Software helps relentless quest for innovation

UGS Corp has released Version 4 of NX software, the latest release of the company's comprehensive software solution for digital product development.

UGS Corp has released Version 4 of NX software, the latest release of the company's comprehensive software solution for digital product development.

Building on its industry-leading ability to capture knowledge and simulate performance throughout the product development process, NX 4 includes hundreds of customer-driven enhancements that improve manufacturers' ability to differentiate their products and to transform their process of innovation.

"Companies often look for that one 'big idea' that will produce the next killer product", said Peter Marks, Managing Director, Design Insight.

"However my research shows that the world's leading companies continually - relentlessly - search for ways to better satisfy their customers".

"Looking at it from the customer's perspective, there are at least eight things customers care about; and their perceptions change at least four times over a product life cycle".

"What's gratifying to see in NX is the attention to detail, from improved design and simulation through tools for knowledge capture that are needed to support a strategy of relentless innovation".

NX enables relentless innovation at Dyson With more than $10 billion in revenue generated last year from the sale of vacuum cleaners, Dyson is an industry leader with long-term staying power.

Dyson is dedicated to innovation as evidenced by hundreds of patents per design.

Using NX throughout its product development process, the company has revolutionised vacuum cleaning with constant innovations that keep it well ahead of the competition.

"Dyson's philosophy is closely tied to our ability to challenge existing technologies and to come up with new innovations and designs", said John Myers, CAD Systems Manager, Dyson.

"NX helps support this culture of innovation with its powerful design technology that takes much of the effort out of producing detailed 3D models, performing digital simulations and creating rapid prototypes".

By placing a high value on its customers' input, UGS has added rich, new functionality throughout NX 4 and significantly enhanced its data migration capabilities to enable a faster and more efficient transition for users moving from I-deas NX Series.

"NX 4 continues to lead the market in delivering highly productive, advanced technology for digital product development", said Chuck Grindstaff, Executive Vice President, Products, UGS.

"This release delivers hundreds of innovative enhancements in product styling, design, analysis, simulation and manufacturing, enabling new approaches to creating innovative products".

"In addition, NX 4 delivers on UGS' promise to our I-deas customer base to help speed their transition to NX by including enhanced data migration tools".

"I am very impressed with UGS on its ongoing commitment and progress in merging the I-deas and Unigraphics communities into its NX product", said David Pence, System Specialist, Goodrich Wheel and Brakes.

"NX 4 beta software is as easy to use as midrange CAD packages while still offering advanced functionality".

NX 4 helps manufacturers in their pursuit of innovation in four key categories - digital simulation, knowledge capture, usability and systems engineering.

Each of these areas includes new functionality that serves as a digital tool to help individuals relentlessly pursue innovations throughout product development.

NX 4 introduces many advanced CAE capabilities into NX.

This functionality is essential for PLM and provides scalable analysis to support innovation.

NX 4 includes design simulation tools for use by designers as well as the highest-performance simulation for the dedicated engineering analysis specialist.

Advanced analysis capabilities benefit from the open and productive NX usability paradigm.

New, integrated CFD and thermal analysis applications have been proven in applications that range from space satellite design to consumer electronics and automotive packaging studies.

NX 4 also expands on the access to the broad analysis capabilities in NX Nastran, as well as third-party solvers like Abaqus and Ansys as part of UGS' "open by design" strategy.

NX Nastran is an important part of UGS' overarching digital simulation strategy to enable customers to implement their own best practices and increase simulation's influence on design.

NX 4 includes enhancements to DesignLogic that include a prepackaged library of common engineering functions.

DesignLogic improves innovation and productivity by giving engineers the ability to embed product knowledge into the design that can be leveraged throughout the design iteration process.

In addition to design focused knowledge, manufacturing process knowledge can be captured by using the new Manufacturing Wizard Builder.

Built on the core Process Studio technologies introduced in NX 3, Manufacturing Wizard Builder allows companies to capture common manufacturing processes in a simple workflow environment.

The system then automates the process of building a "wizard", or automated program, which can be published for every user.

This approach allows companies to streamline manufacturing processes and ensures process reuse which is critical in reducing time to market.

NX 4 also continues UGS' commitment to offering customers the freedom to use their language of choice when developing custom applications.

NX 4 delivers support for the Java programming language, ensuring that users can develop applications in the most suitable tool for their needs and providing a common framework to access NX core functionality.

This open applications approach also allows companies to integrate NX applications with external systems, for example connecting to proprietary systems for cost management.

A series of industry and experience role-based user interface templates improve out-of-the-box usability in NX 4.

Users can select their experience level and industry, and NX will display the most productive set of features for their selection.

Companies can build their own screen layouts and icon maps based on their needs to improve productivity when using NX.

2D layout is a new approach to concept design that is not offered by NX competitors.

It enables users to rapidly create design schemes that can be enriched as the product evolves.

This speeds innovation by bringing early conceptual layout into the integrated design process.

"UGS sustains a leadership position in the PLM industry because they consistently listen to their customers, make aggressive commitments - and then honour those commitments by delivering innovative software solutions", said Ken Versprille, PhD, Principal and PLM Research Director, Collaborative Product Development Associates.

"The theme of 'relentless innovation' is appropriate not only for the ability of NX 4 to help UGS customers produce innovative products but also for the way UGS develops software for the PLM industry".

Additional NX 4 features that are important to innovative product development include the following.

NX 4 delivers a new product and manufacturing information (PMI) application that enables users to quickly annotate their 3D models, adding necessary manufacturing information and nongraphical data.

This improves productivity by allowing designers to communicate product information to manufacturing personnel without relying on a 2D drawing.

The PMI application embodies ASME Y14.41and ISO10 standards.

NX 4 is linked more tightly to Teamcentre software so users can leverage advanced product structure tools, such as compositions that allow designers to combine multiple product structures into a virtual assembly for true context.

NX 4 offers further enhancements in general and high-speed milling, multifunction machine support, five-axis machining, and programming automation, all supported by enhanced machine tool simulation.

NX enables customers to maximise the value of their advanced and most efficient machine tools.

NX 4 adds a new tooling capability for electrode design for mould and die design customers.

NX 4 can use models produced by other CAD systems in the widely used JT data format and still maintain associativity.

For example, NX 4 can create assembly constraints using JT-formatted components, and then if the JT component is changed, the assembly and mating conditions update automatically - true multi-CAD assembly design.

This associativity also relates to machining.

If the toolpath created in NX 4 is linked to the JT model then any update to the original design can be fed through the NX and JT models and the toolpath will be automatically updated.

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