DEVELOP3D - Technology for the product lifecycle

Spotted this a while back. Recreation of a Saxon door lock (circa 5th and 6th century). Complex yes, but elegant. It serves the purposes of both keeping intruders out when you’re inside and just locking the door when you need it.

Something I’ve been thinking about over the last few months is the complexity of the systems available today. Feature creep is something that every vendor is facing. Apart from a handful, the majority of systems on the market are at least ten years old, relying on technology that was developed in the last millennium. Features have been rammed into every system on a 12 to 18 month cycle for nearly ten years. Ten major releases of new.. well… stuff. Stuff that does stuff slightly different or stuff that does things in exciting and new ways. But at the end of the day, it’s that.

Stuff.

While I’m as guilty as anyone else as being wowed by the latest and greatest technological advancement, the simple facts are that the technology we’re discussing is only a part of a designer, an engineer or a manufacturer’s toolbox. We could, if push comes to shove, do the job using a sheet of paper, a pencil and a rule/french curves. sure, it would be less efficient and more error prone, but that’s a simple fact.

These are tools – nothing more, nothing less.

And it’s now getting to the point where many users are looking at what they’ve invested in, both in terms of personal learning and often theirs or their employer’s cash in and wondering if they need it all. I recently attended a launch event by a major vendor and sat talking to some old friends that have been through the gamut of technology and asked, “Do you ever use any of the new enhancements?” The answer came back as I’d suspected it would. “Nope. I still use the system the same way I did in 1998.” While this is the atypical pessimistic British response, there’s some truth in it.

I dug a little further into their views. it turns out that battle hardened veterans will use new technology if is actually adds some value to their working practices – and that it seems, is something that’s missing. The hook that gets people using new enhancements. And how do they get hooked?

The simple answer is thus: Users adopt new features that make things easier.

Now, this might sound obvious, blatantly so in fact, but there’s more to “easier to use” than is immediately clear. Design and engineering is an inherently complex process, the definition of part forms is something that takes complex mathematics and geometry wrangling. All too often vendors obsess over removing user control over how geometry is created to the point where a reasonably intelligent chimp, persuaded with a bunch of bananas, could create geometry. That’s not what users seem to want. They want tools that are clean, efficient, solve an issue or challenge, but allow them to retain control over what’s happening.

To my mind, that’s not ease of use, that’s building elegance into an application.

So this is what I’ve been considering of late, elegance. And how stuffing new features into a product isn’t the best way forward for many users, but rather a reworking of things a system does, how it does it and how you gain better results, better workflows or a more efficient design process as a result.

What’s interesting is that there’s been a shift in how vendors are refocusing their development efforts. Some are being very vocal about the fact that they’re refocussed on improving existing tools and fixing what’s broken or clunky, while others are being much more subtle about it. Of course, there’s also a correlation between the vendors being noisey on the topic and the amount of criticism there’s been in their user community of the exact same subject.

So, over the next few posts, I’m going to talk about a few bits of technology, some new products and some examples of where elegance is becoming something all the more appealing than plain old ease of use.

Given the tag line, “Design without Barriers”, PTC are hosting their annual user event towards the tail end of next month. This follows the Global gathering of PTC users in Florida earlier this year with more scaled down, but more local event. It’s being held on the 24th November at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon. The press release states that “Commencing at 0900am, with an introduction to PTC´s Technology and Vision roadmap, followed by over 12 presentations, 3 business tracks, and a networking lunch.”

Highlights of the day seem to be a hands-on introduction to Wildfire 5.0 (there’s also an in-depth review coming up in the next issue of DEVELOP3D), as well as looks into ProductPoint, PDMLink for larger organizations and Mathcad. A handful of customer will also be presenting, including the masters of all things cleaning related, VAX. As you would also expect, there’s an exhibition with resellers, partners and such.

Registration is now live at www.ptc.com/go/technologyforum

Objet Geometries has just launched its TangoBlackPlus, a new material that allows designers and manufacturers to “create high-quality parts that more closely resemble a broad range of rubber products.”

