l ot of.ompani s do a .cal l y good j ob of
managi ngthel r draw i ngsor thci r paper, but they
don t do too good ofaj ob managi ngthei rel act r onic
data ftom w hl ch l hosc dfaw i n8sarc created As pan
numbersand corl i guratl onsexP l odcas compa nlcs
grow ,l t bcomcsunrul y.In an unmanagedsyst cm
you l l get l l ttl c ki n8domson both l ocal dri ves a s
w .l l as thc n.l w o.k for each opcrator w ho sav cs
fl l cs tn a di ffcrent fol dcr st.ucture.namesthl ngs
di ffcfcntl y, and makesrcvl sl onsdi fl ercntl y w b at
you end up w l th l s a w orkS rout,of l 0 peopl . who
have l 0 dtffcrcnt w ays of stori ngthel r dara A s vou
grow . you fl nd an on8ol ngneed l o sl andardl l . r bc
w ork cnvl ronmcnt,and a l ool such as P D \' {does
that for you very ni ccl y. It rquhcs formal tz.. l
nami ng.rcvl si on.and ti l e s(ructurcsso ev.ryo ne
's
w orkl ng out ofa samc l ocati on,i .e , the vaul r You
don t w ant to squel chpcopl es creati vl ty b!t you do
havc to havc some slandards.
j } i W hy i s P D M so esscnttall o compani esmtg r aung
to 3D desi gn?
A : I thl nk i fs extremel y l mporl ant l n 2D , yot have
onc fi l et brt w hen yor dcsi 8n thi ngs i n 3D yo u now
havc forl r fi l cs that makc up l hal one part Th e
levcl ol file management r.quired for 3D ts
economi esof scal e l arge. than w l l h 2D syste m s.
W hen you move f.om 2D to 3D , yor movc i nto
muhi pl e fi l es w i th l o!s of.cl ati onshi ps and
references,so thc reqoi remcntsto keep al l th ose
fi l es straj ght j ncreaseco.respondj ngl y Obvi ously
w hat you gct i s much better, bur thcre' s a cost t o

llow ts PDM uscd at you. compant?

A: We have a vault with 10,000liles and 80 gigabytcs

ofdata that our PDM software is managlng for us
wjth all the revisions and history. Wc also
purchased an additjonal Web portal/advanced s.rve.
modulc fo. the software, through whlcb 30 plus
additional sse.s can access the vault for read'only
a cc es st o t hes edo c u m e n ts .It s b c e n a w e s o mc
b e c aus elt enablc du s to p u s h th e a p p l i c a ti o no r t l o
an unllmlted numbcr of users wjthout having to buy
additional software. on top of that, we went onc
step further wllh thc Wb portal and pushcd lt to
o u r s upP lierand c u s to me rb a s e .
On t hc s upplier s l d c , w e g i v e th c m a c c e s sto o ur
d a t a ln r eal t lm e. F o r l n s ta n c .o u r p ri n te d _ c i rcui t
b o ar d ( P CB )m an u fa c tu .e rtn th c P a .l fl c R l m has
dlrcct accessi so lf we roll a rcvlsion f.om A to B
i o day and plac e a n o rd e r, th e y w o u l d g o l n to our
va ult . pull t he lat e s t s e t o f d ra w i n g s .a n d b u i l d to
L h at .lt ' s r eally s trc a ml tn e do u r s u p p l i e .
co m m unic at t onsa n d a l s o l mp ro v e d s u p p l l c f
q u allt y .

customcrsarc pul l tng up outdatcd draw i ngs.w e

c.eated an active servef page that dirccts oor
crstomers to thc vaul t to get the l atst rcvi si on,so
al l of our customerscan be guarantcedthat they
are getring the latest revisions of evcrything.
' :l : l l ow much IT admi ni st.ati onts rcqutredro ke ep
the systemrunnl ng?
A : E veryonedoes hi s or hcr part i n mai ttai ni ng th
systcm, so we dont have a fulftlme administrator.
It s stabl c cnougb that ttj ust runs, and each
indlvtdual who works in the system has been tralnad
to do certaln things as far as lnputtjng data, so
wc ve really been able to spread the load ol any
overhcadto every t.am mmber.There l s no l T
overhcadat al l . The real bcauty of the systeml s t hat
w e rc not havi n8to manngcl t bc.ause l t s l he same
tool w e w o.k our ofcvery day, the samerool that.
our suppl l ersand customersafe pul l i ng frorn. an d
thc samotool the generalpubl l c l s pul l i nSfrom, so
evcryone ls always on thc samc pa8e. Ifs thc tool
w w oul d use anyw ay,so l C s al l ow ed us to kl l l thr ce
bl fds w i th one stone w l th no addi t' ooaloverhea d.

i ? : Can y our c us t o me rsa c c e s sd a ta th ro u g h the

{.l W cre peopl el nl tl al l y skcpi tcal about havi ngto

Iearn yet another sofl w arc sysrem?

A: We've cxtended our customers access to project

files so they can see 24l7 the progress of their
projects and thelr finished goods products ln th.i
vaul!, we not only havc all the tnished goods
drawlngs and the subassemblydrawtngs but also the
cerllftcatlons. W rea1lyconsider this a customcr
inlimacy tool tha! allows us to par$r wi$ those
customers who have a need for srch an appllcadon.

A i Inttl al l y, you ml ghr havc peopl ew ho a.c

apprchenstveabout movl ng i nto such a systen!,b ut
rhcn rhey se the benefl ts.A P D M sysremtakcs
aw ay rhe rl Ine they spend l ooktng fof sl uff. w i rh all
rhc data and Informatl on that a P D M system
provtdes,tt takes tbe 20 to 30 percent of an
engtnccr' sday spen( doi ng admi ni strattvetasks of f
thcl r pl ate and al l ow s them to focus on desl S n.

l) Ilow does (his diffcr from othcr manufacturcrs

i l W har w as the pl an l o. deal i ngw i th l cgacy dat a?

A: Us ually when c o m p a n l e sh a v c a We b s i te , they l l

d r op a bunc h of d ra w l n g s i n to a v i rtu a l d i .e .to ry,
and thosc are the ones the Web sit. always pulls
up. The problem is that drawings change every day,
so t he downs ide i s y o u a l w a y s n e e d to re m e m borrd
p r t t he nc w dr aw i .g s i n to th a t d i rc c to ry o .

A i W hen you move ro 3D , the fi rst thj ng you have

to do i s to deci de l f you r S oi ngto w ork l nto a
control l ed vaul t or not. Y ou can t w ork i n tw o
w orl ds. W e dcci ded to move everyrhi ngfrom ou r
nerw ork d.i ve l nto the vaul t, bur not to al l ow
garbagei n and garbagout, so w e used i t as an
opportuni ty to cl ean up and cl ea. out.

Ur f or t unat ely , w e d h a d s o me b a d p .a c ti c e s.so a

lot ol our as s e m b l i e sw c re b u s te d ,a n d i n m any
c as es .it uas e a s i c r to d e l e te rh e m l h a n to fl x thcm
\ heI s r . om e i n ro .o n rJ .r q i rh a n F rA i n eP ri nP
c hangenot lc e (Ii C N ) o n a n Au to c AD d ra w ing
we r e going t o c o n v e tt i t to 3 D So w e l i l e ra l l y
unin\ , allc d A u ro C AD o l l o l a l l rh e w o rl 5 rd r i nr\
and s aid we ar e n o w o n 3 D We m a d e th e d e ci si on
dr ew t hc lt ne i n th e s a n d . a n d u n i n s L a l l c dl t so i t
was unav ailab l c .In d o i n g s o , w e re a l i z e dth at fo'
t he nex t y ear , w h e n a fi v ' m i n u te c h a n g cto ' 2l )
dr awing c om e s u p , i t s g o l n g to ta k e tw o b ou.s
bec aus cwe r c g o tn g to c o n v e rt tt l o 3 D It s gol ng
Lo bc palnlul, b u t l n th c e n d , i t s g o i n g to b e nfl t
ls i and ln all . e a l l ty , i t h a s T h a t s h o w w e d i d i t.
on an as need c d b a s ts ,a n d th c p a i n w a s rh e addcd
t lm c t o c onv c rt l n h o u s c a s n c c d b e A l o t of
c om panies- a n d I h a v c n o w s h tfte d to th i s
appr oa. h' wl l l rs e a n o u ts o u rc es c rv i c e i o do
s om c of t hos c c o .v c rs i o n s l t s a n o rg a n i zadonby
of ganlz . t ion d c c i s i o n .

5
CHAPIN
One oltlle more sBnficant benelils fo. comparies
moving io 3D design is tlte fact that ii opeN tlre doo. to a
host of add-on softwar and hardware products that can
turtier sharpen thei. competitive edgebv enabling inem
to shave mor time off de!lopment schedules ud
dcliver higher"quality, truly optimlzed products to their
customers. ThouSh there a.e too muy add{n products
to discus ln this article, we'll take a closer look at some
of Lheproducts ihat can help manufacturers funher
leverage th raluc of theb 3D design

can use the samesolid modelingmvironment ud

seamlessly activate from within the CAD system.

O C ar llllad Sallurr. P rogrrfia

Ana(ystsand simulatlon software detver tangible ed

quantifiable beneflts to th poduct development proc$s
nalysls software - includlng iolerance ualysb, rmfteelemeni rnalysts (l'EA), computatLonfluid dynanrs
(CFD), shd kinemaricvdyna.mics soflware - enable
dslgners io test ihe struciural intelrtty, therma.l and flow
charactedatics, and physical motion of nerv products
while the designs st l rcside in digit l fonn.

Ovr ti yeaN, the @ndor! of 3D CAD systems ha1

worked hard io bulld kcv rlattonships with ihid_partv
vendorE,prol'tding useN with btt'in'class, lniegraled
soLutioru that can help reduc production costE and
decreasetime to market. lhese parher programs include
add-on software for a myriad of functlons, from
mdufacturing and a.nalylis to revFe engineering and
rapid prcroq?lng.
Most CAD slttem vendorE provide user8with an ample
seLectionof industry-leading complementarv soft wa.re
that is tuly intgmied with the base CAD svstm In
order for softwar to be .enilied a! tullv lntegratcd, it
mst go through rigomus iesting to nsura lts qualitv,
compatibiuty, and level of integtion. Fouowing
certification, tne software must maintain compatibilitv
with subsequdt releaes of the CAD product ut order lo
keep up with new nmcdonrftYLevets of integmtion diJter, however. lntegration mav
mean that the soitwee ca read mtive fiIes into their
own soi:ware. Some software p.oduct.s offer single_
window intgraI ion. rhe h igh.sl lc\ el o I intFgration
otrered- P.oviders of tiAtly integnted soft{d products
have scess to the CAD system's application
proSramming interface (APD. So their add-on soitware

The upside for usrs in choosing Fom lhse ccrtned

soltware lists is rhe assumncethat these products w[l
offer interope.abiliry, associativity, and data intgBiion
with thei. cAD sFtems. This, ln tum, result.s in faster
design tlmes and lss room ior erroB.
O

tl n| | l .l l on

.rd l !tl ytl !

