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CLIENT: PARAMETRIC TECHNOLOGY CORP.

Medtronic Creates High-Quality Implanted Medical Devices with Pro/ENGINEER

One of the world’s most prestigious medical products companies, Medtronic Incorporated is a world leader in the design and manufacture of cardiovascular and neurological devices, with annual sales in excess of $1-billion. Medtronic brings innovative, high-quality products to market ahead of competition by using Parametric Technology Pro/ENGINEER (R)  software throughout the design-to-manufacturing process.

Back in 1957, shortly after reading a Popular Electronics story about how to build a transistorized metronome, graduate engineering student Earl Bakken was talking with some doctor friends about the rapidly growing world of medical electronics.

One of the doctors was C. Walton Lilliehei, a cardiac surgeon, who described ‘Blue baby syndrome,’ a condition where there is a hole in the septum of the heart (the thick wall separating the chambers), a potentially lethal defect in newborns. Corrective surgery often interrupted the heart’s electrical pathways; a pacemaker was needed to ensure correct heart rhythm until pathways could heal.

Earl thought that using the rhythm of the metronome to space electrical impulses would restore normal heart rhythm and solve the problem. The result was the world’s first reliable, wearable, battery-operated external pacemaker, about five inches square and two inches thick. It replaced huge cart-mounted devices requiring extension cords and wall outlets. It also marked the beginning of what was to become Medtronic Incorporated.

Selecting New CAD Systems. . .

For years, Medtronic has used CAD to design many of its defibrillators and pacemakers. Several years ago, however, dissatisfaction with a long-time CAD vendor came to a head, both because of the old program’s arcane user interface (which made it difficult to use) and its crude wireframe orientation.

Medtronic CAD people looked at alternatives and established key objectives.

"First, our new system had to offer solids modeling, so our designers could visualize what they were designing and producing far more effectively," says Steve Gompertz, Senior Mechanical Design Automation Engineer.

"Second, our new system had to be fast and easy to use -- a departure from what we were used to.

"And third, it had to help us quickly examine and test many alternatives, through Finite Element Analysis (FEA), stereolithography for rapid prototyping, and other technologies. We wanted to get better products to market much faster and more easily, and thoroughly analyze far more alternatives as part of the design-to-manufacturing process.

"Once the benchmarking was over, the obvious choice was Parametric Technology’s Pro/ENGINEER."

...To Design Sophisticated Products Ahead of Competition

Today, Medtronic uses Pro/ENGINEER software to design an increasing percentage of its sophisticated line of cardiovascular and neurological devices. "Product geometry is very small, since these are implantable devices," notes Steve Gompertz. "Each device embodies several parts with upwards of 200 features. Combine the complexity, the small size, and the fact that design aesthetics are important to our customers -- patients, surgeons, cardiologists, and other medical professionals -- and you begin to understand that there are intense demands throughout our CAD process, top to bottom."

Most devices created with Pro/ENGINEER are under three inches long, and some are much shorter. The titanium shell of many of the devices, including "Jewel," Medtronic’s newest Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD), has a sculptured look which changes in thickness and contour as the electronic feature set is updated. Elegantly simple in appearance, this highly sophisticated device senses heart arrhythmias which make the heart beat too fast. Jewel analyzes arrhythmias and delivers and adjusts various therapies to help reduce the need for the patient to be given a full defibrillation shock.

Jewel, designed exclusively on Pro/ENGINEER, is 31% lighter and occupies 27% less volume than its predecessor, enabling it to be implanted in the pectoral region instead of the abdomen, simplifying surgery and reducing patient risk. It was designed, very thoroughly tested, and sped to market on the wings of Pro/ENGINEER.

One of the problems with Medtronic’s old CAD system was that it was 2-D, which made product visualization cumbersome and tedious for infrequent CAD users. Worse, it consumed enormous time processing model updates, an especially bothersome problem in medical device design, since completed designs must still pass tedious federal review. Competitive necessity requires rapid design and prototyping to beat competition.

