Granta Design today announced GRANTA MI™ Version 8.1, the latest release of the leading software for managing complex, valuable, strategic materials knowledge in engineering enterprises. Version 8.1 builds on the many developments released just five months ago in Version 8.0. New features range from easy web app control over user groups to support for workflows, such as composite qualification. Enhancements meet practical requirements identified by the world-leading engineering organizations that use GRANTA MI. Granta is now delivering more frequent upgrades and updates containing significant new features, enabling faster response to customer requirements as use of the system evolves.
GRANTA MI enables an enterprise to manage all of its materials data (e.g., from testing, research, QA, or design), all inter-relationships between that data, and any supporting information. Users can access and use this knowledge-base wherever it is needed. A key feature is access control for different user groups —e.g., so that design teams only see data relevant to specifying materials in design, or project data remains within organizational boundaries. This protects IP, ensures regulatory compliance, and improves usability. Managing access for enterprise databases is often difficult, requiring expensive help from corporate IT services. But now, a new User Manager web app makes it quick and easy for any assigned administrator to add users to GRANTA MI and move them between groups and roles. Now, every team member sees the right data, with minimum admin effort.
It's also easier to get data into a GRANTA MI database. The MI:Explore web app interface now supports upload and editing of data, including simple drag-and-drop for images. More users can contribute data and more data entry workflows can be supported. For example, test engineers can be presented with a simple form to enter results, with controls such as mandatory or locked fields. A new 'multi-step' importer capability also makes it much easier to get complex data into the system.
New zoom-in on images and reading off the coordinates of points with 'cross hairs' are particularly useful when interpreting phase diagrams (including ternary diagrams) stored in GRANTA MI.
GRANTA MI Version 8.1 also incorporates recently-announced tools and data structures for both composite qualification and managing data relating to additive manufacturing. Data management and workflows in these important areas are now available to the whole GRANTA MI community.
"Our customers are all companies that take the management of materials knowledge seriously," says Dr Patrick Coulter, Chief Operating Officer at Granta Design. "This release delivers more of the features they want in order to do their jobs even more effectively. We're pleased that more frequent releases will mean such developments are made available to customers sooner."