The advantagesto the product developmeni proces6 both in term3 of reducing rlje oven[ design c!'cle time a.s
weu s the costs asEociatedwlth tradiiioml iesiing
mel.hods- &re numerous. Simply put, en$neeN can
dcsi$ better pmducrr frstef when allowed th Lqury of
nnning muldpl 'whatif' lype scenaridc whUe designs
arc st fluid and eas y changeabl.Once metal or ptastic
parLsare cut, my subsequenidestS chrnSes ln bloat
design budgets and denil schedules.
Severalfactors ha! contributed to the gmwing us of
CAE tools mong di8n engineeB. Thc cosi ot the
mate.ials used to build protott?d ha.sincreAed, making
it more expe$ive ftan e-verto do withour some fom of
anabsis o. stmulation io pro!! out designs. Conversely,
computor hardware costs have decraed siSnincantly,
which has led to a wider adoption of anabsis tools smce
CAE softwee requires signmcantly more computmg
homepower thm other tt?es of softwe.

ennbleiussrst0strdYmullhled$isns
Aulylls sofiwEru
urithmlqusl.ianot.|s, t0lhot NanqulDlvcompar
a mounllngtnrkEl
Inthh alamFle,
d.5iEn!ad0nnsnc..
ldr pl33naltlcvlsi0Els
d!siqn!dbyP!!desshd|lsttiss
Ird.d und a vrdalyol lords.

closely integraredwi|n 3D \'lechrni.al Compur''

Aided DesiF (MCID) systcms Enginee6 and
clesigrcrs cm perfom simulations ad anallscs
on nativ MCAD geometry,eliminntingthe nee'l
for any data convemion. Some tuuv integ.ated
softra.e also otrcrs tulLy associativitt with
leadinS MCAD s'slems, so chages made i. thc
original MCAD model are automaiicallv reflecte'l
in rhe simulatlonmodel.
C!'D. Computatioaal fluid dynami$ softwa.e is
increasingly belng pul to use bv product dwclopmont
entinecrs early in the dcsign proces ro validatc proposcd
deaignswnib stiu on Lhedigital dr.rwing board cFD
soitwarc enables englnaeB ro anabze fluid flow and/or
hcat ransfc. in and arcund new dcsigns Without such
soltwe're, er.pensiveand time-corl.sumlng bench tesl ing
must be conducted.Evenwith suchp\vslcal tsthg,
manyflow a.ndheaLtmnsler phenomenaoccur within a
product - a valve inside a fau.et or eirflow th.ough an
electronic enclosDre,for example - ma.kingit imposslble
|o dsualizewlthout computersimulations,
FEA. FEA is a numerical technique ihar calculttes the
behavior of mcchanical struclurcs. Using FDA' stnr'r'res
I'elements'
a.c .livided into 6mall, simplc Dnits caned
the
svs&m
cqualion,
an
solves
when rEA software
displars ihc physical behavior of a stmciure based on the
in.lividull elemenls. flngineeF use !'ts^ toolc lo car'urare
strengl h, dcfler'iion, stress, vibration, buckling' and other
behaviors, in o.der IrJ.educe thc welght or matm'ze me

Once tne {bmain of specialists, a growing number of

anallsis softwarevcndoB are now desrgningLh'ir
amlysis toob specifica.lv for engineers who deal with
who
reom.rry crFare.lin a myriad ot cAI) syslcmsdd
pfoposed
so
inquides'
to
wmt ouick answeB
"what-if
design; can move foMafd rapidlv md wiin greater
conndence. ?\s a .esult, more Mllsis tools are now

Jefftey Setzcr, tectudcal services manager tor Graphics

SystemsCorpontion, aWisconsin-bsed valuearlded
r6ener OAR) oi 3D CAD sJ5tems,believes r,hatFEA
tools help engineers guide desigs througn the
development proces. "FDA allows the d*igner to make
quicker and better.inlomed decisions,' sals Setze' This
is possible becausevirtual 'resting' cm be done directlv
on the soUdmodel, .ight in the software Anytime m
engineer cones to a fork in thc road, where thev esk
themselves 'shodld I go this wav, thai wav or trv a inird
option,' FF-Awill giw them fte insight thev need ro make

ce samlessly a.ctivate
compler CAM finctiorElity
from within lheir solid modeler.
Uses bewd, hovwer. While
some companies may claim to
be rully integnted, that may
only mean that the sotlware
reads native CAD Rles into lhcir
standalone sJstem, which may
haI limited solid modeling
capabilities. Thi6 can r6ull in
the loss of data l.hat would hav
p.oven uscful ior manuiacturing.
Often in these bp6 of ststems,
MCAI data and CAM dara must
be saved in sepaEte nles.

.onlxll!,
8y!n.!!lnC thh !ul0m0tlv.mrt loldlslngCFD
alch
3[Ilnaarscln batbr[ndaEtlndhor much!a!mov lhrDuch
ln
msk!dalllnmodlllcsllons
hdlvldlllouttat0tti! manlloldto
drdgnt arlt.
0rddlorllrln 3paclllB

Boih FEA 3-ndCFD a.e used to innovate and optimize

mechanical dslgns without the ned fo. exteNive
phlsical testlng. When used propcrly and througl'oDi fie
deslgn process, beginning wifi ihe concept phase, FEA
and Cl'D software can lead to lower material cosls, a
.cduced number of phylical protorypes and engineerlng
chense o.dcB (EOOS),shorter design cycles, and
posibty rduced Foduct-liability issues.
O

Co|||! ut or - l l d .d

[. n !l trtIrl rg

FuIy inlegrated CAM soff.warcm help companic shae

r,imeoff dGiSn cycles, .educe pro.iu.tion cosLs,and arcid
costly ermm th^t ofto don't r@ ihir ugly headsutil
parls are .a.ly to be cut, at which point flx6 zre exl remely
expensiveand time{onsuming. Intcglal.i CAM $ft{are,
on ihe oth$ hand, etlrb16 a @mpany to 8o sh'aiSihtlo
mdufa.luring using the sane solid model created in the
d6ign phs.. |nerehy climmlin8 any alalarransla'ion woB
that cotld Leadio mistke on the shop floor'
CAM software rlw is nnv integmted with MCAI)
softwa.reshares a common inle.Xace,because the CAM
vendoB of fi y cerl.ified soiiware have acess to the
CAD soitvar's API. Though tlle AP! CAM developcrs
crn use the sme solid modeliry environment, s users

F\lly inreS.ated CAM .quiftls

no tnnslation of 3D OAD datar
thcrcf orc, manufa..turing ca
use all the dat{ to deiemlne the best proccss fo.
machininS. wlen working fith fiLefomats lrom other
MCAD sFtcms, the data can be tmlorted into the solid
modclcr and repalred, if neccssary, belore generarhg tne
mrchtning data. In addiiion, borh cAM data and the cAD
daLl arc aavedin rhe same flle.
Beca|se design changes are ineviiable, having a tuly
inte$ated CAM solutlon is a significanL aset. At this
stage of the procss, changesnearly alwar halr an ctrect
on produciion deadllnes. When deign chan8esoccur,
these program8 either automatically update the CAM file
k) rflect thc charye or provide notitrcation to ule6 that
addirional changes are requircd. A strd-a.lone CAM
program may proltde limited alsociativity or My requlr
sta.ting over when imponmg tltc model alter il s been
changed,increasingihe p.obability of mbtak.s ad delats-

o ld [ . . l! n

For 2D users doing mold design, there ar nary

compcuinS reasonsto ta.kethe plmge into 3D desi8n.
Making molds for compLx 3D parts in 2D requirB long
busm.ssshere rimc is
lcad rm. ln rhe mold-mal<ing
money, stayng in a 2D dcsiSn environment will
ewntually lead to lost businesis.And, with rcwork being
the biggest rhral ro profitabiliv, being rig:htthe lirst time
b of utmost impor'tarcc,
some 3D MCAD systms offer mold-design specinc tools
such rs d.aft dd udercut a.nal'6is dd advaced drafi

fcah,res. For mmplex mold desigN, tools such as

automatic core ad cavilv features, side corc and lifter
crcaiion, parring lines ad shnnking controls c& all help
mold d6igneN get the iob done righl- Surfacescan bc
used to help design .ore and cavitig in a mold
Add<'n sofiiware p.oducts car turlher oprimizc tne ilesrgn
molds by eUmiMting the gueswo.k L.aditionanv rquire.l
b creale mold designs.These applications help enginee6
coretruct a.ndeabze ,rl tlpes of spde, runner, and gale
ststems; autonatrelly balance runner svstems m &meve
uniform flow in multicavity ed family molds; determine
fte best gate localions and the optimum combinaLionor
processinSpdeatcrs; estimate clmp tonnage, snor
sizc, and cycle nme rcquircments; and per{om de.railed

