Briefings: February 2006

By DE Editors

DIAdem Enhances Test Data Mining & Management

National Instruments (NI) has released of DIAdem 10.0, the latest upgrade of the company’s interactive tool for mathematical and visual test data inspection, analysis, and report generation. Key to version 10.0 is the DIAdem DataFinder, a data-mining tool that enables engineers and scientists to perform Internet-like searches across data files, regardless of format, at a fraction of the cost and without the maintenance challenges of traditional IT-supported data management solutions, according to the company.

The DIAdem DataFinder uses the NI technical data management (TDM) data model as its internal data structure. TDM files, written natively using NI LabVIEW data storage VIs (virtual instruments) or NI LabWindows/CVI storage functions, provide three levels of hierarchy to structure test data—file, group, and channel levels—a set of attributes that increases the range of possible search conditions. Although optimized to work with TDM files, the DIAdem DataFinder can search across data files, such as Excel, Minitab, MSC.Software ADAMS, and Pspice, for which there is an associated DIAdem DataPlugin. You can also import user-defined data files.

Engineers can perform simple searches or advanced searches based on key descriptive information. For example, analysts can use the DIAdem DataFinder to search for all tests with a specific serial number, status, and test type. After narrowing the data set, they then can use DIAdem to perform further analysis and reporting.

DIAdem DataFinder also gives engineers and managers the ability to establish and uncover anomalies or trends in their data. This feature is especially useful for those technical professionals who are required to analyze and report measurement and simulation data, make recommendations based on results, and share their findings with coworkers. With DIAdem you can automate repetitive analysis and reporting tasks using VBScript, and DIAdem is capable of working with data files that contain more than 100 billion data values. For complete details on DIAdem 10.0, visit the National Instruments website.

National Instruments
Austin, TX 

Mathematica Embraces Personal Supercomputing

Wolfram Research says that personal supercomputing is now a reality when you couple its Mathematica Personal Grid Edition with quad-core computers. Mathematica Personal Grid Edition eliminates the barriers to using parallelism:  no administrative overhead and no contending for shared resources. With it you can take on larger problems and investigate parallel approaches at any stage of the problem-solving process from your desktop.

Mathematica Personal Grid Edition combines the computational capabilities of Mathematica with high-level parallel language extensions to create a computing framework for quad-core machines.

Mathematica Personal Grid Edition offers performance improvements up to 300% over standard Mathematica with only minimal code modifications. For more intensive parallel applications, programs can run unchanged on grids or clusters of any size using gridMathematica. This also makes software a prototyping environment for large-scale parallelism. Mathematica Personal Grid Edition is available for 32- or 64-bit Windows, and on Mac OS X, Linux, and Unix systems.

Wolfram Research
Champaign, IL

Acrobat 3D Allows Use of 3D Info in PDFs by Non-CAD Users

Acrobat 3D is a new program from Adobe that gives design engineers the ability to publish and share 3D design information from their native CAD applications with anyone who uses the free Adobe Reader 7. Any 3D designs can be converted to Adobe PDF files and then opened and used by non-CAD users. These same design team members, whether suppliers, clients, or others, can then review and add comments directly to interactive 3D objects embedded in the PDF.

The new program means these team members will be able to immerse themselves in the design process without the need for CAD software, as many of them already have the free reader and don’t have any real need to run a CAD program on their desktops.

3D CAD content can be published as PDF files by dragging the content into Acrobat, by choosing a conversion option from a pull-down menu, or by using a capture utility included with Acrobat 3D. The 3D files can be combined with virtually any other type of file to create comprehensive project documents.

When the ability is enabled by the Acrobat user, Reader users can add comments directly to 3D objects, and users can define multiple cross-sections of objects for various reasons. The creator of the document can add interactive illustrations, create exploded views, add multiple levels of security, and more.

Interactive documents created using Acrobat 3D extends the collaborative ability for multiple team members. The new software works on Windows 2000, XP Pro, and UNIX systems.

Adobe
San Jose, CA 


MfgQuote.com, an online marketplace for sourcing and selling custom-manufactured goods and services, has announced the general availability of a new collaborative sourcing service for OEMs that source custom-manufactured components through MfgQuote.com. The service is free, and the company hopes that it will enhance the MfgQuote.com community by furthering collaboration in the enterprise as well as help increase the quality of sourcing, improve buying decisions, and save time as well as resources.

MfgQuote.com hosts and manages the new collaboration service. The service does not require the purchase or maintenance of special software or hardware for you to leverage it. The service is free to purchasing professionals and engineers sourcing engineered-to-order parts on MfgQuote.com.

Collaborative sourcing on MfgQuote.com means the participation of multiple purchasing professionals and/or engineers working together internally or with external suppliers in a single sourcing system. The new offering provides a suite of online tools that streamline the sourcing process, automate collaboration, and manage the supply chain. Buyers linked together online can securely distribute RFQs (requests for quotes), collaborate internally with other buyers, collaborate externally with suppliers, manage supplier data, and perform advanced sourcing analytics at an individual, group, or product level.

“This service will allow engineers and buyers to collaborate with suppliers during the design phase in the product lifecycle and dramatically reduce the product cost and time to market while increasing product quality and customer satisfaction,” explained Mitch Free, president and CEO of MfgQuote.com.

