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(continued...) EDS estimate that for each creator of design data, there are 200 downstream users of the data described as 'consumers'.
The controlled data environment can be extended to this wider group with Insight Connect that offers view and mark-up tools for approximately £500 per license although there is of course a free viewer for consumers who simply need to view data.
New Packaged Collaboration Files (.PCF) are available to share multiple documents whilst ensuring that data is not out of date.
Multiple data types from multiple sources can be packaged together and emailed for review.
The files retain links to the original CAD files in the Insight database allowing the impact of all proposed changes to be readily identified.
Although there are a few interesting innovations in modelling capabilities, many elements new to Solid Edge in v15 are catch-up or feature point scoring with competitors.
This includes fuller integration of motion analysis with support for sub assemblies and a fuller, more usable implementation of configurations.
2D drawing generation now offers Quicksheet drawing view templates to automatically create consistent yet sophisticated drawings including shaded views with customisable dpi settings and user definable polygons for detail views.
One useful feature is the automatic highlighting and tagging of dimensions that are out of date, indicating why they are out of date and what needs to be done.
Building on the recent shift towards capabilities to generate complex forms commonly found in injection moulded consumer products, v15 introduces curvature shading, draft face analysis and parting surfaces to enable the creation of associative mould cores and cavities.
A Solid Edge Mold Tooling add-on package is also available to add step by step work flow using standard components such as mould bases, ejector pins and gates.
Perhaps most interesting are the so called super features which act as macros to combine multiple functions.
At a simple level, end features can be assigned to extrusions to add a chamfer or end radius within the feature.
More complex are the cooling vents where ribs, spars, depth, rounds and draft are specified as one macro and similarly bosses where stiffening ribs, mounting holes, rounds, and draft are all combined.
While EDS quietly add modelling functionality it is important not to be put off by grand initiatives for systems design or leading edge data management technologies.
However, despite the undoubted benefits of well-integrated data management tools, I'm sure many system administrators will think long and hard about implementing or including Server 2003 within the network so early in its lifecycle.