Gap-to-zero, 3DEXPERIENCE Marketplace and the democratisation of manufacturing were the topics that dominated Dassault Systèmes’ event ‘SOLIDWORKS World 2018’ in Los Angeles on its third day.
The presentations on day three were one more time characterised by the idea of the proclaimed ‘Industrial Renaissance’, meaning that the individual is the centre of the technological progress.
During the last general session, former Formula One driver Tarso Marques told the audience his story of how he became one of the most innovative motorbike designers due to Dassault Systèmes’ software SOLIDWORKS.
Marques explained: “SOLIDWORKS made my life easier. Before I worked with the software, I used sketches to explain to my designers which form of a future motorbike I had in mind. But I am a bad illustrator and I could not get my idea across.”
SOLIDWORKS is not just a tool of transformation, it changes the way people design and create products; and the trend is towards more organic shapes which are becoming easier to design and make with SOLIDWORKS and the available 3D-printing technology.
Defining the manufacturability of parts
Topology Optimization, a feature that is available for SOLIDWORKS subscribers since October 2017, helped Marques’ team to consider manufacturing constraints during the design process.
This tool takes minimal inputs from a user about the part that is to be designed (loads, designs space, constraints, boundary conditions and even manufacturing constraints) and then runs an iterative algorithm that supplies an optimised part.
The software’s manufacturing controls make it possible to define the thickness, symmetry and preserved regions of a part to allow for making components and finish machining processes.
Basically, Topology allows the designer to add constraints in the designing process to more efficiently define and adjust the manufacturability of a component in the process of creating it.
3DEXPERIENCE Marketplace and digital manufacturing
The increasing control over the manufacturability of parts in the designing process is the technological side of Dassault Systèmes’ target to close the gap between ‘art and part’.
And furthermore, with the launch of the 3DEXPERIENCE Marketplace Dassault Systèmes strives to help closing more gaps between designers, engineering offices and digital manufacturers by bringing an online trading platform into the industrial world.
Once the part is designed, 3DEXPERIENCE Marketplace assists to find the best manufacturing service provider – including 3D printing – to make and deliver the required part.
With this SOLIDWORKS feature, businesses looking for manufacturing services have access to on-demand manufacturing and intelligent part sourcing services. These will streamline collaborations and overall innovation processes.
As of today, the 3DEXPERIENCE Marketplace already features 50 digital manufacturers with more than 500 machines and 30 million components from 600 suppliers – all recognised experts in their domains.
It will allow them to iterate on design and manufacturing specifications, ensure that a part or product can be manufactured, and reduce risk and errors.
It will also manage all aspects of a transaction between buyer and seller such as payments, currencies and billing, and provide a record of each transaction for full traceability.
Gian Paolo Bassi closed the event with special words of thanks and the announcement that SOLIDWORKS World 2019 will be taking place in Dallas, Texas.