An example of how this could play out: A buyer may be responsible for the business aspects in a sourcing process and an engineer may be responsible for the technical aspects, such as providing CAD files or answering technical questions. With MfgQuote.com’s new collaboration functionality, both can interact to produce an RFQ, respond to suppliers, and evaluate quotes efficiently.

The collaboration enabled through MfgQuote.com’s standardized sourcing platform gives companies a sharable, macro-level view of their supplier network. The result is higher sourcing quality, more informed buying decisions, and sustainable bottom-line savings.

MfgQuote.com also offers users system-generated and user-added notes to supplier profiles, RFQs, quotes and quote actions (award, decline, negotiated, etc.), which provide a complete audit trail for sourcing events and create sharable corporate intelligence. Companies can selectively provide linked users the ability to share such data as preferred or approved suppliers lists, blacklists, supplier ratings, and prior history with a supplier. Users can create project folders and see rolled-up, projected, per-unit costs for all components in a folder as quotes arrive, making it easy to compare quotes to baseline or target prices. MfgQuote.com provides a comprehensive suite of reporting tools enabling companies to run on-the-fly what-if scenarios and to export data to Excel or other internal systems.

Other features include digitally signed non-disclosure agreements and the ability to invite existing suppliers to participate in RFQs, even if those suppliers are not already members of the MfgQuote.com network. For more information, go to the MfgQuote.com website.

MfgQuote.com
Atlanta, GA 

Pinion and Autodesk Join to Improve Data SecurityPinion Software, a provider of technical rights management solutions, announced AutoShred-DWF, which provides security for designs shared electronically with third parties. Developed through the DWF Partner Program with Autodesk, AutoShred-DWF enables users to share DWF files throughout the supply chain while controlling the level of access users have to the data in the files. AutoShred-DWF also gives manufacturers the ability to shred or erase files sent to third parties on their computers.

AutoShred-DWF requires no servers or IT infrastructure for you to use. You can use it in stand-alone mode on your desktop or through the integrated Outlook and Lotus Notes plug-ins. AutoShred-DWF lets you impose usage restrictions by way of permissions on any piece of content. For example, you can prevent cutting, copying, pasting, or modifying the information in any way. You can also block screen captures of the content you secure, and it deletes your files from the suppliers’ machines on a shred date that you set. AutoShred also securely encrypts your information for in-transit protection.

In related news, MfgQuote.com (see news item above) has released MfgQuote AutoShred Lite, a free utility that protects your intellectual property when you source online for engineered-to-order components developed in partnership with Pinion Software.

MfgQuote AutoShred Lite provides many of the same functionality as AutoShred-DWF, but it is tweaked for buyers using the MfgQuote marketplace and designed to work with the SolidWorks eDrawings format.

AutoShred-DWF is now available free on the Pinion Software website. Go to the MfgQuote.com for more on details on MdgQuote AutoShred Lite.

Autodesk
San Rafael, CA

MfgQuote.com
Atlanta, GA 

Pinion Software
Austin, TX

SmartCAMcnc Continues Rapid Development of SmartCAM Suite with its Latest Update

SmartCAM software was developed in the 1980s by an outfit called Point Control Company. It was such a hit that in the mid-1990s the sharks gobbled it up. Over an eight-year span, SmartCAM was the target of four corporate acquisitions.

If you’ve been there, then you know what happened: the smart guys did not realize what they bought. So, they cut development, zeroed out marketing, broke up the staff, and, finally, mothballed SmartCAM.

Only, SmartCAM had two attributes that were priceless: It had a large, active, and fiercely loyal user base and, two, a bunch of CAM developers who still believed in SmartCAM’s mission. So, a little over two years ago, a group got together and acquired the rights to SmartCAM. Calling their company SmartCAMcnc, these guys have been developing, supporting, and, finally, selling this stand-alone CAM system ever since.

Now, they’ve announced the release of SmartCAM V12.5 suite milling, turning, fabrication, and wire EDM applications. This release continues the modernization of the ACIS-based SmartCAM product family, which had languished for a number of years because of the above-recounted corporate instability brought on by successive acquisitions.

SmartCAM V12.5 has undergone a variety of architectural and usability improvements that affect the entire application suite. For example, its model files now let you import, create, and name up to 10,000 layers and up to 64 groups. This allows for more flexibility in organizing and managing SmartCAM data as well as lets you establish practices that best fit your design and manufacturing standards. OpenGL Dynamic Rendering lets you rotate, zoom, and pan fully rendered design models with toolpath and wireframe design elements. You can also now update the main SmartCAM interface window with the new Render window viewing orientation should you want.

Also new in SmartCAM V12.5 is the ability to automatically apply hole-making processes to commonly sized or located model features, eliminating manual selection of holes. Groups of holes of a specific size and process can be created easily. The DXF/DWG/IGES export functionality of the SmartCAM CAM Connection data translator has been updated to support current file formats. The SmartCAM applications now contain a fully up-to-date, integrated export capability.

Improvements to the SmartCAM suite have been under way since it reemerged in December 2003, and the company has a number of improvements planned for 2006. For complete details on the SmartCAM V12.5 suite of manufacturing applications, visit SmartCAMcnc on the web.

— Lockwood

SmartCAMcnc Inc.
Eugene, OR