CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
28 March 2005
Product News
UGS' Solid Edge Enhances Performance of Large Assemblies with New Proprietary "Simplified Assembly" Technology
UGS announced details of performance enhancements for large assemblies contained in the new version 17 of Solid Edge® software, its value-based 3D computer-aided design (CAD) system for the mainstream product lifecycle management (PLM) market. UGS expects the new release to begin shipping in April.
Solid Edge's new massive assembly support capability allows engineers to work on large volumes of data and create complete digital mock-ups of even the largest assemblies. Resources are becoming more valuable as designs get bigger and more complex. From its inception, Solid Edge has been developed to work on large assembly files with tools like simplified part, culling, smart selection tools and assembly configurations. Solid Edge version 17 includes additional capabilities to address the problems design engineers face when working with large amounts of data.
"With these customer driven improvements, Solid Edge once again establishes a new mainstream industry benchmark as the most practical system for working with massive amounts of assembly data and for performance as one of the fastest production drawing system for large assemblies in the world," said Dan Staples, director of product development for Solid Edge.
Solid Edge's new Simplified Assembly capability uses a proprietary algorithm to automatically determine which external faces need to be displayed to give an accurate representation of the assembly. In addition to speeding up the display of large assemblies, the new functionality can also be used to protect intellectual property, by removing pertinent details. A vast improvement over traditional 'Lightweight Assemblies,' Simplified Assemblies allows positioning of complex sub-assemblies within master assemblies, with the option to switch between simplified and detail views at will. Lightweight Assemblies cannot be cross-sectioned, produce exploded views or used for a number of other detailed operations; Simplified Assemblies have none of these limitations.
"The new Simplified Assembly enhancement in Solid Edge allows us to hide key intellectual property, protect our trade secrets and increase the volume of effective 3D design communication with our customers," said Michael Randler, Solid Edge version 17 Beta tester from precision tool manufacturer WTO Werkzeugeinrichtungen GmbH in Ohlsbach, Germany.
Simplified Assembly allows Solid Edge to create one of the fastest 2D drawing views on the market. Using the command one customer was able to create drawing views up to 60 times faster than with all details on, without any appreciable difference in drawing view quality; ideal for top-level assembly drawings. Depending on the model, typical drawing view creations can be generated two to eight times faster. When combined with a new streamlined, but technically accurate Draft Quality View for rapid view placement, Solid Edge becomes one of the fastest production drawing systems in the world for large assemblies.
Finally new Structure-Only Navigation allows every engineer to have the top-level assembly file as their main point of entry, while allowing the engineer to specifically choose when they want to select a part or entire sub-assembly for detail display. An engineer no longer needs to laboriously load the entire assembly in order to have access to all of the detail needed to complete the assigned part of the project.
Solid Edge ( http://www.solidedge.com ) from UGS is 3D CAD software that allows manufacturing companies to Design with Insight and achieve competitive advantage through cost reduction, without losing focus on top line revenues. The exclusive Solid Edge Insight technology embeds design management capabilities directly within CAD, providing insight into design intent to the entire organization and enhancing collaboration. Insight, complemented by Solid Edge's superior core modeling and process workflows, greatly eases the design of increasingly complex products required to meet continually changing market demands. The extensive Solid Edge user community is comprised of designers at thousands of companies worldwide, including Alcoa, NEC Engineering, and Volvo. The Solid Edge Voyager Program includes 200 integrated engineering software applications and computer hardware solutions.
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