With Pro/ENGINEER, the process is not only easier but more productive. "One of the greatest benefits of Pro/ENGINEER is that it enables us to test more design possibilities in less time, which means it helps us produce more optimal products significantly faster than before," says Bill Johnson, Senior Principal Engineer. In fact, Pro/Engineer recently helped Medtronic complete a critical product design project three months early by facilitating concurrent engineering. Steve Gompertz adds, "Although that product is unannounced, we can assure you that its impact in the market has been enhanced significantly by our ability, with Pro/ENGINEER, to get it out there faster than anybody else. In this business, three months ahead of schedule is an enormous advantage."

A Complex Design Challenge

One of Medtronic’s newest devices, the Thera (R)  DR pacemaker, is an intelligent device which responds to physical stresses as the person in which it is implanted passes through daily routines. For example, it can sense and respond to the difference between climbing stairs and sleeping. A crystal attached to the inside of its titanium shell senses vibrations, and helps regulate the heartbeat to respond to the person’s current activity level. Furthermore, pacemaker-regulated heartbeats can be custom-tailored by the attending physician or cardiologist to the needs of each individual patient through an external programmer/telemetry device.

All of which makes for an enormously complex and challenging design process. To create devices which are capable of both sensing a wide range of stresses and responding accordingly requires a CAD program capable of simulating what the sensors will encounter in actual use. "Thera DR must sense what’s happening and respond instantly, so it tells the heart what to do," Steve Gompertz notes.

"Pro/ENGINEER’s Finite Element Analysis (FEA) capabilities enable us to tune each device so it can respond to any given ‘flex’ appropriately," adds Bill Johnson.

The design process utilizing Pro/ENGINEER is highly interactive. Not only does Pro/ENGINEER ensure that everyone throughout the global Medtronic enterprise is working on only the latest design iteration, Pro/ENGINEER also enables designers to create a prototype through stereolithography which can be seen, touched, and visually inspected by potential customers (medical practitioners) anywhere -- giving those people who are capable of being a product’s harshest critics a significant role in determining the final product’s functionality and appearance. Medical reviewers may suggest subtle design changes to improve implantability, wearability and long-term comfort. Or they may suggest something more profound. Pro/ENGINEER enables Medtronic to respond, creating design updates quickly.

Design Changes in 1/10th The Time

"Pro/ENGINEER’s 3D visualization capabilities enable us to complete design changes on critical parts in 1/10th the time it took with our old CAD system," Steve Rockow says. Adds Steve Gompertz, "We use that productivity advantage to evaluate many more potential design concepts, so the product we ultimately bring to market is not only the best possible alternative current technology allows, but it’s also very thoroughly evaluated, tested, and retested. We can try 20-30 variations now instead of only two or three, and use significantly less time to do it. And every design we evaluate can be communicated to our entire design, engineering, and manufacturing network worldwide, and to our external vendors through IGES and DXF standards for real-time concurrent engineering and part evaluation. That includes 2D, 3D, and outside part graphics. The latest iteration of every aspect of every project is available to authorized individuals everywhere in the enterprise, no matter how complex the part or how distant the engineer."

As a consequence of the gains in efficiency realized through the use of Pro/ENGINEER, design and engineering costs are either staying at current levels or actually declining, a benefit of enormous long-term competitive and market significance.

Steve Gompertz concludes: "Pro/ENGINEER has delivered faster speed, concurrent design and engineering capabilities enterprise-wide, and total project integration -- analysis, solids, high-end part renderings, manufacturing simulation, and even virtual reality. What amazed us is that despite its rich functionality, the learning curve for Pro/ENGINEER was much easier than our old 2D program. It’s much more intuitive. It lets us move quickly to develop real-life solutions that are hits in the marketplace, and that get to market well before the other guy’s."

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CUSTOMER TESTIMONIAL: PARAMETRIC TECHNOLOGY CORP.:

Brother International Finds Pro/ENGINEER "The Right Type" for Electronic Inkjet Word Processor Design

Brother International Corporation’s big new US R&D facility in Bartlett, Tennessee, is using Parametric Technology’s Pro/ENGINEER software to design its next-generation inkjet electronic word processor, the Brother WP6500J.

