CATI Tech Notes

CATI's Facebook Page

For those of you who are into Facebook, and those thinking about jumping on the bandwagon, CATI has established a FaceBook page with the very original name of Computer Aided Technology, Inc. That's what happens when a ME from Purdue is in charge of marketing, you get accuracy, but not a lot of flash.

The page contains information and discussion for CATI's customers and others who are interested in SolidWorks, Product Development and Design.
 
I have been a dabbler with Facebook for quite awhile, mostly to monitor my teenagers to make sure they aren't getting into cyber trouble. I have enough gray hairs on my head to make me a bit wary about the concept of telling the world everything about myself, but the benefits of social networking are starting to grow on me.

There is definitely a place for building communities of people that share common interest and can share experience and knowledge. Facebook is a very nice medium for this.

So far, on the site you will find, a feed from this blog where you can comment  and contribute to the discussion, links to interesting content. The page has fans from the CATI and SolidWorks tech groups, SmarTeam and ... my kids. That is the nature of Facebook.

Join in and make sure to tell us what you think.

Using Simulation 2009 not able to mesh parts ?

If you recently upgraded to Simulation 2009 and cannot mesh parts that were created using SolidWorks 2008, irrespective if they are simple or have complex geometry, we have a solution for you. This problem is typically seen in x64 bit environment.

You may need to clean out your Windows temp folder because of the presence of a corrupt temporary meshing file that is leftover from failed meshing in earlier service packs of 2009 Simulation.

Please clean out your temp folder using the following procedure:

- Close SolidWorks and open SolidWorks RX by going through the Start menu. Go to the System Maintenance tab and enable the first three checkboxes (clean backup directory, temp directories, Windows temp directory) and uncheck everything else.
- Click on "Start Maintenance"

If this still does not resolve the issue, try searching your local hard drive for files with the name "fmesh.boiteb8" and "fmesh.noboiteb8". If you find any, you may safely delete them since they are temporary files used for meshing. These files may become corrupt and their presence can hinder meshing other models.

 

NOTE: This does not happen for every install of Simulation 2009. It only occurs if the previous installation was corrupted, or from left over files from previous service packs.

Rajat Trehan

Product Manager – Design Validation

Computer Aided Technology Inc.

SolidWorks World is a geek fest for all interested in design.

SolidWorks World is a geek fest for all interested in design. This year 4300 people showed up in sunny Florida to up their design skills. Sir Richard Branson interviewed live on stage explaining how design needs to be user friendly rather than simply meet functional requirement.  John Hirschtick (co-founder of SolidWorks) showcased his travels to New Balance shoe manufacturer and Sony Ericsson design centers. Using these two examples, he explained the uses of rapid prototyping and simulation to improve design processes.

One of the sessions I attended was on the Disney Excellence Model. People at Disney are extremely courteous, that explains why they can charge three times the normal cost for their services. The idea is to keep guests engaged and show an instant value for money. What Disney hopes for: “guests book their next vacation before leaving town”. In a time when everyone is trying to squeeze their budgets, here is a company that charges you more, and wants you to pay for the next vacation well in advance.  Talk about aiming high! This tells us companies that create value and are committed to the customer experience will prosper in the new age.

Presenting at SolidWorks World is an experience to cherish. People from all walks of engineering try to ask questions relative to their environment. To me that means one needs to be on his toes to make sure they understand the nitty-gritty while not losing out on the big picture. The environment created by SolidWorks is filled with enthusiasm to learn and the focus always remains on improvement.

SolidWorks has always shown deep understanding and solidarity towards the current market scenario. In their endeavor to help, they will be giving out free software to people who want to learn and get back on the job scene. They called this their own stimulus package. This shows SolidWorks’ commitment to improving skills through design centers all over the world.

 

Notes on SWW 2009

General Sessions this year focused on a variety of different customers and their successes with SolidWorks. Folks also spent a lot of time talking about rapid prototyping and how it improves the design process

The General session on Wednesday focused on SW2010. Some of the highlights included:

·        Heads-Up dimension edit tool for changing all aspects of a dimension including tolerances, notes, & precision.

·        New Interface for creating Reference Planes that make them easier to create.

·        Improvements in Assembly Mirroring with better mate control and positioning

·        Ability to show a list of components in an assembly based upon cost and then sort those components by that property and also the ability to hide components that do not fall into a specified range.

