Summer 2004

Learn how a century-old European automotive manufacturer tackles its CAD data quality challenges through deployment of new tools and methodologies.

Tools for Controlling Model Quality by Jan Dvorak and Jan Vesecky, Skoda Auto a.s.

Updating a Simplified Drawing in Wildfire by Edwin Muirhead, Weatherford UK

Effectively Manage Your EDA Software Assets-The Secret in Four Steps by Jim Griffin, Macrovision

Downstream Leveraging of Pro/ENGINEER Geometry by Scott Mason, John Deere

PTC/USER Members Discover Nashville by Rick Snider

Driving a Table-Driven Pattern through Relations by Dwaraka Nadha Reddy of Motor Control Centers, GE-IBC View a Drawing Without Having a Model In Session by R. Swamynathan of GE Consumer Products-India Design Center Using Pro/ENGINEER's Analysis Feature Effectively by Asim Rashid, Wahid Industries Limited

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Profiles Magazine is published quarterly by PTC/USER. Copyright 2004 PTC/USER, Inc. All rights reserved.

Table of Contents Page 1

The Engine Development Department of Skoda Auto was the winner of the 2003 PTC Award in Automotive for design of its Petrol Engine 1.2 HTP.

Skoda Auto, Mlada Boleslav, Czech Republic has been producing motor vehicles since 1899. After becoming one of the brands of the Volkswagen Group in 1991, the company began a period of transformation into a dynamic and prosperous firm with its own production program. Skoda Auto currently produces three model series of personal automobiles—Superb, Octavia and Fabia—that are now sold in 78 countries. In 1998, Skoda Auto was charged with developing a wholly new group engine, the petrol 3-cylinder 1.2L 40kW. The objective was to develop an engine (for use in Skoda, VW and Seat vehicles) with better fuel consumption, longer service life, high torque at low engine speed, greater reliability, and capable of meeting the strict emission limits, among other requirements. This engine’s cylinder dimensions are a continuation of the EA111 VW engine group series, but is otherwise entirely new.

Skoda Auto developed the engine with two valves per cylinder and VW designed a modified version with four valves per cylinder (1,2L 47kW). The result is a new concept engine that was launched into series production in 2002.

Production in Pro/ENGINEER The new engine was the first that Skoda Auto produced completely in CAD, from the first component to the last screw. The CAD model of the engine was created in Pro/ENGINEER® with the support of other CAx systems (calculations, simulations, collisions, kinematical and dynamic analyses, rapid prototyping, etc). The large volume of CAD data for the project—generated by both Skoda Auto as well as its suppliers and partner design firms—made secure transfer and storage of information an immediate priority. For this reason, the company created a new job for a data manager (administrator of project data), and implemented a simple directory structure with appropriate access rights for users. (This mode of storage was chosen because development of systems administration for Pro/ ENGINEER data was unclear at the time.) The data manager was responsible for securing the bi-directional exchange of data and for quality control and storage of data in Skoda Auto’s central archive system. During the course of the project, it became clear that controlling data quality was a major challenge. For example, it often happened that models could be modified only with difficulty and some could not be regenerated. Conversion of the Pro/ ENGINEER data to other formats was uncertain. Even among the models that were “successfully” converted, many needed corrections. In addition, poor data quality also made creation of DMU models for collision analysis difficult. All of these problems interrupt the process chain, causing delays and adding to costs. It was thus essential to find ways to eliminate problems due mainly to poorquality CAD data. Defining CAD Data Quality

Regardless of their size or reputation, many companies do not fully recognize what data quality means—even though it is now one of our major criteria for assigning jobs. For example, one of the most difficult (and widespread) attitudes to change is that if a 3D model is successfully displayed on the monitor, everything is in order.

A

B

Which model is right? A is the correct one, but how do we recognize it? According to Skoda Auto’s standards, quality CAD data must: 1. Fully represent the required features of the product. This includes shape, appearance, functionality, producibility, and technological aspects, among others. 2. Meet the requirements for organizational quality. This refers to the company’s standards for creating data, including ● ● ● ● ● ●

Starting models Sorting and naming of elements in the model tree Reference element type and method Using skeleton model techniques Creating drawings and its essentials Identification parameters

and many other methodical principles. 3. Meet the requirements for mathematical quality. This concerns the correctness of the mathematical description of the model (norm VDA 4955), including: ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Small elements Curvature and distance Tangential link of curves and surfaces Undulation of surfaces Tendency of curves Intersecting elements Curve polynom level Identical elements

among others.

It is important to note that CAD data directly or indirectly influence more than 50% of the departments at Skoda Auto. And as the following diagram shows, suppliers are also a very important part of the process chain. For this reason, it is critical to establish the requirements for data quality not only inside the firm, but also in the partner firms.

Improving Data Quality It was not possible to complete the engine design without a comprehensive strategy. We therefore had to define the activities and processes that directly cause problems and propose a method for their solution. The following points proved to be of key importance: ●

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Where possible, eliminate all errors in the models that cause problems later on Explain the reasons, possible problems, and benefits of all available resources. Do not be persuaded by arguments like “it did not matter up to now” (although it is important to listen to the opinions and suggestions of users) Configure Pro/ENGINEER the same within the group and at the suppliers Use set procedures and techniques thoroughly Simplify operations with special applications and functions Use control tools continuously from the start of model development Train users continuously Store data conditionally in the PDM/PLM systems Require contractual commitment of suppliers.

