Conference unveils tools aimed at both manufacturing and mechanical design engineers

TAMPA, FL – Designers had to take a back seat briefly last month at the PTC/user 2007 software conference while manufacturing engineers were shown tools created to ease the pain of process planning.

MPMLink, designed to work inside Windchill 9.0, PTC's latest release of its PLM (product lifecycle management) platform, assists with manufacturing process planning by providing an environment to create both design process plans and dynamically generate graphical work instructions. In his "Future Directions" presentation, Brian Shepherd, PTC division vice president, Product Management, said "there have been no great tools for manufacturing engineers out there that address the need for manufacturing BOMs and process plans."

PTC also announced it would release Pro/TOOLMAKER 8.1 next month, machining software with Granite-based Pro/ENGINEER MCAD with associativity, new language support and licensing, and GPOST support. Pro/TOOLMAKER 9.0, due out in 2008, should provide 5-axis capability and 64-bit support, Shepherd said.

Mechanical design engineers weren't left out at the conference. Two years in the making, Windchill 9.0 offers a multi-CAD data management environment with Windchill Workgroup Manager. The platform can host native data from systems as varied as Pro/E, CATIA V5, UG-NX, SolidWorks, Inventor and AutoCAD. "It's a heterogenious world," said Shepherd.

Much anticipated is Pro/E Wildfire 4.0, due for release in Q1 2008. Mike Campbell, PTC vice president of Product Management, told DPN that this version will include a digital rights management module solution option for mechanical engineers. Last month, PTC and Adobe Systems Inc. announced an agreement to expand their existing relationship to integrate the Adobe LiveCycle Rights Management ES software with PTC Pro/E.

Mike Edwards, Editor, DPN Magazine medwards@clbmedia.ca
 
      

USEFUL SITES

Automation components. Omega has announced a website for sourcing automation components, from PLCs to sensors (omegamation.com).

Industrial control and power. Canadian-owned industrial control products and power supplies technology company Emphatec has launched a website (emphatec.com).

Laser scanning. Creaform (handyscan3d.com), maker of the Handyscan portable laser scanner, has announced a new website featuring reverse engineering and 3D digital products and services.

Multiphysics. Free COMSOL Conference CD is a compilation of over 300 user presentations slides and simulation results from multiphysics conferences worldwide (comsol.com).

DPN Six-Question Survey
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       DPNCANADA.COM EXCLUSIVES

Motor provides up to 150 hp. Allen-Bradley High-Power Kinetix (HPK-Series) motors from Rockwell Automation are suitable for material handling or web converting applications that require power capacities up to 150 hp.

PLC switch module. The 6.2-mm PLC-S...S switch module from Phoenix Contact allows "manual-O-automatic" functions to be implemented in applications for setup, tests and manual/emergency operation.

Worm gears. Power-Core composite worm gears from Intech Corp. are said to replace industry-standard bronze gears in demanding operations to increase transmission efficiency with quieter, longer-wearing performance.

Torque-tension control. Pre-applied Precote 85 from Nylok Corp. offers torque-tension control. The turquoise-colored thread coating for bolts with has a coefficient of friction 0.10 to 0.15 and maintains locking and sealing properties when exposed to temperatures from -50° to 200°C for 2000 h.

SPONSOR MESSAGE: Altair Engineering

Altair Engineering Canada optimizes product analysis
 
Altair Engineering, Inc. strengthens innovation and decision-making through technology that optimizes analysis, management and visualization of business and engineering information. Privately held, with offices throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia/Pacific, Altair has a 20-year-plus track record for product design, advanced engineering software and grid computing technologies.
Visit www.altairengineering.ca.
 
      
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Altair Engineering software products were instrumental in the design of Hitachi Construction Truck vehicles featured on the cover of the June 2007 DPN (below).

An animation of the Hitachi part (above) can be viewed by clicking on the cover image of the issue below or the icon on the left.

You can also download Altair's free HyperView Player to fully experience, in 3D animation and simulation, that shows a sample stress distribution on the same part, a front suspension trailing arm of a Hitachi rigid dump truck.

UPCOMING EVENTS

August 7-9, 2007. Austin, TX. Virtual instrumentation conference and exhibition NIWeek 2007 presented by National Instruments (ni.com/niweek).

September 24-27, 2007. Rosemont, IL. National Manufacturing Week conference and exposition includes the Design Engineering and Assembly Technology Expo shows (manufacturingweek.com).

October 15-18, 2007. Toronto. The Canadian Manufacturing Technology Show (cmts.ca) at the Direct Energy Centre is presented by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.

October 22-23, 2007. Montreal. CYCLE 2007: Towards a Life Cycle Economy is the third annual Canadian Forum on the Life Cycle Management of Products and Services (cycle2007.org). ________________________________________________

SPONSOR MESSAGE: Brad Communications
 
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SPONSOR MESSAGE: PTC Corporation




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