The increased use of 3D printing, from hobbyists to professionals, has revolutionized the way ideas and products are brought to life. Multiple websites (GrabCAD, Thingiverse, etc.) provide over a million free downloadable files that can be printed on a variety of 3D printers. Everything from miniature drone blades to sci-fi figures to replacement parts for your vacuum cleaner are readily available. The possibilities for whatever application you have are almost unlimited. Almost. 

The key to giving your 3D designs unlimited potential for customization is CAD modeling software. While there are many accessible 3D printing files created by others, the most satisfying way to bring your ideas to reality are files created by you! Files for 3D printing can be created from scratch or existing files can by modified to suit your application. Without the ability to create unique parts, a 3D printer can quickly become a novelty. As soon as the excitement of first initial prints wear off, the use and return on investment reduces as well.

Read more to see how one company unlocks the true potential of CAD with 3D Printing.

Engineering Services Customer Case Study

A company that customizes enclosure trailers recently proved to be an excellent example of this limitation and how to solve it. The company wanted to use an off-the-shelf LED lighting product to illuminate the interior of a racing trailer. They needed to mount the LED lights in a clean manner and in specific locations to satisfy the customer’s needs. The company also wanted to locate the lighting switches discreetly. Since these parts would not be mass-produced the cost of a plastic injection mold could not be justified. They decided a series of 3D printed components would be the best method to meet their needs within the given delivery timeline.

While the company had access to a 3D printer, they did not have access to CAD modeling software. Despite extensively searching online trying to fulfill the requirements for these lighting components, nothing could be found to suit their needs.

The company came across EAC and decided to utilize the Engineering Services Group to save the day. A member of the Engineering Services Team created several CAD models using PTC Creo to design the customized lighting components. Within two hours, the stylized CAD models were complete and ready for printing. Three days later the 3D prints were finished and installed in the trailer.

Figures 1 illustrates the CAD with 3D printing files and Figure 2 illustrates the finished parts installed in the trailer. The parts were 3D printed using the Form 2 by FormLabs. The Form 2 is a high-quality stereolithography (SLA) 3D printer. In this case, the parts were printed using a clear resin (GPCL02) and then painted black. The parts were quickly produced to provide the custom enclosed trailer with a lighting solution that exceeded the customers expectations.

This project demonstrates a practical application of 3D printing when paired with CAD modeling software. With PTC Creo and the Form 2, the Engineering Services team was able to quickly create finished and functional parts that can provide unique and differentiating products without the capital investment sometimes required by plastic injection molding and other manufacturing processes.

It’s important to remember that the quality of your print depends on the quality of your design. If the CAD model is poorly designed, your 3D printed product may have flaws. The cleaner your design, the cleaner your print. Luckily for you, we can help! Find out why you should design your products using PTC Creo here. If you think you already have a great CAD modeling software and want to explore the Form 2 instead, go here.

For some engineers, specifying a screw thread is no more than determining diameter and length and then searching through a parts catalog. For others, a custom thread is the difference between a successful surgical outcome with enhanced quality of life or a disappointing result that may require a revision surgery. A bone screw, whether used in a reconstructive, spinal, or other application, can be such an example.

A bone screw typically begins with a conical tip. The major diameter of the screw quickly increases to provide purchase in order to draw the screw into the bone. However, the minor diameter increases more gradually to reduce insertion force until the final portion is engaged into the bone. At this point the increasingly large tapered minor diameter provides a press fit into the outer (cortical) layer of the bone. This thread geometry is illustrated in Figure 1. The overall thread geometry is critical to providing stability to the affected area to allow bone growth and ultimately healing.

EAC’s Engineering and Design Services team recently worked on a project that clearly showed the advantage of using Creo versus SolidWorks to create this critical thread geometry. Several years ago the Engineering and Design Services team worked with an orthopedic company to create a series of bone screws varying in diameter and length for reconstructive surgeries. They used PTC Creo to create CAD models and drawings. The company was recently acquired by a global orthopedic corporation that used Solidworks 2016. The larger company insisted that the CAD models and drawings be recreated in SolidWorks 2016 for compatibility with internal corporate standards.

While working on the task, the Engineering and Design Services team found difficulty in reproducing the identical thread geometry using SolidWorks. Creo uses a single thread feature containing two individual sketches; one for thread profile and another for thread trajectory. This feature easily creates the varying thread tapers for the screw. Figure 2 shows the completed part and associated features in the model tree on the left hand side of the picture.

