Top 7 Best Changes in SolidWorks 2019

SolidWorks is one of the most popular, widely used, and efficient solid modeling software applications. Over two million engineers and designers all over the globe use SolidWorks as their product design software. The tool is continuously evolving with technology and is covering almost all the aspects of the product development process with a seamless and integrated workflow in design, verification, communication, and data management. SolidWorks is back again with some exciting features in 2019. Here are the top 7 best changes in SolidWorks 2019:

Saving an Assembly as a Part: Now designers can save a logical extension of the existing functionality.  This feature of the tool will be beneficial in integrating the PCB design. Designers can now save a single board as a manageable component while a product is under development.

 

Animated Output: An animated output can undoubtedly reveal more details than a picture. The new version allows designers to generate an animated clip for a design under development, offering a better visualization.

 

The full time measuring Tool: Designers can now quickly measure designs, which was not possible in the earlier versions. The feature helps to check the changes made, and ensure that they meet the design expectations.

Electrical and PCB: SolidWorks professionals now no longer need separate software to manage PCB designs. SolidWorks 2019, now has integrated functionalities for this purpose allowing designers to work with details in the tool itself.

 

Deleting Surface Holes: Designers spent a lot of valuable time in activities such as cutting out the rectangular shape, creating the boundary surface and joining the two surfaces together to delete a hole. The new version saves all this time by this feature allowing them to delete a hole directly from the surface.

Product Data Management (PDM):PDM favors multiple user interface, handles complex projects efficiently, and keeps the project consistent and organized; however, it is challenging to implement PDM. SolidWorks 2019 updates make it easy and convenient to work within PDM reducing complexity and enhancing reliability.Simulation: This feature helps developers bounce between the designs and the real models. A detailed view of the product design will help professionals make informed decisions in developing a high-quality product. Simulation in SolidWorks 2019 will also help conduct better tests for the product designs.

SolidWorks 2019 will indeed make life easier for product designers in the future. The improved capabilities will motivate professionals to explore new things and develop better product designs.     

Evolving Industrial Design Technology Trends in 2019

Manufacturers always prefer technologies that promise to make their firms more productive and profitable. One of the most recent concepts is the Internet of Things (IoT) which would revolutionize the industrial design technology. Additionally, use of Augmented Virtual Reality will offer industries to have more vivid experience of the real world. Digitalization is another concept that would give an apparent idea of development and technology dependent world. Further, Artificial Intelligence will become part of our daily life. So, let us briefly understand the Industrial Design Technology Trends in 2019.

Internet of things (IoT)

IoT is defined as a system of interlinked devices. The IoT for industries will empower new ways of ideation, engineering innovation, production execution, and service excellence. It is not just associated with physical objects but also about designing things in virtual space. It will completely change the connectivity power of electronics and software and their interaction. Such products will have the capability to increase the company’s profits as well as deliver significant benefits to consumers.

Augmented Virtual Reality

Augmented Virtual reality is going to change not only what customers do with products but also what they expect from them. It will provide consumers to experience the virtual world more vividly. In the case of designing, designers can pull their ideas out of the screen and can drop it into the real world at full scale. The designers will be able to visualize, interact, and report their findings on product quality from any part of the world. It will surely, advance the design technology and improve industry efficiency.

Digitalization

The use of Digital technologies changes the business model and distribute new income and value-producing chances to business. Digitalization will unquestionably improve the accessibility and will facilitate better information exchange worldwide. A proper digitalization plan will help industries to reinvent processes, improve quality and promote consistency.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing everything, and the Design industry is a part of this change. It is a section of computer science that highlights the creation of intelligent machines which work and respond like humans. Artificial Intelligence Designers will lead multidisciplinary teams in the formation and designing. So, it is very likely that soon AI would take control of the product design domain as well.

Overall, in 2019 many more technologies will evolve which will completely digitalize the design industry and will promote overall organizational growth.

Does Digitalization Affect Manufacturing Economics?

Digitalization has revolutionized the entire manufacturing sector. The labor-intensive industry has transformed into a technology-driven industry. Technology such as 3-D printing, CNC machining, industrial internet of things (IIoT), and artificial intelligence (AI) have optimized the manufacturing operations and have considerably reduced the production and maintenance cost. The details of this technological impact on manufacturing are listed below:

  1. Economically Viable Mass Customization

Digital manufacturing helps automate front-end engineering associated with customization. Interactive design for manufacturing (DFM-Design for Manufacturing) tools helps to analyze the design components before manufacturing, which significantly reduces manufacturing risks and enhance productivity. Precisely, these tools improve traceability across the manufacturing process making it more flexible and efficient. Concisely, this digitalization decreases the tooling cost and makes customization economically feasible.

