Fast App: Check it Out: DE’s FastApps for April, 2010

By Anthony J. Lockwood

Dear Desktop Engineering Reader:

The web guy just posted Desktop Engineering’s April 2010 Fast Apps articles for you. On deck we have articles document management, 3D viewing and markup, and rapid prototyping. And the first one I want to tell you about is one that will remind you – in case you have forgotten in the chaos of your life – just why it is that engineers are so darned important to the world.

In the article “Summit Safety Used Quickparts for Fast Intro of Lifesaving Device,” you learn how quick-thinking and working engineers at two different companies leveraged rapid prototyping to make an emergency tracking device for firefighters a reality. Basically, the team at Summit Safety under a tight deadline had to get everything together fast except that they needed a prototype to make sure they had it right. They turned to Quickparts, who not only got them the prototypes the needed fast, but worked with to make sure that the tight schedules were met. Great stuff here.

How a global manufacturing, sales, and support company was able to both control and expand access its technical documents is the subject of our second article, “Synergis’ Document Management System Helps W.L. Gore Optimize Information Access, Collaboration, and Operations.” Not only did W.L. Gore gain from better document control, it also fostered tighter design collaboration among its worldwide design centers and standardized its data entry methodology. What really grabbed my attention here was that response times for customer requests fell from a minimum of 24 hours to around 15 minutes.

Every talking head like me says that company-wide access to CAD data is key for any size engineering and manufacturing company. But what we tend to neglect is that such capabilities are also vital for keeping your clients close. This is especially true for smaller companies who are as much their clients’ partner as they are a full-service manufacturing provider. Such is the case with Midwest Composite Technologies. Now, these guys are getting all sorts of benefits using 3D viewing and markup software to keep in the loop everyone inside and outside the company who needs to know. For more read,  “SolidView Enables Midwest Composite Technologies to Provide Affordable Companywide Access to CAD Data.”

That’s it for this edition of Desktop Engineering’s Fast Apps.

Thanks, pal.—Lockwood

Anthony J. Lockwood
Editor at Large, Desktop Engineering