Siemens made a strong case for data management capabilities regardless of an organization's size, hence, perhaps, the reason for its strategy of offering a range of solutions. Citing a recent survey of more than 2,000 representatives from global manufacturing companies, conducted in partnership with Tech-Clarity, Siemens found the majority of respondents still using Windows application folders and network drives to manage design data and as a result, still struggling to find and track progress around engineering changes.
The survey found that 25 percent of companies report workers spending more than 20 percent of their time on non-value-added data management tasks. In contrast, respondents who gave their organizations high ranks for product development performance were 30 percent more likely to use data management solutions.
Accompanying the Insight XT release, Siemens PLM Software also rolled out the latest Solid Edge ST5 release, with more than 1,300 customer-driven productivity enhancements, including additional ways to leverage synchronous technology (ST), the company's history-free, feature-based design technology. Specifically, Solid Edge ST5 employs ST for multi-body modeling, which lets users import parts and assemblies from any CAD system then combine them into a single part or multiple part depending on requirements.
Other notable features include: Improvements to simplify drawing documentation, including the ability to show an assembly in multiple positions in a drawing view, and a marquee capability for creating nailboards of electrical wiring harnesses; drawing views of connectors; and connector and conductor tables for pulling together complete manufacturing documentation. Improvements on the simulation front include a steady-state thermal simulation capability that when coupled with ST, allows users to test more alternatives in less time, further reducing requirements around building and testing physical models.
The final piece of Siemens' announcement was the Solid Edge Mobile Viewer, a free 3D viewer app for the iPad, intended to enhance collaboration by allowing users outside of engineering and design to view design data. The new app allows for the usual rotating, panning, zooming, and showing and hiding of parts, making it a useful tool for design reviews or customer presentations. Siemens already offers a Teamcenter app, but it's mainly an introduction to the technology, not a real productivity app.
Insight XT can manage any type of electronic file, so for example a manufacturing organization that has a lot of legacy 2D CAD data can manage these files alongside 3D Solid Edge models using our "multi-document" part structures. We also render Solid Edge CAD models into the lightweight JT format for visualization and wider collaboration.
With this first release of Insight XT we are not supporting direct integration with multiple CAD systems though - just with Solid Edge. We would propose that organizations with a requirement for mutli-CAD data management investigate our Teamcenter Express solution.
Thanks for wading in, David. Just to clarify, so unlike other PLM or new-style data management collaboration platforms, Insight XT is specifically meant for SolidEdge shops. Does that mean it can't handle multi-CAD data? That would surprise me given Siemen's emphasis on open standards like JT Open.
Good point, Beth. You've delivered about three stories just this month that involve search, collaboration, and data management for design engineers. Nice to see the PLM function is taking into account the need to handle the growing challenge of data.
Thanks for the clarification, David. It sounds like this development was prompted by customers who were asking for more out of their existing system -- always a good prompt for improvement.
thanks for reviewing Insight XT - love the title for your blog post! We had more than 40 customers test drive Insight XT at our Solid Edge University event earlier this month and a couple of areas that were commented on very favorably were the visual approach to managing design data and the ability to manage relationships between many types of data (products, projects and ECOs etc.) - both of these are great examples of "taking the sting out of data management".
To respond to the questions below - in terms of applications Insight XT is really focused right now on our own Solid Edge customers - success with Solid Edge means our customers are creating growing volumes of part, assembly and drawing files and many are still using Windows folders and Network drives to manage this data - so meeting their needs is our primary goal. But in the longer term adding these relationship management and visualization type tools to SharePoint should have many more applications!
Our data management users survey showed that fast retrieval of the correct data is still ranked as the number 1 area for improvement that would have the biggest impact on performance. So addressing this fundamental area with attribute, graphical and link-based searches is also a key capability of Insight XT.
I think the benefits are not necessarily tied to certain industries or applications. More likely, they are aimed at small- and mid-size firms that still have the need for centalized data management and collaboration capabilities around product development (what company doesn't), but which have been left out of the PLM equation because of the complexity and cost associated with a platform that is really a process management tool. This offering aims to take some of these key capabilities around pure data management (i.e., applications around engineering change orders etc.) and simple collaboration tasks (design reviews, markups etc.) and make them more accessible and without all the other capabilities that might be considered baggage for smaller firms.
It's really both--storing/finding and sharing parts file, all built around SharePoint, which has a lot of traction within companies already as a collaboration platform. The interesting thing is it's sort of an acknowledgement that traditional PLM systems are too big and complex for many companies who really need help managing and sharing product information with people beyond just engineering departments, which typically use PDM systems exclusively.
Hi Beth. Interesting new tool. What's the advantage. Is it the ability to retrieve files (search) or to manage data (storage and retrieval), or sharing? Seems like Siemens is doing tons now in collaboration and data management.
Laura Sapiens' Ego! Smartmouse offers users a unique interactive experience by providing 2D and 3D connectivity, hardware identity authentication, data storage, and more.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 3
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
0 
