Do you read Jos Voskuil’s blog? If you don’t, and you’re involved in PLM at your company, you should follow his posts. He has great ideas and insights into how this technology can be applied to engineering and product development at large. On April 2nd, he published a post titled PLM is a Journey. A few notable points caught my attention.
Initiatives
Clarifying the Confusing Terminology of Drawingless Initiatives
In this industry, terminology is a bear. There are special acronyms and terms with subtle differences that can actually have big implications. And unfortunately, there isn’t a good place to get definitions for them all. A few weeks ago, I launched survey that looks at design data interoperability, model-based enterprise initiatives and the use of 3D outside engineering. Statistics and findings from that survey will be used to publish The State of 3D Collaboration and Interoperability Market Report in May. You can take the survey here to get a complimentary copy of the report. But the exercise of carefully developing the survey made me tease apart the definitions of various terms related to drawingless efforts.
The Best Simulation Toolbox: Integrated Suite or Granular Apps?
Everyone likes a good debate, right? Well, as a co-host for the web show Tech4PD, I have to admit that I am a little biased. The idea behind the web show is that Jim Brown, another Industry Analyst, and I debate various topics about technology that enables product development. Viewer’s votes determine who wins. The loser has to fulfil a consequence. Last month, Jim did a 35 degree polar bear swim. Earlier, I had to shave my head. In the second episode, Jim had to brush his teeth with wasabi.
Does Multi-Physics Make Fools of Us All?
Quite a long time ago, I remember the first time I visited a hard-core simulation analyst’s group. It was at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and I, fresh out of college, was showing them some new simulation technology. There were lots of questions and conversations that day. But first and foremost in my memory, I remember the… well… reverence some of the other engineers had for these simulation analysts. They were the unequivocal experts. Their authority was unquestionable. They were on a pedestal.
The Key to Championing Simulation
Quick poll: do you know the most requested presentation topic for NAFEMS events? Anyone. Think quick. I guess the title of this post might be giving it away, but when I talked with Michelle Ringrose about my presentation for NAFEMS North American Conference 2012, she was very clear: addressing the business side of simulation has …
Writing about the Business of Simulation on the NAFEMS Blog
Hey folks. For those of you looking for more posts on simulation, I’m happy to announce that I’m going to be a guest contributor at the new NAFEMS blog. My focus will be on the business side of simulation. Basically, you’ll see me posting on how simulation critical functionality translate into organizational capabilities and how …
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The PDM Revolution is Upon Us, Brought to you by CAD in the Cloud
I think we can all recognize that one of the most recent wave of disruptions to the CAD industry started with when a number of modeling approaches converged. Direct and Feature-based approaches merged. 3D modeling and 2D sketching got mashed up as well. Today, we have single apps or suites of integrated apps that do it all. And in my opinion, I think there have been significant benefits associated with those changes.
Solidworks Mechanical Conceptual: App-ing the Process
Walking into the Monday morning general session at Solidworks World 2013 in Orlando FL, I admit that I was expecting something. After the openly discussing the move of Solidworks to the cloud years earlier, and the subsequent backtracking and sidestepping because of customer outrage, rumors had it that this was the year. This was the time when Solidworks would unveil something big. Ultimately, I think the announcement of Solidworks Mechanical Conceptual falls into that category. I think that it just wasn’t what people were expecting.
In the 3DEXPERIENCE Forum, Vision Takes Center Stage
Well, regardless of whatever else you have to say about Dassault Systèmes, you have to admit: they have vision. Last week, Dassault Systèmes invited their customers as well as many media and analyst folks down to Orlando for something called the 3DEXPERIENCE Forum. There are a few really well written summaries of the event and the message from DS, but in short, it was this: an experience is what occurs during the development of a product. And that experience needs to be supported across many different software systems and applications like ENOVIA, CATIA, SIMULIA and the like.