Like many other Japanese companies, Brother is committed to moving both the design and manufacture of US-targeted products to the US, according to Nathan Boyd, Lead Engineer responsible for designing plastic enclosures for Brother’s word processors, printers, and other US-designed consumer/home office products. Brother International is a US arm of Brother Industries Ltd., Nagoya, Japan.

"The products we’re designing here on Pro/ENGINEER will revolutionize the inkjet word processor business," Nathan asserts. "Most electronic word processors historically have used film or fabric ribbons, which make it impossible to print grayscale images. The WP6500J is an inkjet electronic word processor with what-you-see-is-what-you-get performance, including high-resolution grayscale printing. Combine advanced design ingenuity with highly competitive pricing, and you get a revolutionary new product."

To bring that product to market well ahead of competition, Brother uses Pro/ENGINEER plus Pro/ASSEMBLY, SURF, PDM, Pro/MECHANICA, and Pro/FEA, all of which run on a Solaris 2.3 operating system on 23 Sun MicroSystems SunSPARC 5, 10, and 20 workstations devoted to PTC products.

"We use Pro/ENGINEER exclusively for all Brother International R&D-designed products," Nathan explains. "Most of the enclosures we design require expensive injection molding dies; our die vendors will not accept 2D designs, and a majority of them prefer to deal specifically with Pro/ENGINEER. We greatly accelerate the development of new products with Pro/ENGINEER, and we expect our suppliers to give us very fast turnaround on dies. Using Pro/E, our lead time for new dies has been reduced from 22 weeks to just 10 weeks. Pro/ENGINEER gives us software compatibility with all our major suppliers and it gives us an easy-to-use 3D geometric database as well."

Brother’s US R&D facility was started from scratch early in 1993. Despite the 3D CAD inexperience of most of the members of the staff when they first joined Brother, Nathan Boyd was an experienced trainer who found it easy to teach Pro/ENGINEER and related products to them. "We just started at the beginning. I’ve taught both 2D and 3D drafting, and 3D is much easier. We live in a three-dimensional world. It’s how we think."

Because of accomplishments in the brief time since it was launched, the Brother International R&D center gets great freedom to develop its industrial designs independently, focusing on consumer characteristics like ease-of-use ergonomics, weight minimization, power conservation, market-driven features, ease of manufacturing, price, and more.

"The Product Design and Product Management function -- PDPM -- is located at our US corporate headquarters in Somerset, New Jersey. They determine what they want the product to do, and they set its general specifications. Then they hand it off to us, and we determine its ‘doability’ and consumer characteristics."

Pro/ENGINEER Enters Brother International’s Design Process Early

Brother frequently shows photo-realistic pictures of products-in-development not only to its own sales people but also to its best customers even as the ideas are starting to take shape as real products.

"When PDPM turns over a set of product specs to us," Nathan explains, "we immediately create sketches and just start right into development using Pro/ENGINEER. Is the product that PDPM is looking for even possible? What shape best meets all of their requirements? We also use actual end-product colors. It takes little time for us to have a rendering of what the product will look like. Once PDPM and R&D agree, we create 35mm slides of our screen images and project them at sales meetings months before we plan to go into production."

For some uses, Brother International creates mockups. "We can use a Pro/ENGINEER 3D file to create a foam or RENSHAPE mockup of a product, so our sales people and customers can get a real sense of its size and feel and how its features will bring new benefits to customers," Nathan notes. "Sometimes slides or foam mockups are the final step in the approval process, enabling PDPM and R&D to reconcile any philosophical or practical product differences."

After final PDPM approval, the process gets busy. "We then take the same data that we had used to create mockups and slides and we use it as the actual starting point for the 3D part in Pro/ENGINEER. By doing this, we keep the exact shape the industrial designers want and we also save time going from 2D hand sketches to 3D parts. Pro/ENGINEER simplifies the model-making process, cutting several weeks from the average model-creation time as it exists today in 2D."