O Iar ld Pr ololt!l[!
Despik tnc bezurinrly lilelikc rcnde.ings cre.aldn
bday's 3D CAD systems, therc a.e manv inhngibles in
desi8nstirat sinpLy cannol be accuBrelv conveved
$rough dLglal rep.esentations tseing able lo phtsicallv
hold a propodcd desi$ in your hand .an answe.
qucstionssuchas,how do the plec$ fit rogelhertHow
dil the dc6i$ be used?Doesit work the wav it ts
supposed k ? Does it have thc rtght fcel?
Rapid protor}les (RP) can also aid in collabolation,
espccially with nonrechnical membc6 or the deslg team'
such 6 salesand markel ing peopte, whoee input is cnrcial
e3rv in rhe design process Manv of ilese tealn membc6
have ctitriculty a.ccsshg the nuances of an lsomet.ic
vicw of a part on a computef tn additlon, a real pa.t best
convcJs the actusl physicrt size of the p.rt or p.odn.t.
Using .apid protottllng ca also help avoid
manufachr.ing mistakcs down the llne. Some problems
are.lifficult to pinpoint on-scrcen, bdt thev will bc all Loo
apparent whcn you're examinirg a phvsical part Solid
modeling systems e capablc of geneting prcdn'ts oi
alrnGl any shape and sirc; however, these smc pmdDcis
might nor be possible or costrffective to make RP parls
to.ce engireeE a.nddesigrers b think lhmugh the
mardacturing steps an.l ce result in d6ign chmgcs tlat
make ihe nnal pad edier and less coslly to build.
For certnn industries, ph'6ical prctott?es d spe.iallv
importa'Lt, says Setzer of GEphics Slstems Corpratjon
''RapidnrDbrWinS.somelimcs.alod 1D prinluU is
indispensablefo. ayone desiging irem with
ergonomics in mind,' sars seke. "No matte. how good

the model looks on fte screcn, you ce'r tell how it will
feel in somebody s runds untes a phtsical model is buill
Wirir krdays 3D prinling technologies, a du.a.ble ABS
plastic modelcm bc prinled in a matter ofhours Ar1Pr
pa-sing ii aound a d6ign'review meeting the $lid
model can be chdSed and anothe. phJsical part p.inLed
on the 3D printer.'
The two most popula. tchnologies ro. buildir8 Epid
prolotyp6 ac stereolithogEphy (SLA) and Frrsd
Depcition Modting (FDM). MaulactureN can eithe.
buy RP mehincs for De in-housc or cm 6e one ofthe
mdy ouBid seNice bureaus. Se-veralonline servtcs ec
now available that enable enSincers to obtain quotcs for
rapid protot$es onLinein minuls md hec that pa.t h
thei. hdds within days.The cnginersimply uploa& tne
3D CAD gcomer.y ad dcnncs Lheproiect s
spccilicalionsi thc seMce hurcau cval ales the pa.r
gometry, rcquired materials, lead time, and qudl ityl ad
then p.ovtds the us. w ith a quotE fo. Lhep.oduction of
Despitc the gmwlh in RP serice burear8, Todd Mqieski,
prcsidcnL ol SDvision Technologics Co.poaLion, a v .R
oiSD CADsysrcms,saJthai his companyhar sen a
growingnumbcrof.omtanics purchaqingrheiIosn in
houseRP m&hines. 'Wc'reseelnga lot of inic.ct in
ln lhe co6umer
rapld pmtolr?ing machines,especiaLly
producis and medical dcsign lndustrics,' sqvs M4eski
'Thcse de companics that have been outsourcing in fic
palt but ee now buying iheir own machines slnce
machlne co6ls have come doM. The cosl lo acqui.c a
machine md kee, it operating is lowe. thm the cosr ol
uing aservicc bureau.'

O n rrrrs r E n o lI ro rln g
Mecha.ni@lengineers oiLen have a ned to quickly re'
create or t.ansform m existing physi.ar part or proroilpe
into .eusable 3D geomelry that ca b ediled or modified.
The process of r+creating a part that wa oriSinaUy
created without omputers o. dEwings is called ".eve6e
engine.ing. ' With 80 pe.c.nt of new desrgnsoriginal ing
from existing desigB, reverse enginccring is gaining in
use ,mong maufactureE.
The n6t stcp in reve6e engineering is to capture the 3D
geometry or the physical par! wNch is done using either
a coodinatc measuring lrEhine (CMM) or 3D laser
slrlmeF. After rhe data poinls de captued, they ae
imporie.l into reverse enginenry softwarc, which abo
comes in two wieties.

One t}?c of reve6e engineeamgsofi;wafe, somctimes

.eferred to 6 "bridging' software, atlows the impon of
point ctoud data Lom ihc digitiring equipment, ad ihen
modifles lhe data into a lo.rot that cd be brought mto
ihc use.'s cAD slsrem for editing.'l]rc other tvpe of
reveFe engineering sollware captures pa.t data directlv
ftom the imaging devices to create tullv editable,
me bttcr b?e of rcrse engineering softwac is tuUv
integfated wiih 3D cAD slstcms, enabling use6 to
capl,uredata from m existhg pa.t and cre.aiee
inteUigenr, feature-ba-sedmodel - all lrcm within the OAD
srstem. Wiih this faturc-based approa4h, you can
quickly crale solid models trcm existing pa.rtsor
prorotype6 using a Proccss that is ftuch fster and less
data-intnsive ihan the mo.e rraditional, poinr cloudScne.aling scanning method!-

0) El . cl r onlI [.r I g.
At ma.nymandaduring compdies, two t)?es of desiSns
are often undertaken sirnultaneously: thc desiSn of thc
clcctronics and the mechanicd desig of the product's
srructurc o. enclosure. Tib dsigr scenario reprcsnts
many duferent t}?es of producrs, fmm rclattvelv simplc
bl and radios to extremely complex computErs md
cals. Several softwa.e pmducts exlst that f&llitale thc
cxchange of deslgn information betwccn rhe mechelcal
desiF (M0AD) and clectronicdesiF @CAD)
'I hcse sofl,ware sttems aci s bidlreftional transLatoF
betwecn the CAD s,tstcm and $c tntermedi.te Data
Fo.rnat (lllF). n ele.lronid indusfy standard, IDF
allowsfor the exchdge oiprinkd{ircuil boad (PCU)
dcst8tr data bctween OCAD and MCAD s!rems using
ASCtr data. The.e clcct.onic desigr systems enable
engineers lo crcate ftechanica.l assemblicaof their POB
dsigns,modify then iJ necessary,ad then snd tl|e
chages ba.k to their I'cB d6ign softwm.
Some of these eftwarc p.oducts use pafts libraries to
position component models onto the board, p.oducing a
ve.y accurate A*mbly oi Lhepopulated bo&d tf a
componnt model is not alailable in the part library,
some s)tems wilt Ne tne component footprht and
extrude it to thc given heighi in order to Scnemle a
componcnt model for tuture use.
Once the mecha.nicalAsembly ol the PCB is c.eated,
engineB can thm place it inro thcir product acmbly to

ctrck for mechmical interfe.ences or other mccharil

design e.rors. r p.oblems de dcrected, engineem ca
corrcct ttrem in the PoB assemblv. usem cd changc part
locatiore, move mounling holes, or edit the PCB shape,
d1d ihen send the chages ba.k to ihe t'Cts design sysiem
by creal ing IDF data ftom the assembly.
T e Manoger's PcBpe.tiue: Todd MaNJleld'
Sgs,ems Ensineering Ieam Leader, ECCO
lvhar rwc of add{n soft} arc produ.ls do yo
currently use at ECCO?
A: Wc axe currcnlly using a photoealisl.ic-rendering
sofLwee, a featur recognition soitware, a *ebpublishing Lool, a elcctronics design p{kage, and

: How is thc rendering soft{are used:

A: We use it to illust ale prcducts for which wc don t
halt physical prototr"cs. Mmy times, we are undcr
pessDre to meet cataloS dates. The mafketing s1a-ffwants
picturcsoflh6e new producl,s,bot we don'thavc parts
fo. $em in"house yct. tb. our new cata.log,we provkled
salcs and ma.keting wil.h a photo-rndcrd image ot
sdenl prcducLs lhai they used in liu oi an actul
phok)gmph. W also use it intemally for concepl dd
visuali?ation during lhc concpt ptuse ol product
derclopmenL Thy will hand us a napkin drawing of what
lhey want dd $e enginecN wiu use the rendering
soflware to comc up wlth two or rhree concepts of that
idea. s rcllly a good concepiua.ltool we [9e qulle a bit,
and lt's very easy to leam.
::'.: What dos teaturc re@gnition sottwar do?
A: w}len you b.ing inamodel Irom an IGES,STEP,or
any orhe. neutral fofmal, it tos6 au its history and
bccomesbasica.llyjusta dumb block ofgeometry.That
imported body is usable but not edibble. The feature
feogdtion soflwarc inrerogatcs that imported body md
l,ries to re-feature the componeft o. part. It goes through
the part and re-popdates the feature manager with all
those features. Thc big benent is that once that's done, l)
use. cd go into those featues to edit ftem, once thc
model is re-popolatcd, you can go to the feature, change
ttle valrc of it, dtd it resizes Dtomalica.llt which makes
it pmetric
again. It's avery powerful tool. We
purchased mother comF1ny a few yem ago, md they
rere Bing mother CAD system. When we brought in
then CAD liles, they were nol tully popularcd. By nnning

this software, we vere ablc to .epopulate a lot or thc

fcatures in rhose components to ma.kethat pa.t more
editablc rrd complete.
!: How does ECCOuse the reb-publistLtng tool?
A: This tool allots the uscr to post a websitc instmw ri)
a sent so you can publish a 3D instant tbsitc to the
web, which allowsfo. a collaboBtivc environmentr r'm
doing a design ard tant olhers to check ili out and grrc
me feedback, t can pct it on a wcbsite md send vou a
tlRL to it. You recive it, click on ii, ad ii puus up the
instant websitc. You look at the dcsign ed then can give
me feedbek. The upside of that t mc is ttlat at th6
company, we hal peoplc all over the world constantlv
working on dsigrs, so if we're trying to run a design bv
our sales tem, we'lL blast one of thos out and incv can
bc arywherc in lhe world md give us fccdback at ther
leisurcas lon8 as Lheycan accessthe Intcmct liustspent
a coupleofweeks in Chinaand nevermisseda bear
becauscofthls tool. Il'svcry powcttul
I i? uow about the electroni. desilgl aDbmation
A This soltwde alows uc to ts.kedata from ou.
electrical (ECAD) packagc and conve.t that dala inlo
nstive MCA.Da{rembly modcls We hev a lavoul
desiSnerwho will lay out a prtnted-circuit board (PCB)
and gct lr designed. Thcn we conver that dala inro '
mecharlcal asscmbly, so the mechanical grcup can wrap
a housing around it. They rlsc the add-on sottwde to
conve.t ECAD data into native MC/\D datt thal can tnen
bc used fo. nechdical design
i:i Whai wd the pr@edure for ihis prior tn osmg lne
A Oitlcr the.ydialn't include a printed ci.cuit bot f'r
asembly, which ws scary becausethc onlv wav to prove
out its flt was to phj'sicalty build it, or we would 'ln a
.epresnration of the circurt board Nemblv Howeve', a
representalion is not always dimcnsionallv accuratc
These packages help us bulld a dimeNionallv perfecr
.eprcsenLltion of not only the PCB, but also all rhe
electical components loaded onto iL We've built up
componenl libraries, so the software pllls from rhose dd
loa.ls the board with reat components DimeNional
&cumcy is wry important becausewe do not have anv
room fo. enor. We're running rolermces under a
hmatredths-thousandttB of an inch

,:i. How is aalrsis soltware used at ECCO?