·        New balloon utility in drawings that gives you more options and control over balloon text and size

·        Drawings have the ability to drag and drop one note onto another and the 2 notes will join together if there is any numbering, or bullets will continue.

·        Multi-body sheet metal parts so you can have more than 1 sheet metal feature in a single part file and the ability to add welds between those bodies

·        Sheet metal parts also have the ability to do a quick preview of the flat part

Presentations were well received

Backdoor/Redneck Work Arounds had 200-300 people in attendance one of the attendees was from the SW Blog Site SolidSmack and he was posting to his blog while we were presenting

Blog Posting of Backdoor Work Arounds

http://www.solidsmack.com/solidworks-world-tech-session-common-solidworks-issue-and-how-to-fix-them/2009-02-09/

CATI Link to SWW presentations

http://www.cati.com/sww09.htm

Design Tables the Complete Story had about the same number of people in it as Back Door Work Arounds and I spent a lot of time after the presentation talking with different users about their different situations and even learned some new things to add to my presentation for later.

Sketching – The Good, The Bad & The Ugly was a hands on presentation and this was my first year of doing a hand on presentation and while it did not go 100% as planned I did have all 32 computers filled along with the 10 additional seats filled and had people sitting in the aisles watching the presentation and talked with some of the attendees later on and they were happy with what they learned in the presentation.

3DVIA Hands-On Session: My First Experience at SolidWorks World.

This was my first experience attending SolidWorks World in the 5+ years I have worked for CATI so it was a highly anticipated event for me.  I had heard from past attendees what it was like and what to expect but I was excited to find out for myself.

 The main reason for my attendance was to deliver a hands-on session for 3DVIA Composer.  It is something I am very comfortable presenting in our normal 3 hour time slot with around 4-5 users but presenting at SolidWorks World provides some unique challenges.  The time slot allotted was only an hour and a half so I had to remove some of the content I usually deliver so I didn’t overwhelm the attendees with too much information or rush through everything I usually cover.  The main challenge was the amount of attendees in the hands on sessions at SolidWorks World.  Due to the amount of interest in the hands on sessions and the limited amount of resources, they place about 30 people in each session.  This makes it much more difficult to pay attention to each attendee and ensure they are moving along at a good pace.  It was an excellent experience showing so many people 3DVIA Composer and I hope this is my first of many more presentations at SolidWorks World. 

What stuck out in my mind from the whole experience was the size of the event.  There were around 4300 people in attendance which was amazing to see each morning in the general session and during lunch each afternoon.  It seemed that every room in the two hotels was constantly filled with presentations about any one of SolidWorks products and that every person in the hotel was a SWW attendee.  It really hit home on the day after the event when it appeared that the entire hotel seemed empty. 

SolidWorks World is Exhausting...In a Good Way.

I am always excited about going to SolidWorks World and I am always exhausted when I return; both for the same reason.  There are so many wonderful opportunities to learn something new that there is no possibility of exploring all of them.

 

With over 100 different Vendors in the partner pavilion it was easy to get lost in there just roaming around asking questions.  Some of my favorites were 3D QuickPress and 3D QuickForm from 3D QuickTools Limited.  These tools are spectacular for Progressive die design.  Objet, known for high quality rapid prototyping now has a smaller version called the Alaris30 that is a more affordable “desktop” printer to round out their family of high quality rapid prototyping solutions.  SolidProfessor is a wonderful tool for those of us that would like to continue our SolidWorks education at our own pace with online video training. 

 

All of the presentations that I got to see were very informative and I learned something from each of them.  Topics ranging from SolidWorks installation all the way to Advanced Surface Modeling were covered with more than 170 different presentations.  The toughest part generally was deciding which of the up to 15 presentations you would see in a given time slot.

 

However, I don’t believe that anything was as effective as generally speaking with SolidWorks personnel, other vendors, and resellers and customers from all over the world.  I talked to countless users that were asking questions and sharing personal experiences that I found to be informative, interesting, and sometimes even funny.  These conversations do wonders for broadening your perspective and understanding how Engineers and Designers use SolidWorks to get things done.

 

This year, as in years past, CATI has also had the honor of presenting at the event.  8 of the presentations at the user conference were done by members of the CATI technical team.  Each of these presentations was very well received.  The presentations themselves and supporting files can be downloaded at www.cati.com/sww09.htm.

Adrian Fanjoy

 

CATI TechLink Newsletter Celebrates 10th Anniversary

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the CATI TechLink Newsletter.  The newsletter features articles from CATI Experts in SolidWorks, PDM, Simulation, 3D Printing, and much more.  You can also watch product demos and catch-up on industry news!

