For those of who missed SolidWorks World 2014 here are my observations:
New Products Development
SolidWorks Mechanical Conceptual – SolidWorks has discussed this product in the past and it is now planning to officially release it in April. This product is an online cloud based tool. It is being positioned for engineers / designers to enable them to create their initial designs using this SolidWorks like design tool before creating the detailed designs in SolidWorks. Imagine you are creating a new product and need to conduct collaborative design work with the end customer, suppliers etc. With this tool the initial design can be quickly accomplished and any stakeholders can access the design over the web, comment, make changes, etc. This improvement in the collaboration environment allows for reduction in the initial conceptual design. As this is an online solution, users accessing the data will first access a company’s online dashboard that the company can set up. The site will contain pertinent information including secure communities with permissions where the SolidWorks Mechanical Conceptual data is stored. SolidWorks stated that next year they plan on releasing SolidWorks Industrial Conceptual, a similar concept but in this case geared to industrial designers and engineers. https://www.solidworks.com/sw/products/solidworks-mechanical-conceptual-overview.htm
Exalead One Part – Dassault has recently released One Part an extremely comprehensive search tool based on the Exalead technology. The One Part solution allows companies to index their data, whether it be their PLM and / or ERP data in databases, file data including file properties and for SolidWorks /CAD geometric data, or even excel spreadsheets. Once index various front end search and reporting dashboard can be developed allowing end users to conduct searches and run reports to provide the right information to the right people quickly and easily. It was stated that one of the more expensive processes for engineering and manufacturing companies is issuing new part numbers as engineers design new parts. However, in many of these circumstances, the issuing or designing of a new part can be avoided because a similar part meeting the requirements already exists in the company’s portfolio. It is simply the fact that the engineer cannot find it and has no idea it exists. Exalead will serve as a tool to help the engineer find the data, even if he does not have tangible data like a complete product description. This will avoid the engineer simply generating a new part number. http://www.3ds.com/products-services/exalead/products/exalead-onepart/overview/
SolidWorks PDM Web 2.0 –SolidWorks has a completely redesigned Web Client for SolidWorks PDM. This is supposed to be a much more robust client that is designed not only to work over the web but on mobile devices such as tablets and phones. The product should soon be released in beta with a SolidWorks 2015 product release.
The following key customers were highlighted for using SolidWorks in their Designs.
Hugh Herr – He heads Biomechatronics research group at the MIT Media Lab. Hugh is creating bionic limbs that emulate the function of natural limbs. He is also a double amputee himself and uses these limbs. He demonstrated how with his prosthetic legs he can run and jump like anyone else with two natural limbs.
eatART – This foundation focuses on large scale technical and sophisticated art projects. For instance, one of these projects is the Mondo Spider a 1600lb 8 legged walking machine. The main representative from eatART drove the machine onto the stage at SolidWorks World.
MarkForged – This is a startup company that is designing the world’s first 3D printers using carbon fiber as one of its main materials.
Bo-Dyn Bobsled – This is the company that is designing and manufacturing bobsleds for the US Olympic bobsled team. They discussed how they are using SolidWorks to design the bobsled and show a movie of Betrad Sicot, CEO of SolidWorks, riding it down a track.
Feel free to contact me regarding this products or any other questions from SolidWorks Word