A: We use it to perfom bsic stress aaltsis on our
components in o.der to see where the stres
concenfarioN are. lf we have Lsu6 in our tests, wc I go
hack ed do an aBlysis lo see where te cm optimize the
ilsign ro improve strenSth o. reducc weig:ht-We don't
have a tull seat of anabsis softt:rre; but tlut's probabtv
the next softwrre we'U buy, beca6e we'rc gefling to the
point wnere wc could sure use some ofthat n cLionalitr.
They now have drop tcsLs3 weu as sold ad thcrmal
dElysis in |he tuI product so we're hopinS to do mo.e
wirn malysis md less with phlsicaL testing h order to gi
ir righr the tiBt time. lou cert affod to build it util it
breaks,6 $c Lscd to do. The nm. ot the gme no$ Ls
a llow importantis bDyingadd<,nproducts$aL &e
cenilied by you. C D rcndod
A: !.rom a cusl.meCsstandpoint,what'snice abouithe
partne. proSram is Lhal knowing the rlgid crileria r1'c
pa.tners have to meet is a nice guarantee-I would be very
hesiht 10buy a product that wr-s nor ln thc panner
p.ogram.It givesthc cusfDmera eoodfeeling because
you loow thesc p.oducts are well-tesled

S|XTNADEOFFSSETWEENFFODUCTDEVELOPI'ENT
OBJECTIVES

PRODUCTCREATIOTI

AGEMENT
PROCESS

PBODUCT
DEFINITION
CUSTOMEBS
MARKETING
DESIGN
MANUFACTURING

STRATEGY
SUPPLIEBS
DESIGN
MANUFACTURING..

IMPLEMENTATTON
FACTOBY
DESIGN
MANUFACTURING

trOVERHEAD
D T'ATERIAL
r IIATERIAL

acou|smot{

B LABOUR

GOP|f PAOCESS

Tlm. to ldiarkettmpactin a Hlgh croMh Market...

DiFr rt|oN

In.20'l. GrowthMarkct,wtth 12"/.Annuatprtceerostonand 5 yearproductL

33/"*
220A

50./.Development ProduclCo3t
Cost Oveirun
9%Too Hlgh

Ship Product
6 MonlhsLale

CfiIIICAL SUCCESSFASTORS
TEAIIWORK
GooD cor| UNtcATloN
INTEGBATEDI.T
T.O.II. PROGRAII
CONCURREiITENGINEERING
A COST CONTNOLSYSTETITHAT ALLOWS
INDIVTDUALOVERHEADALLOCATIONTO

PBODUCTS

'I

CONCURBENT
ENGINEERING

DES|Cl,l

DF|lgno

STEATEGY

|rIPLEIIET'TATIIJI.I

lntroductionThe Virtual
Product
Developnrent
Environment

balancein place-rqual emphasis

on
whatgetsdone,how it getsdoneand
whattoolswofk best.
We co-sponsored
the BestPractices in CAD/CAM study by Pete(
Mark of DesignInsight to pull tie
subjectinto sharpfocusfor ou$elves
andourclients.Whatweleamedftom
this study reinforcedour belief that
EDS is settingthe standlrdfor the
A product developmentproject is
driven by the power of three main implemeitationof comprehensive
elements:
thecultureoftie tearnmem- productdevelopmmtprocessesand
(drc"people'), tecbnology.
belsandthei.managers
The task at hand is to help our
the way theywo* (lhe "processes")
andmanufacfuren,
in genard the scienceand tools to convert customers
era1,
to
undeNtand
the
basis
for this
tlrcirideasanddecisionsintoplansfor
claim
and
tle
benefits
gained
to
be
Weaal
Foduction(the'tcbnology'').
the sum of thesea 'linual product ftom thevirtualproductdevelopment
developrnent
envi$nment."Howthis envilonment,
envircnmentis created,ourturedand
managed
iskey!o prepalingaproduct
for rDarket,

rSetting the
Standard:"Best
Practicesin
CAD/GAM"Study
Wiahinreason,"it is notwhatyouuse,
but how well you useid' thal mates
one companya successwith CAD/
CAM andarothera failure.A poorly
plannedimplementationwill defeat
the best technolog"y.
The bonesof
goodCAD/CAMtechmlogy
tl|atwent
to wastlie in the back rooms of
manufactuerseverywhere.
Yet thereare somestandoutexamplesof companies
thatputtheright

IEDS'Vision
for the Futureof
Product
Development

EDShasalodg-standing
commi[|rnt
to thesuccess
andprosperityof manufaaturersasthehalbingenofgrowiDg
economies.
Our vision andreachextendwell beyondthebotdersof North
A.rDericaand ale not rcstrictedto a
nafow setof industries.we support
ntnufactuaingcustorners
in morethan
30 countries.
Ourexperience
hastalght usthat
there are tkee keys to successfor
rnanufacturers:
rapid productdevelopment,flexibleandleanproduction,
andrcsponsive
logisticschai$.Agiliiy
is thetermusedasthenewmasurir1g

Virtual Product Developmefir 5

stick for ttre developmeDtand

productionof world-classproductl.
Agility has implicationsfor a
manufactuerin termsof marketaesfJoDsiveness,
prcductexcellence
and
businessoperations pedormance.
Agility sparrnedftom betterFoducr
develophentpracticeshasthepotential to crateanavalanche
of saviDgs
on the factoryfloor ard at suppliers,
for example,in the hventory levels
neededio supportFoductionand as
imFoved operatingor maiftenance
coslsoncetheproductis in seryice.

classconsultingand tecbnologies ject of seveftl businessjoumal aad

drawnftom mS' diverseintemalor- magazirearticles,
andonerccentbook.
gadzaBons,
We won't delveinto it in this paper
exceptto examineits chief confibutionto thefutureofmanufacturing,
the
notionof a "virtual product."
VPD: Battle Plan for
Product D6velopment
A viftualproductis thecomputerThefi$t siepto agility is rapiddevel- ized definitionof a goduct in all its
and its perfomEnce,
opmentofp.oducts--iriveDftomcus- characteristics
tomerneedsaid designed
for efficient and the processesused to opemte,
testandrepairit.
production.
Today'sviewoftle evolv- fabricate,assemble,
and
ing, leadingmanufactuErembodies Thephysicalproductis fabricated
assembled
ftom
materials
and parts
cusiorner-ddverlcollaborativeand
produced
by
the
partner
companies
geogmphically
disperseddeveloprnent
involvedin thedevelopment
process.
Wlere it is appropriatefor key
customeNto participataspan of the
development
tcam,thevirfial product
yieldsa customizFd
physicalproduct,
builttooder. Thisprocess
isloown as
"virtual product development"or
\fPD. While somemay view VPD as
.,- funllistic, we baveexarnplesof
out own customenwho icday routeams,Thisis asmucha factiodayas tinely shipproducbcreateda1ldprowerethemasseddesigt engineers
in
ducedinjust ihisway.Oneexampleis
the "seasof drawingboads" of the consumer
electronicslanotherh mili1960said 1970s.
OrganizatioDal
struc- ury aircraft.
ture'sarcchaDging
toemphasizproject
perfonnanceandaccountability.
Technologiesarebeingappliedto provide Hidden Partno6 in
productivitygainsar the individual's Product Dvelopment:
Responsive Logistics and
deskop,amongmembersof a tean
Produqtion Chains
andfor tie total enteryrise.We will
The othei side of the agility issue
reviewthesein a latersection.
lbe resultof this tnnsfonnation centeisolr thercslnnsiveness
of sul}
ofworkfromlocalLedarrniesoffunc- pliers,pmducen and distdbutorsof
tionally expert designeBto leaner, products.Productdevelopment
pracplay a pmmicross-functional
teamsconnected ticesandtecbnologis
gains
nelltrole
in
realized
acrosssevernl
companies
ftomsuppliby tchnologies is a phenomenon
know as the ersandwithinthefactory.Thecomple"vifiual corpomtion."This is thesub- mentarysideis generallydividedbe-

"Therearethreekeysto success
for

manufacturers:
rapidproductdevelop-

ment,flexibleandleanproduction,
and
responsive
logisticschains."
The simptcity of agiliry, howeve!, mask the key challenge:To
c-reatetue agility rquires arl integated view of fte businessthat enablessaategiesfor ptoductdevelopme , solrrcirg andploduciionto be
formed aad implemented.Creating
this vieq?poinris ftequendybeyond
the abilitiesof the companiesthemslves.
mS Unigaphicsis arDonga selectfew that canhelpclientsdevelop
t,lleintegared view of the business
neededto defineagility in their own
terms--+eyondCAD/CAM, beyond
poduct engineedng.
EDS Unigraphicsisonesuchcompanytllatcanimplemenl theseshategiesusing best-in-

6 I Mrtual ProductDevelopment

tlr'eenlogistics-supply and distribulion-and productionprocesses.

PrDduct development tecms inlluence the successof improvements

inhibit true manufacturingagility-.

Theremust be a bdence.Involving
andcertiBing key supplie early in
dre product developmcnt processis

in each of thesenrea.s.Paniculdrll'
within the concept of a "vinu.rl product, ' also Islo\ln as a digital master

one xnswer-Adapting production facilities to the principlesof cellular

model,on{ime deliveryofdigiLd product inlbmation to suppliersor fJctones males responsivesupply and

p.oductionchainspossible.

manufacnlring ftrough group tech

nology andclasscoding (GT/CC) of
prrts andassemblieshasalso worked
f or manv manuficturers.

Product developmentpractices
havethe largesleffect on product cost
anddircctly influencesuppliereffec
ljveness.
lick of flexibi]iryin produc

Each of the comp.nies srudicd

by Pelerlvlarksshowedsomeolthe
benefitsof couplingproductionand
logistics$rough digital information
lionr productdevehpmentteams

tionor bgisticsoperltionswill nullify

thegainsin productdevebpmentflnd

demonstrating
the advmtagesol- a
workingprrtnenhip amonsproduct
devekrpers.
suppliersand producen.