The process of improving quality is clearly a long-term effort, requiring systematic and ongoing pressure on the concerned firms and people. But it is also necessary, right at the first definition of the shape of the part (before start of work in the CAD system) to define the method and philosophy for data creation, data structure, standards and conditions to adhere to and check continuously. Remedying quality only after the data are created does not lead to the correct result and comes at a huge cost in terms of both time and money. It was also essential to win the support of management for the idea of raising the

quality of CAD data. This required repeatedly clarifying the problems that poor quality data causes, drawing attention to the ensuing additional costs, and convincing managers that display of the model or drawing on the computer monitor does not mean that the data are complete and ready for release. At first, we only checked data quality using the standard Pro/ENGINEER tool. This was not only time-consuming, but it also didn’t allow us to systematically check all CAD data. In addition, the individuals who generated the data (including our own design engineers as well external firms) were very resistant to conducting checks at all. This made it clear that we lacked a simple, effective control tool.

Common Data Errors in Pro/ ENGINEER DRW Incorrect text font Incorrect text size The group drawing configuration file (din. dtl) was not used Many dimensions and notes created in the drawing (create) are used instead of adopting them from the 3D model (show) PRT and ASM Large number of GeomCHECKs Non-permissible external reference Missing engine, vehicle or gearbox coordinate system Missing elements from the starting model Incorrect density Many short edges Incorrect references

Using ModelCHECK A fundamental turning point in the project was the addition of ModelCHECK to the Pro/ENGINEER portfolio. From that moment, we had a quick, easy-to-use tool for controlling data quality that guides the designer through the solution of problems and generates a report of the control process. The preparation and testing of a configuration that would meet international (as well as our own internal) standards started immediately. However, we were still not completely satisfied. ModelCHECK can check only the so-called organizational and, to a limited extent, the mathematical quality of the data. Even in the actual program, several areas could be improved. In the beginning, only the engine development data manager used this tool. He was also the person that spread know-how in the area of Pro/ENGINEER data quality and put systematic, direct and ongoing pressure to improve data quality. The data manager saved nearly all CAD data in the engine development department to the central administration system and conducted its systematic check. It was necessary to teach the individual designers how to use ModelCHECK. A big benefit is that the data manager works directly at the designers’ workplace and is in everyday contact with them. The designers have thus learned how to work with ModelCHECK and already use it regularly on their own. This helped to break down the general resistance and distrust of using the tool and performing the checking process. Data provided by partner firms were analyzed regularly. Unsuitable data were returned for correction, accompanied by ModelCHECK error reports. In some cases, the analysis was made in the presence of the partner firm’s representative. Discussions have been held with some firms about the data quality problem. The engine development department put pressure on its partners to start using. ModelCHECK. It also helps that the tool has become part of Pro/ENGINEER, which eliminates the need to purchase additional licenses. Additional Tools

Documentation. Beginning in early 2001, Skoda Auto has gradually transferred all important base data, instructions and standards for data exchange and quality, and files for configuration of the Pro/ENGINEER environment to all of its partner firms. The base data are usually delivered on CD to representatives of the firms. Their signature on protocol of hand-over guarantees the application of our standards to their work. Suppliers can also retrieve all the Pro/ENGINEER and ModelCHECK configurations and related documents on our supplier portal (new at www.vwgroupsupply.com).

Unified installation. The so-called GRI (Group Reference Installation) was implemented in the spring of 2001. Apart from the common and inviolable configuration of the Pro/ENGINEER parameters, it offers: ●

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a possibility to configure the system according to the custom of the individual brands and localities special Pro/TOOLKIT applications a possibility to integrate additional applications specific to the brand or locality co-operation and possibility to distribute tasks to the individual brands for preparation of new GRI versions. common release management. free configuration package and selected Pro/TOOLKIT applications for partners.

GRI has greatly simplified the work of the system administrators, but mainly of the users. This is especially appreciated by suppliers that earlier had to apply various configurations despite the fact that they in principle worked for the same company. Implementation of GRI has eliminated the problem of incompatible data that was mainly due to varying system configurations.

Simplified operation. The language barrier that always exists to a certain extent in international companies and the complicated work with the model parameters required the creation of the Pro/TOOLKIT application, Modpar (MODify PARameters). This has made the input of parameter variables that fill the drawing stamp and change table efficient and transparent. The online application interfaces with the central database of part numbers, eliminating the possible allocation of a nonexistent number. The part name is automatically assigned and linked with the part number. The application is at the same time linked with the materials library. Dislike for entering essential data has disappeared since the implementation of the application because the designer practically fills the drawing seal field directly instead of the often-meaningless names of the foreign language parameters.

Conditional storage of data in the PDM/PLM systems. Despite the existence of many directives, manuals, recommendations and standards, it is still necessary to persuade designers and partners to comply with them. From our previous experience with controlling data quality in CATIA, conditional saving of data to the central archive system is an effective tool. In practice, this means

that saving data to the central archive system automatically initiates a ModelCHECK. The system evaluates the model and the data are accepted or rejected depending on the result. This change cannot, however, be implemented all at once. Since mid-February 2004, Pro/ENGINEER data are checked in the central archive system and for the present is accepted regardless of the result. But each model is marked with an icon indicating whether it met the requirements of the check or not. Anybody thus sees how any designer or partner works. Rejection of data in case of a negative check result is planned for implementation during the course of next year. Contractual commitment of suppliers. Skoda Auto currently includes the following text in its new so-called “Component Performance Specifications.” Data communications for all design data are to be conducted in conformity with the purchaser’s CAD system guidelines. The relevant CAD libraries must be maintained by the contractor. The contractor must take into consideration those sections of the in-house standard which refer to the performance specifications when developing vehicle part design with CAD systems and he must secure the fulfilment of the requirements. In particular, the contractor shall test the data packages/design data to be delivered (called "data" in the following) with the Group-wide recommended test programs (ENDCHECK and VALIDAT for CATIA-models and ModelCHECK for Pro/ E-models) in the course of the development process and submit the test report on delivery – preferably in the CAD-model. The contractor shall submit the data within a reasonable period of time before the deadline for delivery specified in the project, in order to allow the purchaser to conduct quality checks and the contractor to correct mistakes as necessary within the time schedule previously agreed on. In addition to product liability in procurement conditions for material, the contractor is obligated to bear the costs arising from delivered data which do not comply with the requirements stated in the standard and incorporated in the contract. This applies only in case the contractor is unable to correct the mistakes in a reasonable way not compromising the purchaser. Especially not complying with development milestones or delivering the required data on the closing date will cause such an unreasonable and compromising situation. The costs will meet the extra expenditure caused by the required corrections. A lump sum based on an hourly rate of 113 and dependent on the number and gravity of the mistakes will be charged. In case the contractor or the purchaser can prove that the actual extra expenditures are higher or lower than this lump sum, the actual expenditures are to be refunded. The purchaser may claim the correction of mistakes instead of financial compensation. Additional control tools. Over the course of the project, it became evident that the formal and mathematical quality of the model is not the only determinant of data applicability. Also important is the producibility of the actual part, which in the case of an engine involves a number of complicated castings. Until recently, the check of these parts was very complicated, time-consuming, and not 100% reliable. Everything depended on whether the user overlooked some critical point or made a section in the wrong direction.

