Posts Tagged ‘product design’
LEGO World 2012 and Siemens PLM Software
Thursday, February 23rd, 2012
The 11th annual LEGO World Fair was held in Copenhagen, Denmark on Feb 16 – Feb 19 2012. In addition to 16 trucks filled with 10 tons of LEGO’s, Siemens PLM was there to demonstrate tools that Lego plans to use to manage the digital world.
Going beyond the physical brick and into augmented reality, video games and mobile applications, Lego is using NX software to design, control and manage the data that is needed to create new products. More than 40,000 people who attended the show were able to see the technology first hand, which is the result of a 20 year partnership with Lego.
Being National Engineers Week in the U.S., it’s important to note that having future engineers see this technology first hand is helping to “inspire the builders of tomorrow”.
P.S. I’m the proud father of an Engineer, that grew up playing with Lego’s! 
Jerry
From yachts to fashion, with Giorgio Aldini of XFORM s.r.l.
Tuesday, October 18th, 2011
Today at PLM Europe, Giorgio Aldini of XFORM gave his keynote presentation. The title was: From Yachts to Fashion. During his presentation he showed how NX is used in some unconventioal ways. (see presentation below)
[slideshare id=9749848&doc=09aldinixformpresentationlinz2011-111018095452-phpapp01]
After his presentation, Jan Larsson interviewed him an asked him to discuss some of his projects.
Jerry
What’s new in NX 8 Product Design
Monday, October 17th, 2011
NX 8 contains over 400 customer focused projects across the entire product. In product deisgn, some of these include:
- Modular design NX introduces a modular design capability that simplifies modeling and editing of complex designs, and enables parallel work by multiple designers.
- Feature-based modeling A new feature browser provides a visually rich graphic view of features and their relations that helps you to more quickly and intuitively understand design intent and the impacts of design changes.
- New Patterning. You can now create patterns with a wider selection of layouts that included linear, polygon, along, reference, circular spiral or general options. You can also fill a specified boundary with a pattern feature, create symmetric patterns in linear layout, stagger columns or rows and radiate patterns in circular or polygon layouts.
- Synchronous modeling The fourth release of NX featuring synchronous technology, NX 8 includes improved synchronous modeling capabilities that improve modeling flexibility and enable evaluation of more design alternatives in less time.
- Freeform modeling NX 8 enhances freeform design with streamlined workflows and enhanced controls for a wide range curve and surface operations, including edge matching, sweeping, bridge and extension surfaces, variable offsets, curve fitting and alignment, blending and spline editing.
- Assembly design NX 8 features a constraint navigator that makes it easier to find and work on assembly constraints and resolve issues. Available from the resource bar, the constraint navigator displays configurable columns of information and options that enable you to group constraint information by components, by constraints, and by status.
- Routed systems design Routing applications in NX 8 help you automate part selection and placement to reduce modeling time. You can automatically select and place parts based on destination characteristics and run definition, with part search criteria based on defined rules and relationships.
- Sheet metal design Sheet metal design in NX 8 is improved with capabilities for modeling in the context of an assembly. You can now create associative flanges using existing geometry to control the extent and angle of the flange.
- Re-use The NX Reuse Library, a common platform for all re-usable design elements, has been enhanced with additional library management tools that enable you to add or remove libraries, edit properties, control the visibility and specify which libraries are available to NX applications.
- Visualization The visualization tools in NX have been enhanced with advanced realtime shading and rendering tools that deliver new levels of realism for aesthetic design review and validation.
- Drafting NX 8 drafting tools have been enhanced with a set of commands for creating and editing your own custom drawings templates.
- NX help documentation NX8 features a new look and feel and navigational aids for NX documentation. The new user interface makes it easier to find information and browse contents.
That’s a long list, but I’ve barely scratched the surface. To get all the details, take a look at What’s New in NX 8 .
Jerry
Preview of the New NX Help Libraries
Friday, May 6th, 2011
At PLM Connection 2011, I caught up with Gregg Makepeace, the NX Technical Documentation Manager at Siemens PLM Software. Gregg was demonstrating some of the new features coming in the NX help libraries.
In this video, Gregg shows us some examples. Continue reading “Preview of the New NX Help Libraries” »
2011 Consumer Products/Food& Beverage Industry Trends
Wednesday, April 6th, 2011
Based on recent conversation with industry organizations like the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), and some of the leading brands in this industry, following are some of the major trends in consumer packaged goods and food & beverage (CPG / F&B) that will continue to impact how CPG / F&B products are designed, manufactured, delivered, and improved:
• Sustainability – Product packaging continues to be the first place manufacturers look to reduce, but there is increased focus on energy efficiency, as well as less water usage, and water re-use. These topics were front and center at the recent GMA/FMI Sustainability Summit. Here are some good resources on sustainability from GMA.
• Food Safety – The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was enacted into law this year, ramping up the need for CPG / F&B manufacturers to collaborate more closely with their suppliers, and improve testing capabilities. This article, from the U.S. Commissioner on Food & Drugs, provides a good overview of FSMA.