POINTS OF INTEREST

Introduction
t

Virtual Product Develoomentl7

Part Desrgn
Tables
Usean existingpartasthebasis
for a designtable.Usethe
dimeNionsandaddtheminto a
new designtable.
This lab reinforcesthe following
sldlls:
r
r
r

Insertingdesigntables.
Editingdesigntables.
Usingconfigumtions.

ffi
ffie
ffie

Openthe existingpart part Design ?able.

Createa designtable using Auto-create and edit it asshown.
Add dimensions.
Conhol-selectall the dimeNions, with
the exceptionofDlGMain, in the
Dimensionsdialog.

Copy the row, including the

configuration,to addadditional
configumtions.

; E=?:

!a :6 !2
Iv

a
ilf

E YSSE

E E r!

iii!

1Z 2.5 S 1 3 UNSlJppeEssED
11l52.5
'-12 2,5 5 | 3IJN$FFnESSED
i::115 25 5 t 3 UNI|{FFRESSEo

p pB9

Add them to the designtable. The

current values are added automatically.

Add feature.
Double-clickthe Holes featueto
addit to the designtable.The
currentstateis added
automatically.

Add configuration.
T)?e in the configurationname
sizel asshown.

; E= f E

F66Ag
E !.Y = E
1ZZ5

513

Edit cells.
Fiit the cells for the
Size2 t o Si z e5
configurations.The
changesare shownin
bold red text.

T L 6. P.'l tu.ili

T.bh

E;: ! ?
z?ie 6

ggsgE

,f--l
6,1 |

;l I

d.f.ut 1.25 25 5
I
3 UNSUPPTESSED
Si!.i
1.25 2.5 5
1
3 UNSUPPFESSEo
sizd
1 2 | O.l5 2l UNSUPPRESSED
Slit.3 0lt5 t.?5 3.5 omi
2 U{SUPPRESSEo
SE.rl 0X25 125 I
0l 1.075INSUPPRESSEo
&zd
0l
I 25 0,375 tl5{ STJPPFSSED

Close the design table.

Click outside the design table to
close it. lt should create five
new configurations.The names
are the sam names that appear
in column A ofthe spreadsheet.

P{t D.5ir! Ltb cor$grdan(.)

dfd.t I Pdt Deiq| T.ble I
sizl
tz.2
Fe3
5H
56

(d.fa*)

1 1 Bidirectional changes.

Try the configurations,

and
Chooseeachofthe configurationsAom the ConfigurationManager
testthem.
Editthe designtable,
Edit the designtableusingEdit
Table.,..Setthe stateto
supprcssed
for the Holes
featurein conflguration
Si ze5.
Clickoutsidethedesigrtableto
applythe changes.
Testthe edited configuration.
Testthe configurations,
focusingon si ze5. The
featureHofe s shouldbe
suppressedin that configuration.
(Optional)
Add sPreadsheet
funclions.
Edit the DesignTableto
between
establishrelationships
Make
cellsin the spreadsheet.
the SideRadius(sideR) equal
to halfthe centerto center
(Ctoc) distance.
For example,
=
cellc3 will be D3/2; cellc4
,will be- D4/2 andsoon.
AUSER NoTEentrycanb
addedto explainthe'
the
betrveen
relationship
columns.

il

a
-aiq

os

25
l5
1.X 25
,t2

5t
5l

3
3u
2

0.85 1.25 3 0.5

0.5 1 21 0.375

t.x

!l

!rll

q E
n I

E:

E !:

s? p6
$
i!
?

2
oE5

t5

0.5 |

s
6

3
3

1152551
t52551

l0 (Optional) lnanges.
Make the Size3 configurationactive.Double-clickthe
Hofes feafureand changethe value ofthe BoftH
dimensionto 0.375" for This Configuration. Click OK
on the messagebox.

The changeis madeto the

activecotiguration for that
dimension.The changeto the
model forcesa changein the
designtable.

12 Saveand close the parL

z - Ez
I

p6

E:V
1.X 2.5 5
1_X 2.5 5

g' I
E
1
I

61

i
:

Yo$ng's ffiodLrlss
The Young'sn,odulusobtainedffom lhe tens|e or
E= 6 / E : a = F/ Aa : t = LL/ Lo
bendrngtest descbesthe correation betweentne
stress
o andslrair e. Witha sufficiertlylow levelof
= force(N)
strain(onlydefomatiorof below0.5 o/ois generally AO = initialcmsrsectjon
oftestspecimen
(rirn:)
,ppropiate,
whera linearcorrclatior
still Drevars
clrange
In
measured
lengthbrouqhtabou!
lore anooebrrationl,
beMeen
riootesLawaootres
by forceF(mm)
lortheYounq
5 rnodulus
= onginaj
E:
length(mm)

Wa!!thickmess

lf

Since
thewallthickne5s
goesintothemoment
of iner- WiththesoiidBaydLrP
(Bayduro
syttems
I tO,Baydura
tia to the power
of three,
thechoice
of waljthickness C5),by contrast,
it is possible
to exploitthe hrgner
hasa geaterimpact
onthestiffness
ofa partthan
the Young
s modulur
to nrinlnlze
wallthickness
vou19
.16 ;po,es
s nodu,utllilea silfeni-geffecTt.
oa't,culary
!o tfe foaaed Baydup@
sysreis Recommeided
wallthickness
range
(8ayduP60),
since
theYounq!modulus
hasa relative BayduP
lloj 4 bis10mm.
lylowbandwidrh
Recohmended
wallthickness
Enge
Charges,r
wa.r!htckness
arepefiniEed
wrendesign.. BayduP
GS:4 bis40 mn.
inginteglal
skinfoamparts.
Theupperandlower
ifhit onthewallthickness
isdetefrnined
bythenat!reof SJdden
najo.changes
il wrlltflc(1esr
shoL,o
-ornaltheintegral
skinfoamsystem.
Thedensity
pfofileovef ly beavoided
onaccount
of thetendency
to wary.Fil!
thecross-section
andthe exothefmlc
reactionn the rngprobterns
crf alsooccuigiving,seto defects
ii the
paftdeiefmire
thefiaNimun
andflinimuri
wallthrcK.motded
part
ness.
lt should,
however,
be borneIn mindthat an
rncreased
wallthickness
genelally
efgthens
the Flow
pathrthatbecome
narcwertowards
theendsho!id
defiolding
time.
beavoided
wlthBaydup
CSaid withintegfalskin
foanr
part,0rshould
beposltiored
below
theliquidlevel.
Recommended
wallthickness
lange
Baydup
60: I to 15ftm
Wallthickhess
tEnsiiionr
should
never
(incorbeabrupt
porate
a taperof fadiLrt

Makingflat surfacesstiffet
A drstinction
is drawnbetween
two differentscenanos
nerel
@ constant
wallthickness:
5 cambrng thesuiface
E ifcorcoratifgsteps
E bead5
E folds

E varyrng
wallthickress:
n ibbing
E edgeformation

Gmbnng
parts
Warpaqe
occurson flat, aeafea boxshaped
afterthepat hascooleddown.

Th! sidewall5of recta.gulaf,

box{hapedpartswhic,h
pofile tend to suffer
do not havea circumferentia
indertationafterdemoding.

of steDs
Incorooration
pan stiffiessfof jlst a
in andaho corsiderably
ncrease
of steps
Litileattention
i5oaidto the ncorDoratjon
stepsdo offera smallmateal outlay.
thedesigiof largepats,although
for appllcation
anddesign
widengeof possibilltie5

Beads
withbeadpattefis,
asis
Flatsudaces
canbestiffened
pmcessing
Diagonal
in sheetmetal
standadpractice
a twodimen'
ina bidto achieve
beadr
a ircoiporated
beads,
by consionrlinforcing
effect,whileparallel
lheirorgi.
rasi provroe
ony uflax.a'e.nfo'cenent.n
tLrdinaldirection.
effectrve
conslilutes
a relatrvely
sleppedoeaorng
flatareas.
means
ofstiflenlng

(B)

(A)

l.

(cm')'
Jr- 0.074aa
ji 0.0943a' {crn')'
Momentof resigtance
{cmr)

W,^"=0.102
a' W *-0.169 ar

l:18
I i 2.09

l:1 6

1 r2 6

Mtr= 0.139a W:* = 0.293a'

CamioBan of th. nttns ond stenqth af ibs lA) anda beodntu.tuE (B)
fot a wo thicknersaf Fa.t a dnd A.2o ldccdtdtnqto 6ennet)

lj -;0-133aricfnl)

lr : 0.197a1(cm').
(crnr)
Momentof resistance
=
W 0:265ar

W,- 0.395a'

Foldsaregeneraiy corrbinedwith stpsand afeured

n thederigrof high-vo
umpans.

Ribs
Ribsarear efficent dengneementwhenit comes
ao
inoeasingload-bearing
caprciq/and stffnessn partt
n 0r0ert0 avordstress
peaksandnotcheffec$,jt rsrec
thataresubjedtofiexuralstess
no.Wallthtcknesses
can or,rr,rended
that z radiL.rs
be incudedon the rib ar me
be keptlow permrtting
savings
on material.
Theth nner po nt whereitjo nsthe flat sudaceA denrold
rg drafr
wals ard shoirerresdencetinrein the nroldmakefor 0r at leastl'9houd be pfovided
to keeptheejectior
greater
cast-efficiency
ir pfodL.rction.
iorcereqliredfor demod ng as ow as possibleThe
re gtt 0' falsve.e . b( ,loulo nore\_ed
0.7 Imeg
Thefollowig informatior
shouldbebornin mridjorrlb the heghrof longirLrd
nalribs.
structtres:The
stiffening
effectof a ribwi onlybefeitif
theheightoftherb issevera
rl b oeonetJ
timesgreaterthan
thewall
sR. 0 75 5 fl EavdLp.to
thickness,
s,thatis beirgreinforced.
5R<SF
Bavd,P60
.nP ro tu) s
-{5
Thepositionof the ibs is of decisive
impotancewnen
-le r'btcar Deaoaoted
ro t,e oeld..gmorer! cL./eoJ ,r,conLes
ro mod velri.g d.r.lg:.f'et i .g aadtaar -g
neansofther heightpfofieoverthe
structure
beingtttff- onaser0 orevent
bubbes,the flbsshoJ,d.ur .. rle
ened.In
otherwords,
thetrheightc!n
beduced
towads dlrection
offi ingaid shoud becoinected
to thepantheedges
thatafenotsubject
to stressing
Theyshoud be rngplareif possible.
ocatedpfenttally
on thestdes!bjectto tensileoad.
ingon account
ofthe favorable
stress
distibution.