For this reason, we decided to use 3DCaliper, a product that solves the problem of checking wall thickness without laying down special requirements for the operators. Unlike Pro/ENGINEER, the check covers the whole model, is very quick, and the processed results are easy to survey. This has successfully eliminated such problems as thin walls being machined through during the prototyping process. Benefits of Data Quality Control During the course of the project, it is normal that the designed part undergoes many changes. In the end, two suppliers may sometimes get the same job and work on it independently. This is the case with the oil pump housing. The first model was created more than three years ago according to the system available at the time (i.e., without any quality requirements). The main criterion for approval was successful display on a computer monitor and creation of a drawing.

The job was later assigned to a second supplier after the quality requirements were in place. A year ago, a wholly new model was supplied that meets all the requirements. Compare the results of the check of both models in the table below.

Generally the benefits of controlling data quality may be summarized as follows: ● ● ●

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Higher declarative capacity of the models Substantial increase in successful transfers to other systems and formats Reduced data volume, allowing faster download of models and lower disk space requirements Fewer iterations to attain a suitable model Easier and faster handling of data and its modification, requiring less communication Time and financial savings in all parts of the process Reduction of user frustration

Next Steps The top priority is now to implement the complete CAD data quality solution in the rest of the departments that create or modify models in Pro/ENGINEER. It will be very important to get these users to adopt this goal as their own and not take it to be only one of many instructions. Parallel to this, the number of partner firms will increase. From the outset, it will be essential to continuously justify and explain our requirements to them and teach them everyday work with the tools so that they understand their tangible benefits. No less important tasks are to: ●

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Implement automatic checks when saving data to the central archive system, including rejection non-conforming models. Add the check of mathematical data quality according to VDA 4955–configuration of the GeomIntegrityCHECK tools. Consistently impose contractual fines for partners that supply poor quality data.

Conclusion It is necessary to emphasize that data quality cannot be changed in a leap. This

is a long-term process of gradual improvement that more often than not will take several years. It is not possible to demand the elimination of all errors at once. This would raise huge time and financial costs, which in principle would paralyze the project. Nevertheless, through systematic, ongoing and strong pressure for data quality, its running check, the engine development division at Skoda Auto has improved its typical ModelCHECK results to: ERROR=0 and WARNING=minimized, usually up to 5. Engine development was ready on time for general implementation of automatic quality checks when saving Pro/ENGINEER data to the central archive system. From our partners that also cooperate with other companies in the world, we know that our data quality demands are very high. At the same time, though, we can confirm from our own experience that these are achievable and meaningful requirements. Jan Dvorak, data manager in the Engine Development Division of Skoda Auto, can be reached at [email protected]. Jan Vesecky, manager of Skoda’s Pro/ENGINEER central administration, can be reached at [email protected].

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Whether their organizations manufacture aircraft or integrated circuits, EDA managers depend on software tools to design their products. In this environment, ensuring users have access to tools isn’t just a courtesy or convenience—it’s a business essential. At the same time, however, the rising costs of licensing EDA tools can strain software budgets. These conflicting demands create a significant challenge for EDA managers charged with delivering projects both on time and on budget. Most managers try to strike a balance between keeping users productive and controlling costs. Relying on whatever local usage information they have available, they allocate current licenses and estimate the number and types of licenses they will need in the future. How well does this work? The truth is—not very. Why? Because EDA managers lack accurate information about their overall software usage patterns. Without a global view of their licensing operations and actual usage data to base decisions on, they frequently miscalculate their licensing needs. As a result, they can make costly errors such as: Over-licensing. To ensure users have access to all the design tools they need, EDA managers may buy more licenses than their organizations really need. While this eliminates denial of service problems, it also increases software costs and lowers corporate profits. Under-licensing. In an effort to contain software costs, EDA managers may purchase too few licenses, resulting in denial of service when users try to access software tools. Although this approach cuts up-front software expenses, it can also cause delays that increase overall project costs. In addition, products that arrive late to market can erode profitability. Both over- and under-licensing. Sometimes a software tool is over-licensed by one department and under-licensed by another within the same organization. Sharing licenses would save costs and promote productivity, but most EDA managers have only a limited, local view of their software assets, making it difficult to identify—let alone resolve—these kinds of allocation issues. So is keeping users productive while managing software costs simply too fine a line for EDA managers to walk? Not at all. The secret to avoiding these licensing errors is knowledge—about what licenses and applications your organization is using, which individuals are using them, and how frequently they are being used. What EDA managers essentially need, then, is a software asset management solution that provides comprehensive information about actual license usage. The advantages of implementing software asset management in an EDA environment are potentially enormous. First of all, EDA managers have a global view of all their licenses and licensing servers, allowing them to track current