Recreating the same geometry in Solidworks requires 11 separate features and 8 sketches as shown in the model tree in Figure 3. Separate threaded features were required for the straight thread and the tapered thread at the tip of the screw. In addition, two helical curves were needed for each of the threaded features. One curve was required to provide the thread trajectory while the second helical curve was needed to fix the thread profile normal to the longitudinal axis of the screw.

The additional time to generate the needed features in Solidworks was significant for each part when compared to Creo and combined to substantial time savings for the entire project. This example illustrates why Creo is a superior application to SolidWorks.

The pressure to develop more and better products in less time is increasing. Your 3D CAD solution should enable you to provide your best work to produce your innovative ideas quickly and add advanced capabilities when you need them. The best tool for this is PTC Creo. PTC delivers the most scalable range or 3D CAD product development packages on the market today. Read more about why you should design using PTC Creo here.

For over 20 years I worked in the manufacturing industry as a designer, CAD or IT manager. One issue I have seen and experienced many times is the difficulty of getting upper management to understand the need and benefit of getting the latest CAD, PLM systems, or any other IT systems. In each role there was always the need for new software to keep my teams and systems as productive as possible. In this blog I will, at a very high-level, outline how I was able to get upper management to buy in on projects I felt were needed.

Very early in my career I was a CAD administrator. At the time we needed new CAD software. I was able to talk to upper management very often. I would try to explain and tell them the need. I would verbally walk through the benefits and even give them demos of the software. But… they would not want to pull the trigger on buying the latest software. I could theorize with them until I was blue in the face. It just didn’t matter.

Then, a mentor of mine recommended I put everything to numbers, such as creating a ROI and roadmap of what was required to implement the new software. So, I did. First, I did time studies against what we were doing today. I did this by getting input from various different users. This was basically recording how long it took them to do the most common tasks. I would always take multiple samples and then take the average. Then, using a trial install of the new version of software I was able to get comparisons for each use case tested against current software. I put the time savings to cost savings based on hourly rate averages. I also related it to increased engineering department output capabilities. For instance, our department could produce four projects a year. With the time improvements we can now produce five.

The next time I spoke with my manager, I simply put a one page short summary of total potential time and cost savings in front of him. Which in this case, immediately got his attention. He of course wanted to know how I came up with those numbers. I had to be ready to back my numbers up. I did this by giving him a more detailed page and walked him through my findings at a high-level. I also had a page outlining the general implementation roadmap with a timeline summary. Only three total pages, not a short novel. He could no longer just dismiss or put off the need. I received approval to proceed with my plan in less than a month after presenting my numbers to my manager. In this case my manager was one of the company owners, but having hard numbers and a tentative plan got the ball rolling.

One thing to note from the above example, by doing what I outlined above, it elevated my standing at my company. They were impressed at my willingness to push for, justify, and plan for something I believed in. Not just asking them to take on the burden of something I felt was a good idea.

This scenario was repeated throughout my career. I could bring in vendors to demo their product, put quote after quote in front of management. Meeting after meeting with vendors and upper management, I could not get management to agree until I took the time to document the true benefits in time and money (roadmap and ROI).

If you have product or process improvements you feel will benefit your company, you need to show your management that you truly believe in it. You need to do the needed research and documentation to show the benefit and how you recommend proceeding. You cannot just go and tell management there are problems. You must present a solution for the problem you are identifying. If you do this extra work, it will not only help get your request approved, but will also help how you are viewed by your management.

Look, I know what I am outlining is no small task. It can be time consuming, very time consuming in some cases. That’s why many times this never gets done and needed improvement projects never happen. There is just not enough time for internal staff to do the needed research, and get their day-to-day tasks done as well. That is why you need to partner with a company dedicated to help with product development improvements at your company, such as EAC. We don’t want to just sell you software, we want to help you and your company improve the way you design, manufacture, connect to, and service your products. We do this with our proven people, products and processes. If you and your company improve and succeed, we improve and succeed. We will do as much of the work as we can to help you get the needed numbers and roadmaps put together. There is always going to be some time needed from internal people. However, we try to keep this as minimal as possible.