t JHM M MC E H f f i f f i

ruHKffiffiHUKffi

l
:

posidoraf nah eibl ladda ibt

Seleet
o tlantEBedbh.ight

dnft ofhotEs h.n 1 a > l'

thedbsihinface.Thewayto avoidthisisbymaking
is ncorrectlydlmensioned,riateialcan
lfthetrarsition
:s
An
aitemative
wall
on
lhe
fla!
tJr'ace.
nerlhanrhe
at the pointwherethe bateof the ib
accumulate
visible
s!rface
whlchwillconceal
a stepped
meebtherurface
beinqreiofoEed,
andthiswillgener- to employ
allyleadto lhefomaiionofsiik ma*5or lheflatsur- ths'defect'.
byai unfavorable
b georietry
Avoiding
sinkma*scaused

|n@o3ing$e nunbet af ibs

Carceoln.nt by d spe.idlynatgnedtEp

Formatjoh
of dges
partsca| be stifJefedthroughan apprcprl
Lar96area
ate desrgn
of edge.Desrgns
8, C andD shouldbeg v,
en preference
on accour!of their untformwai thickness.lf , c rclmferent
al bead(A) is relectedon the
basis
of optical
appearance,
thenthewallthrckne5s
rr
the edgezoneshouldnot be rnorethantwicethewrir

th ckness
ofthearcabeiigstffefedon account
ofthe
leadercyto warp
Edgedesigniwith Lrndercuts
sho!ldgeierallybeavoid_
e!, srncethesereqltrean e aboratederiqnof mod.

bmax ;' 2s

I
TI

*i,L(A)

J,L_
(B)

(c)

(D)

l'

Rinfotcinq
elenenis
Wheepart5arcsubject
to highloading
or have
forces it is rot generally
recomnended
that metalpartsbe
actingor specific
zones,
it isnecessary
to makeuseof mechanicalJy
anchored
by means
of a perforation.
lf
stiffeiingelements
(rnetal,
wood,pJastic).
thereinforcement
istooclose
to the Baydlpsurface,
entraoDed
,rrta't resu
t througflneDe,fO.atOl
betrg
Theinsedmlsi be arangedsymftetfically
overthe "skipped
over,,andthebubbe canexterdto thesur.
cross-section
inorder
to avoiddeforhation.
li the deal facein unfavorable
cases,
case,
thecenter
of gravity
of the Baydup
prcfilewill
coincide
withthecenter
ofgravity
ofthefeinforcifg
ele Thewallthickness
between
the insertafd the moro
meni
oen.
"va'shorldbe> 6 nn wi!|"a bJl<pory,rell-rne
9!) 0. lesstfa. 604 kg/ffl ana> 2 rn wlrr a bLtk
goodadhesior
Ensurirg
to metalinseTts
fequiEs
no! polyufethane
density
of morethanEoOkg,/rii.Lower
onlya grease"free
tLlrface
but al5orilechanical
rougrF vauesarepemttedoversmallarcas.
TheWalltntcK.
enngo'rheu9eofal aoo.op'rte
bondilg
agenr
nessisdpendent
ontheflowconditions,
theviscosjty
aid thereaction
kintics.
Theinserts
should
similarJy
beat thesame
tenperatufe
piortomoldfillnginorderto
asthenroid
ensure
!nr- the inserumustbefixedin sucha waythattherear
formflowing
ofihereaction
mix
n0obstac
esto theflowofthereaction
mix.

Caaldkttioh af the enz6 ol gnvirf af

pon 5t and tnsenmsssecriah5F

thattheanoistr.rlecontent
s nottoo
areused betakento ensLrre
ln additionlo theirreniorcinqeffect,inserts
highmoisture
content
rlaLiols
,10 Io lerrll iri_9 high(< 10 o/o)Ari e\cessively
ro cLcend-enrlaLLU-1
polyurethane,
a
reaction
with
the
creatrag
a
must
w
ll
causa
When
wood
ls
used,
care
diaglamt.
eiernents
Gee

porous
(deamiratior)
interfa.e,
andbLrcklin!
flexible,
eto drythe\rood
carnotberuledoui fit s notpossib
itssuiface
should
besealed
withacoating.
lufficjbntly,
l,\'erLre.s
Co_rrryro lfe czsew:rhmelal'1serrs.
nohighly-compacted
edgezonet
madeof non-fietals,
highlevelof heatdissfofindle to theinsufficiently
panon.
advice
applies
asfor
ApaItfrom
thi5,thesarne
g elernents.
reinforcin

loadapplicaton,
it maybe
withpon!-type
0n designs
to provide
localrcirforcemert
by ileansof
fecessary
mustbe drawnhere
metalingertr.A distinctron
partsandpartsthat areiiseded
between
foamed'in
(onlythadedbushes
r thislattefc!se).
afterwards
WhermetalpalB a foamedir place,whathas
of metafreinforcing
beensaidlor thedesign
already
general
it isnecessaryfor
elanents
basically
apples.ln
in sucha waythatthe'
thefoanrmoldto bedesigned
andwillnotmoveevenundel
insedisfixedin poshion
fiix.
theactionof thereaction
ln piace,
carcthoL,,ld
When
thiead'ed
iirserts
arcfoamed
thattheyareheldin ihe moldin
beEten to enguie
onall
aieiot sr,rrfolnded
byfoam
rucha waythatthey
sides.
ioer rat s LSed
!r rrrorcefent
soecal
Wler g'a55
0n
bepaidto fixinqthenat in plac.
attention,should
bedonebyclarnping
themat
flatparts,
thiscaneasily
withA
ln thecaseof comionents
ln ihepadihgplrane.
pronouncbd
design,
rt is betterto
threedlrnersronal
thecontour
ol
a glasspfefomto match
filstprcduce
poduced.
being
thecomponent
for optinLrm
readjonmjxis essential
A low-viscosity
The
cornplexjty
ofthemold.
impregnation
of themaE.
pocessing
pad
technology
determines
the
ed
- int|o
(cois
y
delab
higher
requrle
lntoa cLosed
mold
duction
of the
andfoamirqbehavior
ments
ontheflowability
preiiminary
n
distrbution an open
reactioimix)or
(minimum
mold
iow lenqths).
of upto 25o/o
Class
conterts

f fillersareto be used,ihenthrscals for the ,pprcpriate q/pe of equipirentGinglestrckepiston

meteflng
urits mixrg heads
s!iiableforfllle|s).
Twotypesof advantage
areessentially
expecled
frorn
fille15:

I
I
I

{ savings
on polyurethane
rawmateria
s
E lmprcved
processirg
andfinalpropertesofthe
poryulhare,
r.e
A reduced
eridencetime in the mold
! rmp@ved
surlacefinish
r raduced
thrirkage(lowerteflperaturepeakrn
cactior mix)
r reduced
the nal coefficient
ofexpansioi
! inoearedflexuralstiffness
Setagainstthese
impovements,
however,
area n!mberofdifficulties
whichmustnot be neglectedi
!
I

processing
elabofate
plant
ab|astveness

prob/ems
E reease
e rnrpaircd
flowbehavior
=' \ervLo.sdeable.edLcr
on 1 -oac15i,e.grr
(notch
effectoffile4
E anisotropy
Infibrous
fillers
Fillers
alsohavea rnainly
negative
impact
ontheprop
erflesof foameo
Bayo,l.systems.
A s,igrl lcreatetl
themodulus
ofelast
cityrr bending
arda reduction
In
shrinkage
is morethan offsetby verypronourced
embrittlernert,
whichrneans
thatfillers
canno!
beused
partsunder
in demanding
anycirc!rnstances.
Fillels
orlymake
sense
tfthecostofthera\{matenals
i5thepredonrinant
aspect
andtheeftbrlf,r
ementcan
jt is porsible
betoleted.
lJnder
theseci.cumstances,
to addinexpensive
fillels(such
aschalk).
ln thecase
of solidnaterials,
theincEase
ir themodulusdueto the filleris evenmoreprcnounced
The
impact
strergth
isalsogeatlyimpajred.

T
I
f

i
I

Themoldhasthe
perfect
functiorofprcducinq
notded stantThevarlable
factors
thathaveto beincluded
in
pa18for aneconom
callyjlstifiableoutlay.
Forsome thecllcuiation
arethecycle
timeandtheovelall
moro
oneproducinq
paft,the cos8Thedegigrof the molded
a specific
nulnbef
of molded
parthasa keyinfu,
hourly
nachine
rateaidthecostofthematerialberng
enceonthetypeof moldselectedr
processed
areoperating
expenses
whichfemain
con,
Standadmold
Stdpper
mold
Thisisthesimp
padingplane;open.Thishasthesanlec teia aslhe simplest
lestdesig
n;a single
nrold,plus
ii9 movement
injusta singedrec- denoldlng
with, strpperplate.
- guidemovement
tion;denrolding
priria ly throughlorceof
achieved
glavity;
pins(possibly
ejector
operated
via a. ejectof
pratel.

fl m
Ell

splitmold
Sliding
partnqplane;
movefient
n ilreprn'
opening
A single
cipal dirctronof flow and at ght anglesto ths
byiiclnedprns.
through
spiilrguided

Splitrnold
p ane;opening
movemert
rntheprin'
A srigleparting
cjpal dircctioi of frow and at ght anglesto this
throughtwoofthreesplitsguidedbyan irclinedplane.

openedkdiry platehasbe.nonttnd)

Fillingtechnique
polyurcthane
a per
noldings,
Toachieve
defec-t-free
nto
the
must
be
conveyed
feaction
mix
fectly.mixed
The
vkible
surface
anytLrrbulence.
moldcaviiywithout
po9
pointdownwards
partshould
where
ofthemolded
sible

thnuqh edstingftan obow

incofiect

Partingplane
Thedeson shoLr
d rnaka lowancefor molcveri ng
Rounded
areas
shoud be avoded n theve|tingzone
if a r thatbecofies
trapped
dueto the position
oilhe
moldcaniotbee iminated
vtaa partng plane.
lnsorne
.a-esr r,aj bo oo):ibe -o 1:: oo aieaddLo t, p, :
ng planes,
andhence
vertiat on planes.
through
the
desgn of ihemoid

ffiffi
Flowhont

I potting phne

I
inprcvedv.hthg parsiblethtough
ePosiliahedpatrng plane

Moldt mperaturecontrol
govenstheformation
of the
basi5,
it i5 rtysldacetemperature
TopoduceBaydufpartsona repoducible
pcisely
conouterskin
ofthe
nolding
on
the
one
hand
and
the
flow
assential
for themoldsto bekeptat a
the
behavior
of
the
eaction
mixture
on
the
other
Thetempetu
deviation
at
?olledtempeture.
+/- 2 'C 5inca
thecav.
moldsufacemustnotcxceed

b\d.tln ir.d bNH ts io i hts)

fu

u,itono,E!'tirtnod.

part
ofth. molded
contFlon$e quality
Influence
of moldtenplrature

- iduttd orbt shr hnalldl

uoh bnrytn!

bohigh

o hi4 btifr. olEt srinhns

Distinilotnold Enp.nan in utitt pht

oad6tr ploa noldnaqhl 'rih goodord poothet
.o.tluctionfu cdtlv tla' ondce ,hrr

tnssinilatnou dnp.atutr t\augh

,trsl'! tpacngb.tv..n coalingci@is

Thefollowing
draftsshoLrid
betncudedin thedergn, th porntwherthe moldedparthasattarned
sufficreft
dependirg
ontheheight
ofthemodedpafii
stabilityand Lndergone
only minnral warpage.

