The 3MF Consortium, an industry association recently launched to develop and promote a new full-fidelity file format for 3D printing, today announced four new members:

·         3D Systems – a provider of advanced and comprehensive 3D digital design and fabrication solutions, including 3D printers, software, print materials and cloud-sourced custom parts

·         Materialise -- a provider of 3D printing software and services in a variety of sectors, such as healthcare, automotive and consumer products

·         Siemens PLM Software -- a leading global provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) and manufacturing operations management (MOM) software, systems...

Atos today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Xerox ITO which reinforces its position as a global leader in digital services.

The net purchase price totaled US$ 966 million (€ 811 million), composed of US$ 950 million and an additional amount of US$ 50 million following the occurrence of certain events prior to closing, plus US$ 100 million representing the estimated present value of future tax benefits to Atos. Net debt items and closing adjustments amounted to US$ 134 million to be confirmed within 90 days.

With circa US$ 2 billion revenue, North America becomes the largest geography for Atos where it is now ranked number 9 in ITO services.

Since the announcement of the...

Omnify Software today announces a strategic partnership with Octopart, the leading electronic parts search engine, in order to give Omnify Empower users direct access to component information in Octopart without leaving their Omnify Empower environment.

The Octopart Search integration is an add-on module to the Empower PLM system. With this module, Empower users can search the Octopart database of a growing list of more than 30 million parts across thousands of suppliers. Users can check and create vendors, vendor parts, and associated items through a formal Part Request in Omnify Empower, while populating attributes/parameters, datasheets, and compliance documents directly from...

Zuken announces improved overall productivity for electrical design, plus sector-specific enhancements for automotive and manufacturing. The latest version of E3.series – Zuken’s industry-leading electrical and fluid CAD software – contains enhanced automotive design collaboration with E3.HarnessAnalyzer; ease-of-use improvements for design changes in the machinery sector; plus across-the-board productivity enhancements.

E3.series benefits from years of development and collaboration across a wide range of sectors with customers such as ARM Automation, which designs, builds and supports custom automated manufacturing systems.

“The intelligence contained in the database of E3.series has helped reduce design time to about one-third of that required in the past. These time...

Datakit releases the version 2015.3 of its CAD formats reading and writing interfaces.

This version offers several new features:

• The Siemens™ NX™ format writing is now available.
• The writing of SOLIDWORKS™ and COLLADA™ formats and the reading of SOLID EDGE™ 2D format have been added to CrossCad/Ware SDK, enabling software vendors to support these formats in their own software.
• The latest versions Inventor™ 2016 and CATIA™ V6R2014x are now supported.

These improvements benefit to:

• Components provided by Datakit to software vendors (CrossCad/Ware), enabling them to support many CAD formats in their own software.
• The stand-alone converter...

Using the VISI suite of CAD/CAM applications from Vero Software significantly reduces the overall costs of each project for a German toolmaker, and makes it easier to implement ideas.

Based in Velbert, Volker Gehlen Werkzeugbau GmbH have a 30 year history of providing innovative solutions for challenging requirements in stamping and forming technology. They are going from strength to strength, with the acquisition of a stamped component manufacturing company, acquiring new machines, and the addition of new products to their range.

Managing Director Volker Gehlen says a vital factor in their success has been upgrading all CAD/CAM operations to VISI’s integrated 3D...

aPriori has been selected by TG Missouri Corporation, a leading automotive parts manufacturer based in Perryville, Missouri.  The company, which manufactures steering wheels, airbags, side molding and plastic trim components to enhance vehicle comfort, appearance and safety, will use the software to identify and prioritize cost savings opportunities, set cost standards for material, labor and machining, and reduce costs at the product design stage.

TG Missouri will deploy the aPriori platform in conjunction with its Cost Accounting group to prioritize cost reduction opportunities in tooling, optimize manufacturing routings and reduce the cost of piece parts and product assemblies.

“At TG...

Leading online SAP training innovator Michael Management Corporation released its 100th SAP training course, fortifying its position as the second largest SAP training provider in the world behind SAP itself.

This unprecedented accomplishment was born out of a real need in the SAP space to have training that was accessible, effective, and reasonably priced. Michael Management started designing SAP eLearning back in 2007 with the courses SAP101 – Basic SAP Skills, and FIAA101 – Asset Accounting. Since then the company has set a furious pace to release approximately one SAP course per month from a production queue...

Autodesk Inc. and the National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS) are partnering to develop the first-ever industry recognized Computer Aided Manufacturing/Machining (CAM) standards and credentials. These standards and credentials will enhance education and training programs to meet 21^st century demands for skilled CAM programmers, designers and engineers, which will account for almost 100,000 new jobs by 2024.

To stay competitive, manufacturers must maintain high standards of production at efficient cost while meeting the ever-changing customer demands for their products. CAM allows manufacturers to efficiently adjust their processes to identify optimal production paths that decrease cycle times, reduce scrapped...