usage patterns across the enterprise and determine the optimal deployment of licenses. Equally important, software asset management gives EDA managers insight into how many and what type of licenses they will need for future projects. Instead of purchasing and renewing licenses based on best estimates, they can now base those decisions on accurate usage data derived from similar projects. But what steps are involved in realizing these and other advantages from a software asset management solution? In a dynamic EDA environment, busy managers don’t have time to implement and maintain “solutions” that are as complicated as the problems they were designed to solve. Fortunately, implementing effective software asset management takes just four basic steps: 1. Centralize your licensing operations. Centralization allows you to inventory current software assets to see (a) which licenses are available and (b) when they will expire. Gaining an enterprise-wide view also lets you re-deploy underutilized licenses and share licenses between departments. This eliminates unnecessary purchases while boosting user productivity throughout the organization. 2. Collect usage statistics from licensing operations. Although some EDA managers may not realize it, many licensing-enabled software tools can provide invaluable usage statistics—including who is accessing the software, which features are being used, and which machine the software is running on. A software asset management solution that leverages this otherwise latent information allows you to take full advantage of the licensing capabilities already embedded in your software tools. 3. Analyze usage results. Instead of estimating your future software needs, you can run usage over time and usage summary reports to determine your actual needs based on tangible, historical evidence. The data in these reports can also be segmented by project or user group to help you determine future needs for similar projects or groups. Usage reports let you see where your organization is over- or under-licensed, allowing you to: ● ● ●

Find opportunities to share licenses instead of purchasing additional ones Ascertain the correct number of licenses to renew or purchase Account for licenses on a department or project basis—particularly important when licenses are shared and some usage must be billed back to other departments or projects

4. Automate your licensing operations. Why reinvent the wheel by collecting data and generating reports manually each time you need to make a licensing decision? Why fill out time-consuming spreadsheets to calculate bill-back charges every month? Licensing decisions aren’t a one-time event—EDA managers must constantly reevaluate their usage patterns and reassess their licensing needs. Once you’ve determined what statistics and reports you need to make informed business decisions, automate your operations so that this information is updated regularly and always available. Knowledge is power. For EDA managers, knowledge about licensing operations provides the power to optimize the value of software assets through better license allocation and better purchasing decisions. Software asset management opens the door to that knowledge by offering a global view of the licensing environment, as well historical usage data over time. Armed with this information, you can now find new opportunities to share licenses, re-deploy underutilized licenses, eliminate unnecessary software purchases, and prevent denial of service delays.

With software asset management, you can finally strike the right balance between keeping users productive while keeping software costs controlled. And what does that ultimately mean to you? It means projects delivered on time and on budget—exactly what every EDA manager wants to hear. Jim Griffin is a senior product manager at Macrovision responsible for the business strategy and product directions for the company’s Software Asset Management solutions. He can be reached by email at [email protected].

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As the Service Publication department at John Deere's Commercial and Consumer Equipment Division, our primary responsibility is to translate engineering data into service support documentation for our customers. When it became apparent that we needed visualization tools to aid us in this task, we went looking for the best software option that was: ● ● ●

Easy to learn and master for even the casual user. Built for a Windows-based platform. Able to render geometry with enough quality to support our printed documentation standards.

Our choice was Immersive Design’s Interactive Product Animator (IPA). This tool not only met the needs of our non-engineering users, but also opened our eyes to the value of animation as a way to demonstrate procedures and provide step-by-step instructions to customers. High-Quality Graphics for Print Rendering good-quality images of Pro/ENGINEER models for printed manuals and part catalogs was our primary concern. Having access to the 3D data allows us to start the documentation of a product even before a prototype is built. Adding decals to the model also gives the rendering a production appearance. The images shown in Figures 1 to 4 were rendered with IPA for use in operator and technical manuals. Figures 5 and 6 present exploded 3D views used to describe assembly and disassembly steps.

Figure 1.

2.

Figure

Figure 3.

Figure 4.

5.

Figure

Figure 6.

With the IPA tool, we’ve also been able to combine 3D geometry from outside suppliers with Pro/ENGINEER models, rendering views that were impossible to create until now. In Figure 7, for example, the blade attachments were provided by the supplier, while the tractor model was created by our engineering group.

Figure 7. Animating Marketing Messages Animation is also a perfect fit with 3D geometry. Now, instead of having to show multiple still shots, we can tell a story with a single animation—sometimes even without text. To view some examples of marketing and service animations, click on the image below to start the AVI.

Core Pulverizer (12.9 MB AVI)

Mower Blade Assembly Sequence (3.5 MB AVI) Taking Advantage of the Web This brings up the most positive aspect of using IPA-converted Pro/ENGINEER geometry. IPA software exports the model as HTML-compliant web pages. It uses templates to create pages with a 3D viewing window using a free Internet Explorer plugin, IPAWebView. Sample pages appear in Figures 8 and 9.

Figure 8.

Figure 9. Users can interact with the 3D model by rotating, panning, zooming, and exploding parts manually. They can turn parts off, make them transparent, and filter down through the bill of material (BOM), which is an exact duplicate of the Pro/ENGINEER BOM. All of these functions can be performed at the users’ discretion, or one can follow scripted instructions embedded within the program. Opening Up the Possibilities Right now, we are using Pro/ENGINEER’s 3D models make it possible to create highquality graphics for operator manuals, technical repair manuals, and installation instructions. Renderings from 3D models reproduce more predictably on the printed page than half-tones from photos, providing a more professional presentation at a far less cost than that of preparing line art from Pro/ENGINEER 2D files. The 3D models also allow writers to quickly create exploded views and perspectives that only graphic artists could once create. We are now exploring ways to supplement or replace conventional paper operator manuals with interactive animations. The 3D models have great potential for creating interactive parts catalogs at great savings over traditional authoring processes. This should also help other downstream users—notably, Marketing, Service Training, and Product Support—begin to recognize the value of using Pro/ENGINEER models for graphics and animations. The most challenging aspect of promoting additional downstream use of is acquainting people with the possibilities. Tools such as IPA allow the non-engineer to leverage 3D models to easily create custom graphics. As others in the organization recognize the value of Pro/ENGINEER 3D models, this resource should find many other applications. Scott Mason is a Publications Information Specialist at John Deere. He can be

reached by email at [email protected].