Typical product development cycles run 10-12 months, during which Brother International sends 3D geometric data electronically to vendors to create necessary tools for injection molding, sheet metal, and affiliated parts. Often, specs and preliminary data are sent early, so development of related parts can proceed through concurrent engineering.

To ensure fast turnaround, Brother International deals only with vendors capable of handling 3D data. "Those are the aggressive ones, the ones whose philosophy about getting to market with quality products ahead of the competition matches our own. Because of Pro/ENGINEER, our average time from final design release to first sample of our large enclosure parts has been reduced by 12 weeks. The impact of that both competitively and on our bottom line is huge."

In cases where bona fide prototyping is required, Brother International responds quickly. "We use our 3D data to make prototype parts through SLA, stereolithography/rapid prototyping. From the SLA we create silicone molds of the part. That is a routine procedure for design verification and testing, especially of new products. By using Pro/ENGINEER, our prototype stage is reduced by almost three weeks, and our goal is to eventually eliminate it completely for some products."

The 3D database yields more than products; it also yields product support systems. For example, Brother International uses 3D Pro/ENGINEER design data to create both its user manuals and its service manuals. "We can dump our data into Interleaf or other publishing systems without the need to re-create or convert anything," Nathan comments. "We also use exploded views on the shop floor, for our manufacturing people. They can look at enlarged data right from the 3D product database, which makes their jobs easier particularly if they ever have a question."

Precisely the same data is also used in customer support. "There is no need for any support people to create line drawings or exploded views or any other product graphics or illustrations that might in fact be somewhat different from the database," Nathan advises. "All 3D product data which customer support folks need, they get right from the 3D Pro/ENGINEER database. That saves money and it saves a lot of time as we prepare to train customer support staff and ready new products for market."

The Last Word...

Clearly, Nathan Boyd believes PTC products have made a significant difference in Brother International’s ability to compete successfully in the rugged late-1990s consumer electronics marketplace. "We started with Parametric Technology in January of 1994, with only one seat," he says. "We’ve expanded rapidly since then, to 23 seats at the beginning of 1996. All I can say is that without PTC’s Pro/ENGINEER, we could never meet our aggressive product development cycles."

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CUSTOMER TESTIMONIAL: PARAMETRIC TECHNOLOGY CORP.:

Holset Engineering "turbocharges" its Design Process with Pro/ENGINEER

A wholly owned subsidiary of multinational conglomerate Cummins Engine Corporation for more than 20 years, Holset Engineering Company Ltd., based in Huddersfield, U. K., has been using CAD/CAM/CAE for many years to design its highly sophisticated turbochargers and related technologies.

Holset is split into three main business groups; one of these is the Air Handling division, which designs and manufacturers power-maximization devices for diesel engines used in automobile, off-highway construction, marine, and power generation applications. Holset sells its turbochargers both to Cummins and to OEM companies based in Europe.

As Manager of Engineering Computer Systems at Holset, Ian Lawson is responsible for eight Pro/ENGINEER seats in a worldwide Cummins Pro/ENGINEER population now in excess of 350 seats.

"We became aware a few years ago that Cummins was settling on Pro/ENGINEER worldwide as a standard CAD/CAM/CAE platform," Ian says. "Our organization here is very demanding and our product, consisting of complex aerodynamic shapes and freeform surfaces, challenges most CAD/CAM systems in terms of geometric modeling. We wanted to evaluate Pro/ENGINEER as soon as possible, we used some of our own budget to purchase our first seat in 1993."

Ian explains, "At Holset, we were for the most part happy with what we had been using, although we knew Cummins was evaluating PTC’s Pro/ENGINEER. We were skeptical that another product could do better, but our initial experience with Pro/ENGINEER left us very pleasantly surprised. We expected a pure 3D modeling package but we weren’t sure if Pro/ENGINEER could do complex freeform surfaces and fillets, or manufacturing, or detailing. It delivered excellent modeling capabilities and overall substantially exceeded our expectations."

