Capturing specialised design information about products
Capturing specialised design information about productsKeywords: Vistagy, Software, CAD
Vistagy Inc., recently announced the release of EnCapta software, which it says extends the power of sophisticated computer-aided-design (CAD) systems that engineers use to create 3D product geometry. EnCapta augments CAD software by providing engineers with tools for capturing and communicating specialised non-geometric design data that are vital for complete product definition. Engineering organisations that use CAD models as a primary source of information about products will reportedly benefit from EnCapta's complementary software tools for enriching the design environment.
Vistagy has long-time expertise in providing specialised CAD-integrated design environments for customers such as Sikorsky Aircraft, The Boeing Company,Lockheed Martin, Bombardier Aerospace, and many other companies. EnCapta advances the technology underlying the company's well-regarded FiberSIM™software, which provides engineers with a specialised environment integrated into the CATIA, Pro/ENGINEER, and Unigraphics CAD systems to meet the demands of composite part design and manufacture. With EnCapta, engineers can reportedly capture complex nongeometric design data for any specialised area of engineering and store it associatively with the CAD geometry.
"Engineers today perform under compressed design schedules in an information intensive atmosphere", says Steven C. Luby, president and CEO of Vistagy, Inc. "In addition to creating the product geometry, they are responsible for organising an enormous amount of non-geometric design data that cannot be expressed or managed efficiently in the traditional CAD environment. Crucial product data resides in spreadsheets, text documents, e-mail messages,even hand-written notes. With EnCapta, engineers now have a structured way to capture all this information, associate it with the CAD geometry, and communicate it to other applications and decision-makers throughout the enterprise. Because EnCapta presents the complete design context associated with the geometry, more-informed decisions can be made, resulting in better products going to market faster at lower cost."
EnCapta is described as providing engineering organisations with the capability for building specialised, CAD-integrated design environments that enrich the CAD model as a source of information. Once engineers capture a complete digital product definition, they can also use EnCapta to distribute this valuable resource to other engineering applications and to the entire product development team. EnCapta claims three main components: customisable templates for defining EnCapta objects, an interactive user interface, and XML tools.
Using customisable templates, engineers define the type and structure of the specialised information they wish to capture. Data such as design details, cost estimates, engineering change orders, materials specifications, and assembly instructions that are often stored separately from the CAD model can now be captured and managed as objects and linked to the relevant CAD geometry. Multiple EnCapta objects can reference a single geometric feature, and a single EnCapta object can link to multiple geometric features.
The EnCapta user interface is said to manage all types of specialised non-geometric product information from within the CAD session. Engineers can browse EnCapta objects and display the associated geometry, or they can select geometry on the CAD model to discover the associated EnCapta data. EnCapta objects maintain their associative links within the single repository of the CAD model, so there is said to be no need to re-enter data after making design revisions. Without leaving the modelling environment, engineers can reportedly view, edit, sort and search the design and manufacturing information associated with product geometry.
According to Vistagy, EnCapta XML tools make it easy to extract specific design information from the CAD model so it can be reported to other systems or databases throughout the enterprise. As a result, manufacturing, purchasing,quality assurance, and other groups in the organisation can receive design data in a format customised for their own use. The company also explains that because EnCapta data are associative with the CAD model, information that engineers share electronically with others is always complete and up to date. Engineers can also use the XML tools to import information from databases and other sources of design data.
EnCapta software is currently integrated into the CATIA, Pro/ENGINEER, and Unigraphics CAD systems.
Further details are available from Vistagy, Inc. Tel: +1 781 290 0506;E-mail: dannielle.obeirne@vistagy.com