In summary, if you can see areas where your processes or systems could be improved you need to put it to numbers. You need an ROI and a roadmap to take to upper management. It may seem frustrating at times, but you need to understand where management is coming from. They also have people they answer to. They can’t go to a board, or an owner, or their manager with just a demo and a quote. Not only is that not the information they are concerned with, but you typically don’t get that type of time with them. They need quick and real information to justify the need. You must be willing and ready to get this for them. Just remember, EAC is here to help you do this. Please reach out to us.

Some people say that selecting a CAD tool doesn’t matter. I’ve heard the analogy that CAD is like a hammer…it doesn’t matter what hammer you use, it’ll probably drive a nail and get the job done. I don’t agree. I think selecting the right tool can change, improve, and even revolutionize the way you work, design, and innovate.

Case and point – Augustine Die & Mold Inc. A while back Augustine Die & Mold Inc. came to us with a goal. They needed to improve collaboration on customer’s part designs and plastic injection mold designs. There was also an initiative to adopt a single platform for all their CAD, CAM, and CAE needs.

We worked with the Augustine team and mapped out that PTC Creo Parametric and a few advanced options and extensions would give them the functionality they needed in one consolidated package. We recommended PTC Creo Parametric as the core CAD technology and suggested the addition of the PTC Creo Parametric Tool Design Option (TDO), the PTC Creo Parametric Flexible Modeling Extension (FMX), and the PTC Creo Parametric Expert Moldbase Extension (EMX).

Augustine evaluated our recommendation and decided to implement the new CAD/CAM/CAE toolset. What was the outcome you may ask? They saw a 50% reduction in design cycle times. 50%! Having every designer, engineer, and technician using the same PTC Creo suite made the tool design process faster and easier with unprecedented levels of interoperability.

It matters what tools you use. Sometimes you can’t look at it like a hammer vs a hammer. Sometimes it’s a hammer vs. a nail gun. Don’t take my word for it. A senior engineer at Augustine Die & Mold Inc. used to use Solidworks and had this to say. “I started my career using SolidWorks, then I switched to Pro/ENGINEER which is now Creo. Creo Parametric, in my opinion, is the best CAD software available. I have noticed recently that files created in Solidworks tend to have solid modeling issues and make it difficult to design to the solid models needed. The reputation and performance that Creo has definitely surpasses any other software on the market.”

You can’t argue with that. Next time you’re considering how to complete more projects in less time..consider giving us a call. PTC Creo Parametric might be exactly the tool you’re looking for.

Today we’re going to talk about the Information Flow subsystem of EAC’s Product Development Operating System.

Pre-1980 there were no IT groups and there were no great numbers of knowledge workers. With the emergence of the computer and the dawning of the information age there was an explosion of IT tools that transformed business systems. In the product development business system these tools initially focused on helping the individual. We had CAD and CAM tools for helping mechanical and electrical engineers. We had tools that applied synthetic annealing to optimize optic design. And we had tools that helped simulate or analyze the designs that came forward.

More recently there’s been an emergence of more complex tools that facilitate product development — Product Data Management, tools for collecting and archiving project information, and a variety of tools that help support decision making in product development.

Product development is a knowledge centric function of the organization, but the topic of knowledge management itself is one that spreads in a lot of directions. If we look at the IT backbone that supports knowledge management; that topic converges on a small number of complex, connectable, but functionally focused IT systems.

We’re all interested in making informed decisions. That being decisions that are supported and influenced by accurate real-time information. This requires the ability to get the appropriate information to the decision maker at the right place, at the right time. This is the goal of the Information Flow subsystem.

This Information Flow subsystem is also a subsystem of your IT system. In both of these systems there are two critical jobs for the subsystem. The first is to support the goals of that system itself. The second is to look at the interaction between this subsystem and the other subsystems within its parent system; those being the IT System and The Product Development Operating System.

Here at EAC we’ve been devising a visual model to help you remember The Product Development Operating System. In this model the Information Flow subsystem is the foundation. It’s so critical that it supports the rest of the system. In knowledge centric product development a strong information flow is critical to inform the decisions that are made in both the Workflow subsystem and the Continuous Improvement subsystem. Without it, we have nothing.

Contact EAC to learn more about how Systems Thinking and the application of our Product Development Operating System can help your organization become more efficient, productive, innovative, and competitive.