  1. Improved Product Design and Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing is enabling manufacturing organizations to create new and improved products at a lower price. Under the additive manufacturing, engineers have design freedom and assembly reduction, which permits them to customize the product design according to the needs and demands of the industry and customers. Overall, the digital revolution is enhancing product quality, quantity, and variety.

  1. Low Maintenance Cost and Downtime

Machine learning and AI(Artificial Intelligence) could effectively reduce the maintenance and downtime cost. It is because planned and anticipated maintenance is more efficient compared to maintenance of unplanned problems. So, digital manufacturing helps to anticipate potential risks which eventually reduces the cost incurred due to unexpected events.

  1. Generating Revenue by Accelerating Production

Digital Manufacturing automates the process of design analysis, toolpathing, and front-end processes. This automation helps in the easy prototyping of product which in turn simplify the supply chain management. With the readily modeled design, manufacturers could enhance the procurement process and subsequently reduce the production time. As a result, the product is launched to the market in time, and high revenues are generated benefitting the manufacturing firm.

Overall, with the digitalization of the manufacturing industry, the labor-intensive work has reduced, and the productivity has increased exponentially. Consequently, the profits have escalated the cost of productivity and maintenance have decreased. All in all, the useful technology innovation in the manufacturing sector have benefitted the overall industry and have paved the way for improved production.

How 5D BIM Fuels the Growth of Construction Industry?

The Building Information Model (BIM) helps to create, update and manage building designs at any stage of the project. BIM provides a digital representation of the physical and functional characteristics of a project. The tool gained high popularity among the building design professionals as it covers all the information about every component of a building. The 5D BIM fuels the growth of the construction industry in several ways:

  • It delivers superior performance at a low cost.
  • The AR/VR technologies in 5D keep a check on the overall construction expenditure.
  • The 5D functionalities can integrate the output from the 3D format.
  • The tool automatically updates the budget charts as the project changes.
  • It reduces the work without efficiency
  • The design changes are directly connected to the cost-estimation software.
  • Optimum utilization of resources.

Including the 5D BIM in the construction industry significantly increases the chances of a contractor to win any project. The use of cloud technology provides the luxury to the contractors and help them to consult their subordinates. The cloud feature also allows to update the projects anytime and from anywhere. The accurate estimation of the projects helps the contractors to present their ideas with assurance and help them to finish it with high accuracy.

The New Mastercam 2019

The New Mastercam 2019 is now exciting the engineers and mechanics with its innovative technology and features. The tool has already made simple “designing and modifications” in the virtual parts for these professionals. Here are some of the latest updates on the tool:

Deburr Toolpath- Engineering design professionals can now use the new toolpath for Multiaxis. The tool can break the edges for 3 to 5 axis and is capable of removing burrs. It can be used with tools such as the Ball end mill and Lollipop with undercut.

 

Chamfer Toolpath- Now also available for the 2D machining, this tool allows the designers to work on the solid edges and faces for chain geometry designs. It also helps to work on surfaces, solids, and meshes used for the avoidance model. The feature also has a set of unique parameters to havemore control over the toolpath.

 

Prime Turning Toolpath- Introduced in the 2018 model, it is now fully integrated into the Mastercam 2019 version. The feature now enables designers to include radius as small as 0.4 millimeters. The feature also gives access to the additional libraries that can be downloaded from Tech Exchange.

 

New Solid Hole Function-The new hole function can automate cylindrical hole punching mechanism which saves the designer’s time consumption in creating circles and extruding them. The feature also gives options to choose the hole types such as Counterbore, Countersink, Counterdrill, and Taper.

 

3D Tool Support- The new versionis now allowing designers to build tools from the 3D STEP models using the new Tool Designer feature. The tool designer here is a function panel that has tab-style navigation that offers a structured workflow similar to a wizard.

 

Advanced Toolpath Display-Mastercam, in the new version can now display toolpaths with different colors.  These colors are based on the type of the design moves. The designer has an option to toggle the Advanced Display. If the designer chooses not to use it, the tool displays only the cutting and rapid motion in different colors. The designer can then change this display state and colors as they wish.

 

On an overall basis, Mastercam has now made designing and modifications extremely easy for the engineering designers. These professionals can develop more detailed and precise designs using the new Mastercam. The advanced views and simulator in the latest version have made product designs more interactive and efficient.