Ian and his staff were particularly impressed with the immediate productivity improvements Pro/ENGINEER gave them in design, analysis, and prototype manufacturing. "We were very comfortable with our non-PTC design and drafting package, and we were a little skeptical about moving to something different. But Pro/ENGINEER took on our existing design-to-manufacturing work quickly using the core product, and Pro/MANUFACTURE for 3-axis toolpath generation."

Development Time Slashed with Pro/ENGINEER

PTC’s Pro/ENGINEER is principally used in Holset’s Design and Drawing office, and in its Engineering Computer Group. "We had tried to use our previous CAD package for both surface and solid modeling, but it took far too long to get anything done, and the old package’s solids performance overall was significantly below our requirements. PTC is made for solids and surfaces, so we expected a major change, which is exactly what Pro/ENGINEER delivered. We wanted to design turbochargers -- in a reasonable time -- as 3D solid models, something that was impossible with our old CAD vendor. Pro/ENGINEER lets us do this."

One problem Holset experienced with its old 2D software was what Ian calls "Interpretability." "For our types of components, two-dimensional drawings are inadequate and are open to interpretation, since they are not a complete three-dimensional representation. When we produced 2D drawings of our 3D designs for pattern makers, the ‘interpretability’ made things very difficult for us.

"Now, using Pro/ENGINEER, we create an entire 3D product which we can test and analyze thoroughly. We see the true design on-screen, get actual interferences, and true component definition. We couldn’t do that before."

Perhaps most important, Ian emphasizes, is analysis. "Pro/ENGINEER makes analysis a much faster and easier process. Aerodynamic and stress analyses are integrated into the design process. Creating prototypes is far faster and easier as well, regardless of whether we do it internally or externally."

To make patterns in its old 2D practice, Holset had to laboriously prepare six E-size 2D drawings, then bring them to a foundry to shape the actual pattern. Now, with Pro/ENGINEER, the 3D solid model definition can be easily used to produce 3-axis toolpaths, utilizing Pro/ MANUFACTURE software to machine patterns and dies -- all in house.

"The simplicity of 3D pattern-making with Pro/ENGINEER cut our costs by 25%," Ian notes. "Even more important than that -- if anything can be more important than that -- Pro/ENGINEER cut our design-to-qualified-part production time down from 35 weeks to only 12 weeks on two types of key components."

Designing Similar Prototypes

Improvements have occurred throughout the design process, not just at prototyping. "We frequently design two or three prototypes, each with a slight variation on the others. We can really use the power of Pro/ENGINEER by redefining the features of one prototype to create the others. That was a much more complicated, much slower process with our old CAD system. We reduced the time taken to produce an input deck for our aerodynamic analysis code from four hours on the old system to under 15 seconds using Pro/ENGINEER."

Pro/ENGINEER’s rapid prototyping capability translates designs into usable prototypes quickly and without hassles. Ian states: "At Holset we are starting to use the newly emerging rapid prototyping techniques for producing actual hardware for test as well as models which can be used to demonstrate the design intent. Despite the 3D modeling capabilities coupled with high-powered workstations from both Digital Equipment and Silicon Graphics, our customers still like to see something that looks like the real thing, something they can touch, feel, and mentally analyze." Prototypes also can also be used for one-of-a-kind part samples on which we can calibrate performance information under real operating conditions, as well as for customer samples."

Concludes Ian: "Perhaps the most significant advantage of Pro/ENGINEER is that it simplifies the entire product development process by enabling us to quickly and easily create one master geometric definition of the entire product -- one definition ready for aerodynamic, stress, and thermodynamic analyses; one definition we can use to create a prototype; and one definition we can use to create our production tools and even the illustrations for our service and user manuals. This is a vision we identified at Holset nearly seven years ago. Now, with Pro/ENGINEER, we are starting to realize that vision."