Click here to check out the latest issue!

Want to get the newsletter every month?  Click here to subscribe.

CATI Named Top SolidWorks Reseller for Subscription Services 2008

Tonight, Computer Aided Technology  was named the Top SolidWorks Reseller in North American for Subscription and Renewal at SolidWorks World.

This recognition is a measure of how our customers value our support and customer service. It is considered the most prestigious award given to companies in our industry.

This award is important to us because it shows the commitment of each member of our team to earning our customers business.

Thank you to the entire CATI team. It is your extra effort and determination that won this award.

Thank you to our customers who push us to be the best we can be.

SolidWorks World Presentations

Several of my counterparts in the CATI Technical Services group and I are spending the majority of this week at SolidWorks World.  It has proven once again to be an amazing event allowing us all to learn so many exciting things about different aspects of the software.  We have had many opportunities to learn and grow with the SolidWorks product line throughout the week.  More about what we have learned will follow in later posts to this blog.

As in years past we have also had the honor of presenting at the conference.  This year our group was responsible for the following:   

Presentation	Presenter
Hot Topics in SolidWorks Simulation - Modeling Temperature Change	Rajat Trehan
Backdoor Workaround: The SolidWorks Equivalent to Duct Tape and Bailing Wire	Adrian Fanjoy     Josh Altergott
Using the Options File to Control Your SolidWorks Network License	Keith Schaefer
Sketching: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly	Josh Altergott
Design Tables: The Complete Story	Josh Altergott
3DVIA Composer Hands On Test Drive	Jake Smith
Administrative Images - Simply Deploying SolidWorks	Adrian Fanjoy
Design Automation Options within SolidWorks	Keith Schaefer

In total there were approximately 170 different presentations and we know that people at the conference had some tough decisions to make regarding what presentations would serve them best.  We have made this files available to allow conference attendees and users around the world that were unable to attend these events would have the opportunity to at least view the material.

The presentation PowerPoint files along with any sample file that were mentioned in our presentations are available by going to http://www.cati.com/sww09.htm.

We will be providing opportunities to see our presentations live and on the Web after SolidWorks World. Please watch this blog and the CATI website (www.cati.com) for times and locations.

Adrian Fanjoy

Technical Services Manager

Computer Aided Technology, Inc.

Simple but Powerful

The world is plastic: If you look around, the majority of components are plastic in nature. If you design these parts you need to worry about the mold; whether the part will come out okay and how much warpage will occur when the part is cooled. There is no easy way to guess on what the outcome would be. The only sure way to know is to test it. This is both a time consuming and an expensive process. In today’s world, terms such as six sigma and Total Quality Management have become ubiquitous to the manufacturing industry. Old adage ….”When in doubt, make it stout” usually does not run well. 

SIMPOE analysis software simulates the behavior of plastic resin during the injection process of plastic molded parts. This help in mold design validation, and a reduction in product development cost. Simpoe software simulates filling, packing, cooling and warpage of plastic injected parts. Simpoe offers an all in one solution which deals with any type of geometry (solids, surfaces, etc.)

SimpoeWorks being a Solidworks Gold Partner has their solution completely embedded in the Solidworks environment. So users can simulate manufacturing process of their plastic parts without leaving the familiar SolidWorks graphic window. The seamless integration of SimpoeWorks with SolidWorks closes the loop of plastic part design and manufacturing optimization, whatever the complexity and geometry of such parts.

 

The software is offered in 3 modules

SimpoeWorks FILL includes pre and post treatment functionalities. FILL has a built-in material library, with visualization of melt front, weld lines, air traps, temperature and pressure distributions, shear rate, and clamping forces.

SimpoeWorks PACK simulates packing phase of the mold.

SimpoeWorks COOL simulates thermal regulation during injection process, helping with optimizing process time.

SimpoeWorks WARP simulates part deformation after mould opening. This helps to account for residual constraints, material shrinkages.

Computer Aided Technology, Inc. has been bringing the best technology to our customers for 17 years. We have partnered with SimpoeWorks, Inc., a French company, to leverage the advantage of using SolidWorks. We will be supporting this product using our technical teams spread over our multiple offices in nine states.

 If you need to know more about the product please feel free to get in touch with us.

Rajat Trehan

Product Manager – Design Validation

Computer Aided Technology Inc.
www.cati.com