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Cutting-edge technology helped bring together both new and veteran PTC/USER members at the 2004 World Event in June. “Discover,” the theme of our fifteenth annual conference, drew 1,310 design professionals from over 20 nations to Nashville’s incredible Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. Experts from the user community, PTC, and our Industry Partners presented over 80 technical sessions during the three-and-a-half days of the conference. While it’s impossible to adequately summarize the breadth and depth of these sessions, here are some highlights from this year’s PTC/USER World Event. Attendees Go Electronic Through IBM’s sponsorship, PTC/USER introduced an exciting and innovative technology to enhance the conference experience for attendees. The nTAG interactive badge system, with its electronic display screen and RF technology, offered a number of previously unavailable features. For example, the system helped match attendees according to shared interests, based on profiles

completed during the registration process. When two attendees met, the nTAG badges would automatically display any common interests along with some additional information about each individual. In addition, the system allowed attendees to send messages to each other using the public kiosks—a big improvement over the old method of tacking a note to a corkboard in the lobby and hoping that someone would see it. Conference-goers were also able to view and personalize their daily session agendas, exchange electronic business cards with other conference-goers and exhibitors, and provide their opinions on each presentation.

The nTAG badges were designed in Pro/ENGINEER Over 80% of the attendees preferred the nTAG badges over paper ones, although there were some complaints about the weight of the units. Happily, nTAG is expected to introduce a significantly lighter generation of the badges in time for next year’s World Event. What's On the Minds of Our Attendees?

What Sessions Were Most Attended?

Adoption of Wildfire by our members is advancing rapidly and this is borne out by the results of our first nTAG poll question. About 46% of attendees are using either Wildfire 1.0 (33%) or 2.0 (13%), and 45% are still using 2001. (We also asked some questions using the nTAG system purely for amusement. I won’t repeat the results here except to say there are entirely too many “Barney” fans in the audience.)

If attendance is any measure, Monday’s most popular topics (in no particular order) were “Another Tool for Top-Down Design—The Inheritance Feature” and “Mastering Selection, Flying through the Dashboard and Animating Your Assemblies.” Product Update Briefings for for Core Modeling, Drafting and Simulation were especially well-attended, although the PUBs for Sheetmetal, Pro/ INTRALINK and Customization also had sizable audiences.

Tuesday’s nTAG poll revealed attendees were divided on their most urgent concerns, with reducing time-to-market getting 32% of the vote. The remainder was split among improving quality (26%), reducing costs (25%), and production moving offshore (14%).

Tuesday’s most popular sessions included “User-Defined Features: From Mystery to Magic,” “Do’s and Don’ts of Migrating from Pro/ INTRALINK to PDMLink,” “Using Wildfire a Different Way: Proving Design Form, Ridiculously Robust for

The final nTAG question polled opinions about where PTC should focus its attention. Over half (56%) of respondents said that improving software quality and robustness was most important, followed by decreasing the cost of software licenses and maintenance (22%). Although PTC has made significant strides to address software quality issues, it’s clear that users believe that efforts in this critical area must continue.

Any Designer,” “Large Assembly Management 101,” “Managing and Driving Models Using Skeleton Assemblies, BMX and MDX,” and the Wildfire Usability and Training PUB. Wednesday’s most attended sessions were “Jell-O® Molds and Cookie Cutters: Shrinkwrap is Not Just for Leftovers,” “Paperless is Coming: Are You Ready?,” “Is Your Business Ready for a Model-Centric Engineering Process?,” “Mapkey Magic,” “Migrating CAD Data into Windchill,” “High Performance Global Design with Pro/INTRALINK,” and “Implementing a Standardized MultiSite Pro/ENGINEER Environment.”

A Generous Helping of Southern Hospitality

The Exhibit Hall was crowded throughout the 2004 World Event On Sunday night, “Dolly” and “Garth” were on hand to greet attendees for the grand opening of the Exhibit Hall. Delicious food and drink were consumed in great quantities while banjo and fiddle players provided an appropriate backdrop for the evening’s festivities. With exhibits covering over 22,000 square feet of vast Ryman Hall, this was the biggest PTC/USER tradeshow in several years.