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CUSTOMER TESTIMONIAL: PARAMETRIC TECHNOLOGY CORP.:

From Toys to 21-Ton Trucks: Executing "Seamless Industrial Design" at IGNITION, Incorporated, With "Pro/E"!

Douglas Laube Industrial Design, a "turnkey product development firm" founded in Plano, Texas, in 1986, changed its name to "IGNITION" late in 1994. "We ignite the industrial design process by involving a team of designers from the beginning, which promotes synergy and really gets things going," founder Doug Laube says.

IGNITION’s team approach isn’t unusual, except for its heavy dose of behavioral science research.

"Our designs are used by people: toys, sections of fire apparatus, the inside of a semi truck, and laptop computers are some examples. A few years ago, we designed an educational toy for Texas Instruments. It was intended to enhance shape discrimination, so we had to know whether kids’ hands moved side to side or up and down, for example. Behavioral science research identifies those things and much more for all our projects." That orientation applies to IGNITION projects in electronics, consumer goods, medical products, educational products, transportation, and others.

Doug Laube several years ago analyzed a number of CAD solid modeling vendors and chose Pro/ENGINEER from Parametric Technology. "Many industrial design firms work only from the outside in; they create surface models of what they think a product should look like, then render photo-realistic surface images of it, and sell ‘the concept.’ Unfortunately, nice looking pictures don’t always translate into products that work. Industrial designers must also work from the inside out. At IGNITION, we do this through solid modeling software packages. When we show pictures to our clients, they’re seeing the real thing. That’s their product, not an unrealistic image that might never work." IGNITION currently has 27 employees and 8 Pro/ENGINEER and Pro/MANUFACTURING seats, with more likely soon.

Communicating Electronically with Customers

IGNITION’s clients are scattered across the country and around the world. Consequently, the ability to transmit Pro/ENGINEER electronic data to customers, without translation, is essential. "Translation programs may affect the integrity of files, including solid model files," Doug says. "Many of the companies we work with use Pro/ENGINEER and Pro/MANUFACTURING from Parametric Technology. We can quickly transmit files back and forth without translation, and that really speeds the design process for everybody."

When Brian Roderman, Sr. Industrial Designer at IGNITION, saw some early designs for Pierce Manufacturing Company’s new Quantum series of fire trucks, he went right to work, contacting Pierce about his ideas. Soon after, IGNITION was ready for its presentation.

Roger Lackore, Chief Engineer for chassis design at Pierce, explains, "The Quantum was designed with an open-cab concept. When Brian approached us with his ideas, we already had developed the initial prototype, but we were still unhappy with the development for the front of the cab. Brian created a new look based on an assembly of new parts -- a look that could be visualized in 3D and overlaid on the current design. This produced a great solution to a tough problem."

Adds Doug Laube, "Every one of our customers is in a tough, ultracompetitive market. We’re designing cellular phones, laptop computers, toys, truck cabs, and more. Once we get our arms around the needs of the end users of those products, we move quickly to develop products, test them, and deliver."

In the case of the fire apparatus, that meant capturing a mass of data about the existing prototype and ensuring that IGNITION’s design would interface with every contact point -- all this while also ensuring that the design would be attractive to firefighters, instilling in them a sense of pride in ownership.

"Before we started using Pro/ENGINEER, often it would take us up to six to eight months to create an approvable final image," Doug states. "Now it takes one month -- or less -- and in this market, that difference in time from design to working prototypes translates to the bottom line for our customers. Their competition can’t beat it."

Interestingly, IGNITION used Pro/ENGINEER to design both a one-ounce data interface for cellular phones and the fire apparatus "face lift" for Pierce’s 21-ton fire truck.