-i
I

Lrpto 200nm
more
thar200mm upto l.5o

Demolding
mu5tadditionally
becompleted
rapidlyover
thefullheight
ofthe molded
part.

onpartsrikehousinesirisfrequenttysufficien*oincoF
IJ::#Fll;":,ji?:ffi:;it#;:T:i:

;X1

porate
thedraftofthecoretide,since
pa.t be designed
themolded
with sridingor foldingsidesectrons.
canbenoe readily
released
fromtheoltercasing
as Apaftfion thehighermod costs,
th; oudayonpost
itsh iks offthis.
treatmeitisgreater,
sinceflashdevelops
atthemold

Denordinsr,oftorrrhecoeisirruencedbythe,esi.:Tfi.fli1T,ffi:,iff::ffi
dence
tineir thernoldDenolding
must
commence
at ing.

Dirnsnsioning
radii
Radiishouldbe gjvenpreference
overahglededges to thedircction
offlowcanleadto enthpped
ai( this
wherc
theywillnotaffecimoldpartiigorventing.Thecanbeavoided
throirgh
the appropriate
roLrnding
or
minimum
radius
should
be2 nm soa9to avoidfotch drafts
(stress
peaks)
effeats
andto pefmittheformation
of
theskinzonein integlal
skinfoamsystems.
Aloigride n cases
whicharenotsubject
gpecifi.
to anygtingent
this,theflowfrontof theeactionmixdetermines
the cations,
theradiishould
bedesigneJ
to bea, lafgeas
design
of the radii.Angledcontours
running
counter posrible.

-ffi

0) incamct,
shapautu andinnet.dg. ra dEft
b) cod4 ouE!dndinr.t edgsbund.d,wls ||ik

hfluqce af ndii on skintune tumatian

Acufiulations of material
time n the molds a furctionofthe
5ircetheresrdence
of
of the rioldedpart,accumulators
wall thlckness
reasons.
In
materialshouldbe avoidedfor ecoromrc
to achievemateial
extTeme
casesit is not possible
acc!nulatiofsat a I, or accountofthe syslemspecific
Whe the paft designwiil a low,
rcactionkinetics.
cnss-sectrons
shouidbe brokenuC
therefore,
compact
theyshoud bereduced
in
by dbsor barsialtemativeiy,
gizeby hollowingout the cross'sedion
or rninimized
'
lhoughthe iisertionoftorpedoes.
strucacc!mulatjons
leadto an asyflmetnc
lf rnatefial
thendeformalion
ofthe padwill
turein a cnsesection,
temperalure
build-up,
haveto be expeod(dissimilar
dissimilar
shriikage).

tiat4tot octunubnol at th.@ueornotaeapon warpoge I

b---effi W,

cross-section
bead,
thewallthickincrostsection
5ho!ldgen. 0nflatpartswitha ckcumferentia
s!dden,
laqe.s&le
changes
< 2J.
(factor
iessdlffercntial5hould
notbetooextreme
ofthetendency
to warp.
li
erally
beavoided
onaccolrnt
design,
thedissimilar
lriction
rert
eading
to Withai !nfavoGbl
to this,fillingproblems
canresuit,
addition
/.f.d.
,n fh! d^lrcrl n:rr
mrxadvancing
toorapid.
tancecanleadto thercaction
y,a lowingingufficieit
iormod venting.
opport!rity
problems
wlllnotcalse
corsticdons
n thecross"seciion
position
canbetelecttoflowifthefoamrng
withrespect
the iquid
edin5uch
a waythattheconstctjonisbelow
of th5 typeare ocated
level.
Thenearer
consfictions
themorcprcblenswill
towards
theendoftheflowpath,
encountered
with
the
faclofs
5etout beiowor
be
viscouty
ofthe
reactjon
mx
increasirq
accoont
ofthe
insuffi
cientcompaction
(plnholes,
over-rolljng)
surface
defect
flows
s weldlineswhere neet
(pinholes,
nsufficient
outerlayefcoripaction)
afi
enrappeo
I

lubulenceandpau flDwbehavioti. the eo.tion

nu wilh a tuddenarahgein wal tht.-kng

s2

Flawdistutbahc.dueta d panaun@dconstucrcn

For economic
reasons,
a inoldedpart shoud !e
des.gned
rl s,cf a waytnat tt c.a1oe prodrcedir a
i\rvopartrnod. Withthe appropriate
demolditrg
drafts
andthinwalls,
itispossibleto
incorpoEte
sio6orhotes
in thesidewallwithout
theneedforslldes
oraninsert.

t
t

Wik tuffr.jent clening af th. side, hols @n bep@duc.dwMaut strd6

whereapertuesarc arfanqedalongside
eachother
(ventrlatior
slots,holes),
the barwidths
or barcrostsec.
values,
tionsshouldnot be lowerthanthe minirnum
and the fiaximumlergthsshouldnot be exceeded.
to the materialvol.
Sincethe latioofthe shearsurface
ly ,eryfrgh,rfe ba'ss'oLldbeg.vera
Jme s generz
conicalshrpe.Thedirectonof the bary'slotsshould

corespond
to the diredjonof foamingto ensurethat
the barsarefonnedwithoutriy entfapped
air or weld
lnes wheredifferentfows nreet,sincetheseweaken
the mecharical
ioad-berr
nq crp.city (denrold;ng
_gl-ta-glesto *e -ar.
'v
tlar
Ba's/slats
at
'orce).
dircctionof fillingshouldbe po5tioredbeneaththe
po5sible.
leveioftheliquidwhere

,l
T
SlaB,grcow ahd holesaE bestlocatedundel
he liquid leal ond in the diEctionot flow

of theflash,
themod co in lhe dernod
ng d rection,
tha fla5hshouldalways
Tomake
foreatiefremoval
sideofthemold formonthenon,r'isible
5ide.
not|estontopoftheopposite
should
beseated
2 nm i1!oii -hEw ll thengive
bLtshoLrd
perpendicularflash
rernoved Thehigher
moldcostincufied
lr achlev
rg perpendic"
thatcanbeautomatically
cLlarfa5hreo,iret ularflarhhaveto be sei agairstthe manualwo*
siTpyby gnrdng.Nor'oerpend
non.perpendicular
flash.
thatareplaced livolved
in eliminating
manual
deflashiig.
0n slotsandholes

slot5wt nary.Aendiculor flosh

Statswith pependicrlotllosh

Undercuts
lf it is not possibleto avoidan undercuton design
thenthe moldmusteitherbe equipped
with
9founds,
sldes,or the moldedpart pfoduced
with inserts
mai
aredemolded
togetherwith the pan.Tle lse of loose
nserrswill redlcemoldco5tsbut wiil alsoentarran
Increased
cycle!ime.llolds with sl desshouldalway,
beusedwhe'eprodJcdo.tgto be .Ll wrr me I-glest
evelof automation.
Possible
It shouldbe bomein mindthat muhi-panmoldswftr
laxeral
slides,coe 5lidesor inser8aresubjecttomore
rapd weal are moreexpensive
to purchase
ard a
alto morepone to malfunctrons,
necessitattng
mofe
reparrs.Stringentrequirements
are additionally
inpogedon the fit andsealof the lateralor coEslide
in metaimolds,sincetha reaatiormixtle canpene
tratenaffowguidegapsandcurc.Theselfrleaning
of
the 5lidesalsoposesproblerns
on accolntof the pr6
nouncedadhesioiand hardnesrof the poly!rethane
fesrdues,

Bossas
Bosses
aregenelly
incorporated
to facilitate
mecnan.
icalassembly,
orto ac!assupport
bearings
orspacers.
Thedesign
ofthebosses
isthurlargely
conditioned
by
thefunctlon
theyaleto fulfil.l\,,latefial
accumitlations
inthedesigishould
beavoided.
Toprevent
thedevel,
opmant
ofai.cushions
it i5a goodideato connect
the
bosse9
to theoutersufaces
partif po9
ofthemolded
sible.
lf thisi5notpossible
or accouri
oftheirpositiof,
thebosses
should
bedegigned'with
a rtrongly
inclired
wall,lf the bea ngsudace
needs
to befullyfolmeo,
ther it willflequently
benecessary
to maketheboss
higher
thanfequired
andthenrn.nually
nachlne
I ro
thespecified
height.

Mechdnicotu
Enaw hotaiot k

I
FJl!.1b-1"d beo.19 s,doc" n..!o"

or,,

onoeaba*,v,.,.nql

Awlding or.uhubnans of ndtendl

Unfohtuble,duett t ukulotian of nat naj

-.."Dimens
ofal change

Thed mensona changes

that resuJt
in a moldedprt
:re madeup in geneGlterrnsof, shrjnkage
anda
warpage
cornponent

Shrnkage
lloldiig shrnkage

Warpage
post-sh'rin
kaqe

Shinkage
* .1
vs- +

Afur the poyurethane

parthascooledto ambien!tern
pefature,
postshinkage
takespace.Thisis essenray
attnbutab
eto postcung Bactions
andrtresslaxrtior.