• Health & wellness – Of course Mom was right about eating your fruits and vegetables, but sometimes we need to be reminded; The First Lady Michelle Obama has helped raise the importance of this with her childhood obesity campaign and organization, “Let’s move” . The previously mentioned FSMA also has raised awareness of the importance of healthy food, and moreover, a safe, reliable food supply chain. As a result, manufacturers will undoubtedly be giving even greater consideration to increasing the percentage of ‘healthy alternatives’ in their portfolios.
• Social media + mobility – Social networking enhances the ability of manufacturers and retailers to understand the changing needs of customers. Combine this with mobility and location based marketing (for brick & mortar retailers) like Foursquare, Gowalla, or Loopt (there are others), and you can engage the customer wherever they are, whether home on their iPad, in the airport on their iPhone or Blackberry, or nearby one of your retail locations. Check out “The Coming Wave of Social Apponomics”, from Booz & Company – one of the best articles related to this topic I have seen.
Additionally, I came across a very interesting, recent Boston Consulting Group article thanks to a colleague of mine. It provides an apt headline to reflect the new retail landscape that exists, post recession: “New Realities for Consumer Goods & Retail in 2011”. Here are some of the points that jumped out at me as most relevant to product lifecycle management (PLM):
Continue reading “2011 Consumer Products/Food& Beverage Industry Trends” »
Sustainable Apparel Coalition Formed
Tuesday, March 15th, 2011
As discussed previously, the apparel industry continues to move toward designing and manufacturing apparel, footwear, and other merchandise in a more sustainable way: The Growing Interest in Sustainable Apparel Development. Earlier this month, a group of industry leaders across retail, manufacturing, academia, NGO, and government announced the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, with the goal of indexing the environmental impact of apparel & footwear: New Sustainable Apparel Coalition Will Index Consumer Products. To accomplish this goal, manufacturers (whether in apparel, consumer products, or food & beverage) need to account for energy usage, CO2 emissions, water usage – and also (where PLM solutions such as from Siemens come in) package design, specification management, sourcing, and supplier collaboration. I look forward to watching this coalition evolve, and seeing what role technology plays in supporting the sustainability goals of each member of the group.
NX Hints and Tips – Using the END key, HOME key and F8 keys
Friday, February 4th, 2011
Getting familiar with NX keyboard shortcuts will not only help make your job easier, but it will also make you more productive.
One important set is for adjusting your views. HOME, END and F8 can be helpful in moving the on-screen geometry.
Attached is a video created by Mike Miller of Siemens PLM Software, showing how to use some of these shortcuts.
Let me know what you think about this video, and if you’d like to see more in the future.
Jerry
NX Customer Showcase: SpaceX
Monday, December 20th, 2010
This week, I’d like to present another NX Customer Success Story.
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) is a privately-held launch vehicle developer and launch services provider with an ambitious goal: to revolutionize the commercial space industry. They are principally in Hawthorne, California USA. Their ambitious goal is to revolutionize the commercial space industry.
Challenges
Originally, SpaceX tried using a mid-range computer-aided design (CAD) program to develop the Falcon 1. After about a year of frustration with assemblies that took more than an hour to load (or worse, wouldn’t open after they were created), the company began looking for more powerful software. They knew that in addition to needing more capable design software, the company had gotten to the point where it needed a solution for managing the growing amount of design data, specifications, CNC programs, processes and so on that were part of the Falcon 1 project.
Solution
They chose technology from Siemens PLM Software to create a managed development environment. The product lifecycle management (PLM) solution included NX software (including NX Nastran), Femap® software, and Teamcenter software.
Read the SpaceX case study here.
Jerry
NX Customer Showcase: Universal Stampi S.r.l.
Tuesday, December 14th, 2010
I am going to try something new for NX. Over the next few weeks, I will try to showcase some customer case studies.
This week, I am presenting Universal Stampi. They are based in Bagnolo Mella (Brescia, Italy), and deliver complex automotive solutions.
Some of the challenges they were facing:
- Develop and manufacture molds concurrently to reduce cycle time
- Exchange data with customers upstream and factory downstream
- Import and repair 3D models supplied by customers in the automotive industry is to develop and manufacture molds concurrently to reduce cycle time
They chose NX/NX Mold Wizard and have been able to achieve a reduction in development cycle time of 20-25 percent.
Read the case study HERE.
Leave me a comment, and let me know if you like this case study, and would like to see more.
Happy Holidays,
Jerry
Go PLM software grants to support Auburn’s Engineering, Architecture, and Apparel Design & Merchandising programs
Wednesday, November 17th, 2010
You may be familiar with Go PLM, our program that provides PLM software to support the academic programs of leading universities. Today, Siemens PLM and Auburn are making a joint announcement at a recognition ceremony about our latest grant. Here’s the press release:
Auburn University Receives In-Kind Software Grant from Siemens PLM Software Valued at $195.5 Million
Largest In-Kind Corporate Contribution Received by the University
Auburn University Grant Brings Siemens PLM Software’s Total In-Kind Contribution in the State of Alabama to $491.5 Million
AUBURN, Ala. and PLANO, Texas, November 17, 2010 – Siemens PLM Software, a business unit of the Siemens Industry Automation Division and a leading global provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software and services, and Auburn University today announced the largest in-kind corporate contribution ever received by the university. The in-kind software grant from Siemens PLM Software, with a commercial value of $195.5 million, was presented today at a recognition ceremony held at the university.
