CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
July 2004
Company News
Delcam Reseller SEACAM to Offer Faster Plastics Product Development in Brazil
Delcam reseller SEACM will show how the latest versions of the Power Solution range of CADCAM software can speed the development of new plastics products on the SOCIESC stand at the Interplast exhibition to be held in Joinville/SC, Brazil from 20th to 24th August. New releases to be featured include PowerSHAPE Pro, a complete solution for designers of complex shapes such as those found in the footwear, packaging, sports equipment and electrical appliance industries, PS-Moldmaker, the intelligent 3D mould design software, and PowerMILL 5.5, the recent update to the CAM system.
PowerSHAPE Pro includes all of the surface and solid modeling capabilities within PowerSHAPE, together with the PS-Draft drafting software and the PS-Render system for generating photo-realistic images. The software also incorporates a range of morphing commands for whole model edits of CAD models. These allow styling changes to be made in a single operation that would otherwise require extensive, time-consuming modification of the separate elements in a design. They are, therefore, ideal for the "what if" stage of new product development, when designers need to generate quickly a number of variations on a new concept.
Also unique is the embossing technology that is at the heart of Delcam's Total Modelling approach to design. This allows design features generated with PowerSHAPE, or with Delcam's ArtCAM artistic software or the CopyCAD reverse engineering program, to be wrapped onto a CAD model. The size, position and orientation of the wrapped shape can be fully controlled by the user, giving a much more powerful and flexible alternative to Boolean addition.
Like other mould design systems, PS-Moldmaker allows users to create the core and cavity design from the CAD model of the product and then build up the remainder of the mould using standard components from catalogues of leading suppliers. However, PS-Moldmaker also offers built-in intelligence that allows the software to recommend suitable standard component sizes at every stage and automatically adds appropriate clearances between components.
As well as speeding the design process and helping to avoid mistakes, the system's intelligence means that it can cope with design changes much more effectively than systems based purely on parametric design. Instead of using the strict mathematical relationships found in these systems when the design is altered, the software will instead recommend the nearest standard size that can accommodate the change. This approach means that standard components can be used as far as possible and so reduces the overall cost and time to produce the tool. It also maintains the user's control over the tool design.
PowerMILL 5.5 incorporates a range of enhancements, including the ability to use the stock model for five-axis machining operations, dedicated methods for machining of flat surfaces, the ability to use user-defined tools and collision checking within the new simulation module. In addition, the user interface has been improved with the use of Windows XP style icons and with the wider user of color to define different areas of the model and so simplify the handling of large, complex parts.
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