cadalyst
Manufacturing

MCAD Tech News #187

19 Sep, 2006 By: Jeffrey Rowe


Untitled Document

The Changing Manufacturing Culture

Collaboration and flexibility must become part of industry’s day-to-day workings

Last week I attended an interesting and thought-provoking event: the UGS Digital Manufacturing Symposium, held in Dearborn, Michigan. (UGS also made a major manufacturing product announcement, but more on that later.)

Because the event was held in the Detroit area, the audience was largely, but not exclusively, composed of automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers. The audience also included some medium- and a few small-sized businesses -- customer groups that UGS has given more attention to of late. The mix of speakers included UGS representatives (of course), customers and an independent consultant.

Manufacturing Differentiators
The event began with a presentation by Kevin Smith, director of performance consulting for Harbour Consulting. He focused on the key factors that act as differentiators and enablers for the most successful manufacturers today, with an emphasis on collaboration and flexibility.

Collaboration. In Smith’s view, collaboration is a process that synchronizes product innovation throughout the entire supply chain -- including manufacturing -- and is key to product launch success. Smith said that in his experience, manufacturing is still all too often an afterthought, with designs literally being thrown “over the transom” to production.

This must change, and he suggested that one of the most effective ways of promoting change is to have more employees, regardless of background or job function, spend some time on the manufacturing floor to gain a better understanding and appreciation of the work. Manufacturing must influence design and other areas of an organization so that it’s more integral to, and optimized with, the big picture. Read more>>

Cadalyst Labs Review: PTC Pro/ENGINEER
Wildfire 3

by Jeffrey Rowe

The newest version of PTC's flagship design application, Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 3, was a bit long in coming -- shipping about 18 months after the previous version instead of the usual 12 months -- but the result is worth the wait. Instead of just piling on a zillion new features and capabilities, PTC (like some of its competitors) chose to improve Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 3 in other ways that matter to most customers, namely, software stability, better consistency across modeling functions and promotion of more efficient workflows. Although these areas of enhancement may lack wow factor, they will definitely be beneficial to most users in terms of productivity.
Read more
>>


Mark Your Calendar: MCAD Events

For Cadalyst's full calendar of events, click here >>

V-STARS Photogrammetry User Group Meeting  
September 28-29, 2006
Nort Sur Erdre, France
Manufacturing clientele from France and Belgium will convene at this meeting to update their knowledge and data acquisition techniques using V-STARS photogrammetry. Read more

Webinar: New Dimensions in Technical Documentation
October 4, 2006
Right Hemisphere and Tata Consultancy Services will lead this one-hour exploration of best practices in delivering interactive content. Read more

V-STARS Photogrammetry User Group Meeting
October 10-11, 2006
Munich, Germany
GDV Systems GmbH has organized a V-STARS User Group event to be hosted by BMW AG Munich. The meeting will include lectures and workshops, and a tour of BMW’s research laboratories and MAN Nutzfahrzeuge, a manufacturer of large trucks in Munich. Read more

COFES India Summit
November 17-18, 2006
New Delhi, India
This invitation-only event will concentrate on engineering software issues and the economic and political opportunities currently facing India.  Read more


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