Many of the most important names in the technology world participated, including Adobe Systems, HP, IBM, Intel and Sun Microsystems. Sun also sponsored the Cyber Café where attendees could check e-mail and surf the web. In cooperation with our Industry Partners, PTC/USER launched an exclusive member discount program at the conference, with opportunities to save hundreds to thousands of dollars on software and hardware purchases. “Undo” Greeted with Applause Jim Heppelmann, PTC’s Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Software Solutions, took the stage on Monday morning to outline the company’s vision of software technology and the direction of its products. Jim described expected enhancements in upcoming releases of Pro/ENGINEER and provided a live demonstration of new features in Wildfire and Windchill “Link” solutions. The debut of multiple undo and redo of Pro/E commands brought a spontaneous round of applause from the audience. Attendees Kelly Bryant and Edwin Muirhead have posted a report on these new features and plans on our website at www.ptcuser.org/2004/reports.html. In the afternoon, CEO Dick Harrison and Senior Vice President Brian Shepherd presented a review of the state of PTC Corporate. Their talk was followed by a brief question-and-answer session with all of the PTC senior executives on hand. In a bit of nTAG fun, the attendees got to choose their favorite PTC executive; Jim narrowly edged out Brian with 31% of the vote for the top spot. Engineering at Pole Speed On Tuesday, attendees learned about the use of Pro/ ENGINEER in the design and manufacture of NASCAR race vehicles. Team Engineer David Holden explained how Richard Childress Racing applied PTC technology to solve many of the challenges from modeling and simulation to machining. RCR builds virtually every part used on their vehicles, designing bodies in about seven days and building a complete car in three to four weeks. Talk about short product cycles! David also talked about RCR’s plans to incorporate more advanced technology into the development process, including computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and more sophisticated kinematics simulation. The Return of Tips & Tricks After a year’s hiatus, the Tips & Tricks session returned to the 2004 World Event in a new format. Drawing on submissions from the Regional User Groups and from an open competition, the session showcased 14 technical tips from 9 finalists—each of whom will receive a check for $250 from PTC/USER. Clay Martin of Clay Martin Consulting and Ted Bradshaw, PTC/USER Director of Education, presented each tip in a very dynamic session. While it’s no small feat to switch on the fly between demonstrations of Pro/E 2001 and Wildfire, Clay made it all look easy. Attendees chose Ronnie Shand of Parametric Solutions in Jupiter, Florida as the overall Tips & Tricks Contest winner. His submission, “How to Automatically Color

Machined Features in a Casting,” was the overwhelming favorite with over 41% of the votes. This simple but powerful tip details how to use Pro/E’s ability to color features selectively. By first coloring the entire model in the “casting” color and then “painting” the outside surfaces in a different color, machined features are automatically and clearly revealed as they are created. Dan Moran in Lexington, South Carolina was runner-up with his entry, “Creating a Straight Instance of a Bent Tube,” a complex but useful tip involving relations, userdefined parameters, and family tables. Step-by-step instructions for all of these great techniques will be featured in upcoming issues of Profiles Magazine. We wish to thank PTC for sponsoring the prizes awarded to all of our regional semi-finalists. This year was a great kickoff to the new version of the Tips & Tricks Contest and we look forward to even more participation in 2005. Saying Farewell and Good Luck This has been a year of important change for PTC/USER. Four senior Board members are stepping down over the next few months, and we took a moment during the Wednesday luncheon to recognize these individuals for their contributions. Ron McCuskey (Board member 1994-2004) completed his term as Past President this year. Ron has served on the PTC/USER Board in various capacities, including Vice President and President. We will miss Ron’s wealth of knowledge and experience that we’ve depended upon for so long, but hope to see him at Pro/GOLF Tournaments.

Linda Rodda of Motorola (Board member 1999-2004) will transition out of her role as Secretary/Treasurer over the next six months. Linda has also served as Director of Regional User Groups and has been an important force on the Board during a very tumultuous time.

Don Patterson of Harris Corporation (Board member 1991-2004) has been with PTC/USER almost from the start. As the key person in setting up the first e-mail exploder for technical discussions, he established a service that continues to help thousands of PTC professionals every day. Don also launched the PTC/ USER website in the very early days of the Internet (even before PTC did). Don served as Vice President and President for several years and moved PTC/USER past some significant challenges for the both organization and the membership.

Pierre Quesnel of Nortel Networks (Board member 1992-2004) has also been a fixture on the Board. Pierre took leadership in establishing the PTC/USER Technical Committees, which have had a profound impact on the development of PTC software. From their earliest days, the TCs have been providing guidance to PTC on the enhancements and concerns that are most important for software users. As Vice President and President, Pierre brought a quiet and effective style of leadership that brought together people of differing goals and geographies. Together, these individuals represent 40 years of experience that cannot be replaced. Because of their dedication and hard work, we now enjoy many services and activities such as the PTC/USER World Events, the e-mail exploders, the Technical Committees, and the Regional User Groups that touch the lives of many people around the globe. We thank them for their efforts on behalf of PTC/ USER members everywhere and wish them well in their next endeavors. PTC Awards Announcement of the PTC Award winners is always an eagerly awaited moment at the PTC/USER World Event. While the finalists in each industry category are chosen prior to the conference, conference attendees vote for the overall winner. Congratulations once again to the design team at John Deere for scooping this honor for the third time. All of this year’s winning entries are on view at the PTC website at www.ptc.com/go/awards.

Tom Bartlett of John Deere accepting award from Mark Hodges Expert Presenters "Best Ever" We want to thank all of the expert presenters from the user community. Once again, everyone did a fabulous job pulling together some very informative and helpful sessions for conference attendees. The following presenters were singled out for special recognition: Best Presenter, Administration, Technology & Processes Track

"Make Your CAD Administration Slicker with Some Automation" Edwin Muirhead Weatherford, UK Best Presenter, Design & Manufacturing Track "'Paperless' is Coming: Are You Ready?" Michael Sandford Technical Documentation Consultants of Arizona Best Overall Presenter "High Performance Global Design with Pro/INTRALINK" Thomas Brosius John Deere Every conference is a great experience, but judging from some of this year’s comments, 2004 just may have been the best event ever. Our conference evaluation surveys indicated that over 96% of attendees felt that their conference attendance was a good investment of their time. Furthermore, attendees gave a record score (4.2 out of 5.0 points) for the Expert User Presentations. The scores reflect a long-term focused effort that began in 2001 to improve this area. Through our renewed processes for solicitation of papers, preparation and on-site support, we have made tremendous progress in both attracting qualified speakers and assisting them in the delivery of their materials. Ted Bradshaw has been largely responsible for these improvements and we have seen sustained increases in attendee ratings each year. We appreciate his work as well as the contributions of the community members who develop these sessions for the benefit of everyone. Don’t Miss Out! If you were not able to attend this year, we hope that you’ll make plans now to be part of the 2005 World Event in Orlando, June 5-8 at the Marriott Orlando World Center. This amazing resort—with its own golf course, spa and huge pool area—will provide a fun and comfortable backdrop for the World Event. And as we all know, fun is an important component of the learning process. We hope to see you there!