TangoBlackPlus expands Objet’s existing Tango family of materials, building on the same mechanical properties of Objets’s TangoPlus, FullCure930, first launched in 2007. For those running Objet’s single material machines (the Eden machines), while for those using the multi-material Connex machine, a new Digital Material pack has been introduced that provides 18 new materials comprised of combinations of VeroWhite and TangoPlus or TangoBlack Plus (the Connex line of machines can mix materials to achieve the look and feel you’re looking for). the potential uses for this new material range from wires and cables, grips and handles, plugs and connections, shock absorbers, function buttons, gaskets and seals, among other rubber applications.

One key use for elastomeric materials is in the Footwear industry, where RP techniques are very commonly used to prove out sole designs. Steffen Scherer, Prototype Creation Technician at Adidas, commented that “The new Objet digital material pack allows us to achieve greater resemblance of our running shoe outsoles with an impressive touch and feel.”

While the world is moving through the digital age, where information is passed at the speed of light (or at least, whatever your broadband rating is), the design and engineering field remains an often tactile industry. While the core of design, simulation and manufacturing preparation is done digitally, the tactile response from holdinf a product, a prototype or a final manufactured part is something very hard to replicate. Today, we have a huge range of technologies available to assist with making the design process more efficient and less reliant on the physical prototype. Conversely, never before have we seen so much activity in the rapid prototyping space. new machines, new processes, new materials all contribute to giving those engaged in product development the tools they need. Held at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry, TCT Live presents a unique opportunity in these times, to go and see these technologies in action.

Over two days, you can feel the sample parts, see how the machines operate, find new service providers and to discuss the potential for your business with the 100+ organisations exhibiting there. With the various conference streams and seminars running alongside the event (which are now free to attend), it’s not often that you’ll find so much in a single venue. DEVELOP3D will be there for the two days, so if you want to meet up, get in touch and we’ll see you there.

The big news for this year is that the conference is free, whereas previous years saw a charge applied. As an organisation with an interest in proliferating information to assist with product development, DEVELOP3D sees this as a fantastic move by the team. With delegates from over 20 countries, this years brings a huge range of topics, from design and engineering, through aerospace, automotive and autosport, but also into consumer realms, medical and sportswear. In specifics, this year’s line at the TCT Conference includes keynote presentation is from the rather delightfully named Ian Risk, VP of & Head of Airbus UK’s Innovation Works. Another one we’re looking forward to is former EOS employee, Volker Junior, now a partner in Junior & Tacke, a new organisation set-up to explore where rapid manufacturing and digital design techniques can be used in high-performance sports. He’ll be talking about how competitive advantage was achieved for his clients at the Bejing games.

The second day’s highlights include Bryan Cioffi of legendary shoe manufacturer, Converse, talking about how the company has upgraded its design and development process to a 100% digital creation workflow.

Running in paralell with the main TCT Conference, the Micro Manfuacturing Technology Conference is also taking place for its second year. This years agenda has been expanded to run over the two days allowing a broader range of topics to be discussed. A variety of topics relevant to all manufacturing sectors will be covered — from a state of the industry overview to in-depth discussions on micro moulding, micro milling, micro EDM and assembly.

If you’re not going to make it for the conference sessions or can’t devote a full day, the event also has three additional seminar theatres that will house a range of short, bite sized presentations, perfect for filling in knowledge gaps or getting the low down on the latest technologies. 2009 will see the return of the successful Technology for Jewellery Seminar, which will take designers through the full design-to-market cycle, from effective use of CAD (computer aided design), to prototyping models, casting, micro cutting, milling and welding. Also returning is the ever-popular “Rapid Fundamentals” Introductory sessions, presented by industry expert Graham Tromans, who will give newcomers to ‘rapid’ technologies an overview of what’s available and how to access them.

New for 2009 is the introduction of four new seminars: Inspection, Digitizing and Metrology Seminar; CAD/CAM/CAE stream; RP&M in Architecture; and Digital Manufacturing and Materials for Dentistry. These seminars will highlight the technological breakthroughs in these sectors with case studies and demonstrations.