' 100(oo)

vs-Maldi.g shtinkagc;Lw- Matddineneonat 2O"C;

L- 2inension af kaided pott dfta 2q6B haua or 2eC

Post{lringreaEtions
canbe explained
by the factthat
thereac!on mixture
in theskinzonehasto culeat mlch
Thetern shirkageis usedto denote
the percentagelowertemperatures
(no d temperaturc)than
ii the core
chargern a length,expfessed
in temsof the corr6 zone(exotherm
up to 200 oC).Thiscanleadto varyrnq
sponding
dimension
of thecod moldIt ts assumeddegrces
of postcrosslinking
overthe cmss.sectton,
t.e,ro
rharrhelelgrl-reas-reo
pr1 .j a lodifrcrion of tl^esvessprfie.r andlercero d.me^
ont1ecolomotdeo
ltfaightlf it s curued,
gonalcfangeiTLtis
thei warpage
issuperimposed
o.ocess
wr cf s teTlpe'aureoepenonlhesh nkage.
den!,cin be5holtened
thfolghtheappropriate
formof
ar-ealinga! a 'rigl'lenpeture.

Alitheparameters
thatlnfluence
tenperaturc
dislrD!ton duringtheprodLrction
process
affectthe evelof Srress
relaxalior
occu.s
wnerno.ecJles
arcrearran..j
shrinkage.
Thisfalbastheresidence
tlmeln themold Morecu.e
ra'Ergenenr
o'tt's ryp.r
incfeases
andrises
withihewallthickness,
""nieir*
densityand thfolgh a full ii the young3rnodulug
over
tine, fof
m0 d lemperalLlfe.

exarnple

WaFage
Warpag
is tr5edto denotethe deviatron
of a moaea
oad fton ils !a'get t'raoerrror-grsu.'aces
becorrng
curved
0rh4rsted,
orthoughaigulardinensions
urder.
clrange.
90ri9
Waeagedueto pfoduction
cangenerally
beattributed
to geometric
faclors(matetial
accurn!lations,
asymmetria crosrsectioht,
insufficieftstiffnessin the moroeo
part),materiaLspe.ific
popenies(coeffic
entofthermal
expansron,
Young'9
rnodulLls,
den9iry)
andternpeEtur&
dependent
influenctng
va ables{dissimjlar
heai o6srpatro/rthroughtempefrturcdifferentiu
ls ln the mold
singlesided
coolingof moldedprds whei stored).
lf shrinkage
differentiaLs
canno!be avoided,
the srtent
ofthe effective
wErpage
wil Lrltimrtely
dependor the
fLrdLra fergrl o'*e pi t. Th6 ncease.wrhile
length
oftheresrdence
I meir theriold.Theshrrkage
that is rmpeded
in ths waycauses
,n fherenisrress
state,whichis ab e to relaxagatnwhenlhe part6 rr
useandcanthen eadto wapage.Largeare,pats at
fsk of wafpage
arclhusalov/ed
!o cooldownlowy
znd relaxin specal clamping
devices.

WoqaEeafo ngid int ggttkin pU fooa poft duetb th. bcdk

h the a@nh@tial prcfih: a) tdtE.t tun; b) octuoltatn

wdtpdgetn thephnle ond ftdifr.otoh thtuughqa\,i8

WoD h . " D a ' i a . . r r e r . a ,

^
ibbtnq Heiqht
of cnsttibsh - A) H

part,thedesgnergeneraiy ln lhesecaset,theovezl pad mLstbe di\ridedup n a

Wheirde5ignrng
a molded
partstiratcanbe con,
works
a aqe numberofrndh agicalmanner
intoindlvidual
of thebasisofconbining
v dualelements
ntoa slngiepart Thisis possible
with nectedto eachotheraftefmolCn_a
There
BayduP,
sinct d spaysqoodflow properties.
A distnctionis drawnbetween
are,however
limitson achievrg a coripactdesignI
deiachab
e,detachab
e
joints:
with imtatrons,
ard non-detachable
problems
:4 foamengineerrrg
aise n respedof the
joints
detachable
turfacefinish
- screwed
undercuts
are nvolved
detachrble
wrthiimiratons - snapfitjonts
E elaborate
s moldconsareioo high
nonJetachable
- g uedloints
a fie p.ns needto be mobile
a sto|ages costry
s transpotdjfficutresareencourlered
(transport
costs)

Screwedjoint
joint is usdto connect
par6 ard
finishd
A scrcwed
parts
iastening
assembly to eachother.Easy
andstfaght
foMardintenhargeabil
ty arethedecsive
factors
in the
selection
of th s i/peofiolnl
jo ft sthepuloutsgenth
of
Tle keyfuature
of a gqewed
the screwTlrisls essentially
detefinined
by the shear
volume
strength
of dre padandtie rnateral
contaiied
bei4een
thescwfllghb,aswellasbythesoewgeome
piich,rrtioofoltsided ameter
to corcd ame.
try (thread
ter lengthof engaqerneit).

fthe d stancebebreen
thescfewtipandthewal isioo
with a metalbot aro
srnaI, thiscanlerd to deformatioi.
Theclassic
soewedcornection
whend
meta nut is of relaliveiymrnorLmportance
rnaterak.ThespeclfcoriestoloininqpafJ n polymer
sLchas2 Lr|ri
c zdvantages
ofthisrypeofcofnecrion,
form,hightiqhteningforcecannotbe exploiied,
srrce
whenthescrews dofe
the trgltenrfqforcegenerated
the timea.d temperature
up is ost aqainthroLgh
thar take
dependertcrepand relaxatonprocesses
pLace
in the plastic
whe ihe boli pas5es
throLrqh
oneoflhe p;rt5tc con
wayofco!n'
nectrtwithaiotherpart,themosirellable
_- .

r - 4'

rl

rr'

-'F

tta a^r 2

,f

byihed lsrmilertheranal
expans
on
C rnens
onscauged
pad
p
i5
to
ace
nret?l
r
eeves
oi lhe scwand anoided
thep;d ancthescfewwhichwiltakeupthe
between
tighterirqforcedirecty

Screwedjoint with threadedinsert

lf srrewed
reoeateo,'
Jontsl'aveto be detached
tnel ure ,s naoeo. rr.eadeoinserts
wth an Inlegralor ffrctioi.

Foabedintireadedinserls
lr the caseoffoaTed.trh.eadeoin5e.ts.
lhe rporopfl- Backmoldi.g
of thethreadfiust beavoided.
atecondt/ons
nust befulfilledforthe positionino
and
insertion
ofthesepaltsin the mojd.

Expahding
in5erts
Theconnectioi
behdeen
the holeandthe thrcaoeo esagairsrthe holewal,.Expaldirg
Insefts
areused
rrsedisprcduced
bytneexpalsioofrhetoEedconr. marnly
wtthpreforrned
hotes.
calandknufled
endofthethreaded
bush,
whichpress_

Prcssed-in
thfeaded
inserts
A combination
of a fomJit andpre5s.ir
connectjor
ersu'es
that$e Insens
arevel irmlyancno.ed
Trey
wl generaly
!o.
beeqJoped
whl"a tongrludinar(nJr,
radlalanctsoring
arda ca',atfa- axiatancno,,ng
The
inserstan aisobeplacedin pf&formEd
hole,whose
drrnensrons
are0,3to 0.4mmsnraller

means The mo5t rnponantbasicthape s the snaPfrthook

area verysimpleandi.expentjve
Snapfitjornts
_1e
Loorna'iy lexu'alsvessilq
naterarissLo.ecreo
Allsnapfilsjointshavea pro_
ofjoiringdifferentpa1t5.
- a hook,a stlld' 0r
trudinqpart on onecomponen!
brieflydurirgjoiningandcaichbead- whichdeflects
ln the matiagconrporert
esin a recess
onlyexposed
i5geneGlly
the connecliofl
Afterjoining,
loads
to lowlevelmechaiical
nondetachable
Thejoint canbe eitherdetachable'or
Tle followlrq
nq on lhe snapeof the
depend
"cess
tnaoft
oesigning
poirrs-ust be oorrein mindwTen
lornEl
that actsdurinqlhejoining
stress
themechanical
poce5s
du ng astembly
n theforcerequlred
I

anddesignatlons
snap'fi!llookidimensions

r
L

- ndainingdn7l.
width(haokvdth)
- Ctosts.ctianat
h.ight(hoakheiShl)
Cnss.dianol
-

forcei
thedeflection
crcss' Detemiiing
fora hookwitha constant
therccess
calculating
overiB lengthi
sectron
E.
_ --6b-h ,
q
-T thejolringforcei
Determining
n
fora hookwitha reduction
the rc;ss
calculating
15lengthl
heightover
f|I*.|

f -r. os.+

i[fi---?
S+J

h/2 i

l ]+ l anq

tY j--)

.:Absot'twlu. - PcMttSewlue/tAa
a valueof 0.5 lo 0.8 of the
Fororceonlyassemby,
y elo$rerqthcanoeulen ro'rhe oe'-litted9t-al'
the5eval'
repeatedly,
whep the o nt is lo bedetached
gafety
hctorof 2 to 3'
ower,wth a
uesarecon5iderably

joirtsthat arealso
snap+it
anda_nnuLaf
Thetorsion
pats,re or y of mnorifiFoI
in thermoplastcs
used
poly!rethane
aiticles.
taicewhende5igninq

y cosrtfic
onepanicuJa
err means
oflointrgparsts
,i trr..hrngecanbe morded
together
withthe parts
leqlrflnga movabte
connection
in a singleopelation
(integEted
filmhinqes).

;
;-"

Thesholerth
tnrnootlt,thegrcaler
thedegrea
of pre
cs,orlhatwll beachieved
andlhemoreaccLr?te
the
fitwhentheaniculation
ismoved.
ln sucha case,
how.
cvel!he-noth stresses
canbesohignasto cause
pre
maturu
larlure

A highflexudlf?tigue
strength
isachieved
iftheftrn
poln6ae keptlaqelyfre! fromateasthat couidexefi Tle tlansitions
to th. thinpojntshould
notbeabrupt
a notclFtypa
inf,uence.
Tte addition
of fillelsandrcinforcing
mateialswill
Thereaction
mixrhouldflowun,6mly.thrcugh
the alwzy5
impair
properties.
aftic!lation
hrnge
in oderto aloidweldlinesandhence
pedeter
min.dbnakingpoinb.

E c.llint .btqt r,qnsido.,t