The Marriott Orlando World Center, Site of PTC/USER 2005 Thanks to Kelly Bryant and Edwin Muirhead for their contributions to this article. Rick Snider is Executive Director of PTC/USER. He can be reached via email at [email protected].

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Previously Pro/ENGINEER allowed you to SIMPLIFY drawing views by suppressing some features. A good example is a two-page drawing of a part with simplified views showing “turning” features on the first page and “milling” details on the second.

In Wildfire, PTC has removed this functionality because it apparently caused problems for a number of customers. Here’s one possible solution for updating an old-style simplified drawing to a Wildfire-compatible family-tabled drawing. 1. Open the part (e.g., part1.prt) in Wildfire. 2. Create a family table (Tools, Family Table).

- Add columns - Add a new row

and select each feature to hide in the simplified drawing view. for the simplified part (e.g., part1_inst.prt).

- Set every feature to “N” to hide them. - Hit OK when you’re finished. IMPORTANT: VERIFY the family table to ensure the instance can regenerate.

3. Save the part.

4. Open the drawing (e.g., draw1.drw) in Wildfire and Save a copy to a temporary file (e.g.: draw1_temp.drw). 5. Open the temporary file and remove the sheet that displays complete views (Edit, Remove, Sheets). 6. In this temporary drawing, replace the model with the simplified version (e.g., part1_inst.prt) you’ve added (right-click on background, Properties,

Drawing Models, Replace). 7. Pick the instance (e.g., part1_inst.prt). You should see the drawing views simplify to show only the “turning” features. 8. Open the original drawing (e.g., draw1.drw) and remove the sheet that displays simplified views (e.g., turning view). 9. Insert the temporary drawing as a new sheet (Insert, Shared Data, From File).

10. You’ll probably have to replace the format on this page to ensure the border is correct. 11. Reorder the sheets as required (Edit, Move Sheet…). 12. Delete the temporary drawing. In the meantime, let’s hope that PTC brings back the Drawing Simplify functionality! Edwin Muirhead is CAD systems administrator at Weatherford UK. He can be reached by email at [email protected].

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Patterns are one of the most powerful functions that Pro/ENGINEER offers to its users. Of the many ways to duplicate a feature, patterns are the most effective, flexible and quickest. This article focuses on table-driven patterns. Using the table option of the pattern, you can create a pattern of features where the spacing between instances of the pattern is not consistent. Creating a pattern through a table also lets you define as many tables as necessary, and changing the table changes the pattern per the values in the corresponding table. For example, say you have to design a rectangular plate with a set of slots on its face, and the number of slots and spacing between them vary based on the height of the plate. To meet the intended design requirement of the slots, you can create a pattern of slots driven by the table and add the tables to create varying configurations of slots for different heights of the plate. But whenever the height is modified, it is your job to set a corresponding pattern table for the slots. This technique explains how to instruct Pro/ENGINEER to pick the right table automatically based on the change in, say a dimension or parameter; thus, eliminating the need for human intervention and hence the possibility of error. This can be achieved by linking pattern tables to the height of the plate via another powerful feature of Pro/ENGINEER—namely, Relations. Here are two situations where this technique proves to be extremely useful: ●

●

When the model is designed using Pro/PROGRAM, to make the system automatically pick up the right table based on user’s input of certain dimensions or parameters. This also seems to be an effective means for setting a particular pattern table in a PROGRAMed part. When a family of instances is to be created, there is no need to add the pattern table to the family table.

Here is a step-by-step process for driving a table-driven pattern through relations.. 1. Create the base feature. Create a solid protrusion with a rectangular section that is 48” high, 15” wide, and 0.20” thick.

Figure 1. Base feature 2. Change the dimension symbol. Using PART, Modify, DimCosmetics, Symbol, change the symbolic name of the dimension representing height of the base feature to HEIGHT. 3. Create an extruded solid cut, which is going to be PATTERNed. Create a cut feature. ● ● ●

Choose Feature, Create, Cut. Choose Done to accept the Extrude/Solid. Choose Done to accept the attribute of One side.

Define the sketching plane. ● ●

Select FRONT datum plane as the SKETCHING PLANE. Choose Okay.

Define the reference orientation plane. ● ●

Choose Top. Select the TOP datum plane.

Create the sketch shown in Figure 2 to be used as the Cut profile.

Figure 2. Profile of the cut feature. Select Thru Next when prompted for the Depth of the feature. Finish the feature creation by clicking OK in the FEATURE DEFINITION dialog. 4. Pattern the slot. Choose Feature, Pattern. Select the Cut feature created in step 3. Choose Done. Choose Table. Select the dimension representing distance between center of the slot and edge of the rectangular plate as the Driving dimension for the pattern.

Figure 3. Selecting the driving dimension. Choose Done. Choose Add. Enter SLOTS_48H as name of the pattern table (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Name of the pattern table You should see the Pro/TABLE editor as shown in the image below. Enter the value for the driving dimension for the other members of the pattern (Figure 5).

Figure 5. Pro/TABLE editor. Save the Table and exit the Pro/TABLE editor. Choose Done to find the pattern creation successful. 5. Add two more tables for the pattern. Choose Modify from the PART menu. Choose Pattern Table. Select the existing table (SLOTS_48H) from the TABLES dialog (Figure 6).

Figure 6. TABLES dialog.

Click on the

button to add another table.

Enter SLOTS_42H as the name of the pattern table. Enter the value of the driving dimension for the other members of the pattern (Figure 7).

Figure 7. Pattern table for slots (42” high plate) Save the Table and Exit out of the Pro/TABLE editor.

Click on the

button again to add another table.

Enter SLOTS_36H as the name of the pattern table. Enter the value of the driving dimension for the other members of the pattern (Figure 8).

Figure 8. Pattern table for slots (36” high plate). Save the Table and Exit out of the Pro/TABLE editor. Click OK button, to close the TABLES dialog. 6. Find Feature ID of the pattern leader, to be used in writing the relations that drive the pattern of slots based on the height of the rectangular plate. In the MODEL TREE, right click on the PATTERN just created. Choose Info, Feature from the pop-up menu (Figure 9).

Figure 9. Getting info on the Feature from the Model Tree.. Note the INTERNAL FEATURE ID from the information window (Figure 10). Caution: YOU MAY GET A DIFFERENT FEATURE ID.

Figure 10. Internal Feature ID. 7. Write the Relations. By now you’ve got everything ready to instruct Pro/ENGINEER to pickup the corresponding pattern table to create the pattern based on height of the plate. Choose Relations, Edit Rel Enter the following relations in the Relations editor. IF HEIGHT==48 pattern_table:FID_XXXX=“SLOTS_48H” ENDIF IF HEIGHT==42 pattern_table:FID_XXXX=“SLOTS_42H” ENDIF IF HEIGHT==36 pattern_table:FID_XXXX=“SLOTS_36H” ENDIF where XXXX is the Internal Feature ID of the pattern found in step 6. 8. Verify to ensure you met the desired objective. Modify the height dimension of the plate to 36”, 42” or 48”. Verify whether the corresponding pattern table is set automatically by choosing Modify, Pattern Table. The moment you change the height of the rectangular plate, you will find that Pro/ENGINEER has picked up the corresponding pattern table via the awesome power of relations you’ve added to the model. Dwaraka Nadha Reddy is a design engineer (consultant) at Motor Control Centers, GE-IBC in Hyderabad, India. He can be reached by email at [email protected].

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Did you know you can open and view a drawing file without having the part in session? This is a big time-saver because the drawing opens much faster. In addition, the drawing models need not be present to view and/or print the drawing. You cannot, however, modify the drawing until you bring the model into session. Here’s how to save yourself some time. 1. Open a Drawing file. 2. Click the icon in the right-hand corner to pull down the menu shown below.

3. Select the Drawing and from the menu select Retrieve Drawing as View Only.

4. Now Open your file.

Note that this technique only works if the config option was set to save_display yes when the drawing was initially saved. Otherwise, the drawing will just appear blank. For additional information about this technique, visit www.ptc.com/ cs/tpi/35337.htm.

R. Swamynathan is a senior engineer at GE Consumer Products-India Design Center in Hyderabad, India. He can be reached by email at [email protected].

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The analysis feature is a very powerful tool of Pro/ENGINEER that can be used in different ways to automate the design process. With the following example, I will explain how to use it effectively. Creating the Analysis Feature Consider the simple protrusion in Figure 1. Now consider Figure 2, where the top corner has been rounded. We know the height of the protrusion before applying round. But we have to measure it again after rounding because the height is not equal to total height minus the radius value. Since the design may change several times, it will be very time-consuming to measure the height repeatedly. Creating the analysis feature will do it for you.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3 1. Create a plane tangent to the round as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4 2. Now click on the Analysis feature icon to invoke the dialog box. Note the name of feature and set Type to Measure (Figure 5).

Figure 5 3. Click Next. In the Measure dialog box, set the Type to Distance and measure the distance between dtm 1 and the base surface (Figure 6).

Figure 6 4. Pro/ENGINEER will automatically create a parameter and assign it the value of the measurement. Click Done and the feature will be completed. Make sure that Create option is set to Yes (Figure 7).

Figure 7 Displaying the Results All the measurements taken by the analysis feature are regenerated as the model is regenerated, providing up-to-date information. We can display this useful information either as a note or as a separate column in the model tree. But to do so, we have to write the following simple relation: Dd=distance:fid_analysis1 Where: analysis1 is the name of the analysis feature distance is the parameter name created by it dd is the name of the parameter the system will create to store the value of measurement taken by analysis feature. Now we can use dd parameter for different purposes. Using the intermediate parameter ‘DD’ is not required for use in notes or relations. It may, however, be required to get the value shown in the model tree. Relations can directly reference analysis features like this:

D5= distance:fid_analysis1 And Notes can directly reference analysis features like this: &distance:fid_analysis1

Figure 8. Relations dialog box. Displaying the Measurement as a Note Now that we have created the dd parameter, we can display its value as a note. First create a note and in the text box write “&dd” (where & indicates that dd is a parameter). When we place the note instead of showing text “&dd”, it will display the value of the parameter

Figure 9 The note will appear as shown in Figure 10.

Figure 10

Displaying the Measurement as a Separate Column in the Model Tree To add a column to model tree that displays the value of the parameter DD, go to Settings, Tree Columns. The dialog box shown in Figure 11 appears.

Figure 11 Change the Type to Model Params and add DD to the Displayed box. Click OK and the DD parameter will display in the column tree (Figure 12).

Figure 12 Using Analysis Feature Measurement in Relations Suppose we want the radius of the above protrusion to change such as to limit the height within the range (135 to 135.05). To accomplish this, write the following relations: IF DD<135 d6=D6-.05 ENDIF IF DD>135.05 d6=D6+.05 ENDIF Here D6 is the dimension symbol for radius, and DD is the total height of the protrusion after applying the round.

Figure 13 Pro/ENGINEER always evaluates parameters and relations at the start of regeneration. We therefore have to regenerate the model several times to get exact results. Otherwise, the system will display the following error message:

This happens because the analysis feature measures the correct value after regeneration, but the relation has been evaluated before regeneration. Asim Rashid is a Design Engineer at Wahid Industries Limited in Gujrat, Pakistan. He can be reached by email at [email protected].