"There are similarities among our projects regardless of the size, weight, or complexity of the many products we design," Doug explains. "In every case, Pro/ENGINEER and MECHANICA software from PTC enable us to quickly design and test products on screen. We do that in less than 20% of the time it took us with our old system, which wasn’t solids-based. That includes time for static, kinetostatic, dynamic, and inverse dynamic studies for mechanical devices, depending on the product, and linear static, linear modal, buckling, contact, and dynamic analyses for structural components, again depending on the product. MECHANICA helps us optimize our products far more quickly than before, in some cases allowing us to do things the other system couldn’t do at all. This enables us to show our clients actual cross-sections of their products, so they can check manufacturing tolerances and see how interferences have been eliminated and performance optimized. You can’t do that with a surfaces based program.

"Some clients still ask for photo-realistic images of their products. We can do that through new imaging software from Parametrics, but because we’re still working with true product databases, our photo-realistic images are much more than a pretty face."

IGNITION routinely receives customer signoffs on new projects within a month after they’re launched, long before any prototype is ever built. "We don’t always build prototypes," Doug says. "We know what it will look like. We know exactly how it will work, how it will be manufactured, what it will weigh, what the bill of materials is. A prototype is necessary only if a client wants to use it in connection with something else -- a presentation, a board meeting. It’s actually not necessary otherwise, in most cases."

Pro/ENGINEER, Pro/MANUFACTURING, and MECHANICA also expedite the transfer of product data to the shop floor. "We can make master patterns for our CNC machining centers automatically. Downloading approved product information to our clients’ manufacturing processes or to the to CNC machining centers is a quick process, regardless of whether we’re building a prototype or our customer is using the product database we created to build his product."

Solid Modeling Capability Is Critical

"Our experience over the last several years reinforces our belief that solid modeling is critical to effective, expeditious product design," Doug concludes. "Because the product you’re creating resides virtually in the computer, it’s the same as holding the part in your hand -- assuming the part isn’t a 21-ton fire truck! "We get everything we want from Pro/ENGINEER. It allows us to make changes very fast, which shortens the development time for derivative products, sometimes by as much as 50 to 60%.

"But the best part is that we’re totally integrated with the product development and manufacturing processes of our customers, worldwide. We can talk on the phone, update part information, make changes and move updated electronic part information to them instantly. It’s like we’re in their office, anywhere in the world, giving them the solutions they need faster than they expect. That’s a very effective way to do business."

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CUSTOMER TESTIMONIAL: PARAMETRIC TECHNOLOGY CORP.:

Bussmann Circuit Components Cuts Costs While Speeding Development of Custom Electronic Components with Pro/ENGINEER

A creator of both stock and custom electrical connectors, industrial controls, and related devices for the automotive, electronic, computer, and other industries, Bussmann Circuit Components reacts instantly to complex design requests from high-profile customers. Sean Ciesielka, Bussmann’s CAD administrator and himself a designer, credits PTC’s Pro/ENGINEER with cutting product design time in half on many projects, greatly speeding time-to-market, and cutting the cost of design 30-50%.

"We started using Pro/ENGINEER five years ago," Sean recounts. "We now have five seats which we use for all new product development, from concept to production. The 3D software we used in the past had been difficult to learn and to use, and didn’t allow direct transfer of files to the stereolithography (SLA) process. With Pro/ENGINEER we rough-in what we think the part is going to look like, add dimensions, and Poof! -- there’s our part. It’s more intuitive, it’s faster, it’s easier, it allows us to use SLA techniques, and it really helps cut costs which is a great asset when we’re out there competing for business."

With AutoCAD software, which Bussmann had used for some other projects, "It would take many days longer to do some of the same things we can do in a few hours with Pro/ENGINEER. We don’t have time to wait like that. We save up to 20 hours per drawing using Pro/ENGINEER: 20 hours per drawing... that’s a lot."

Bussmann Circuit Components recently used Pro/ENGINEER to design a disconnect-type terminal block for long-term client Westinghouse. It’s an industrial control device which acts as a quick disconnect within the motor drive circuit. "We competed for that project against several other suppliers. We came to the table with concept drawings and a first-generation 3D stereolithography model, created with Pro/ENGINEER. That enabled Westinghouse not only to visualize the product through the 3D drawing, but also to see, touch, and hold an actual part created by Pro/ENGINEER. Most prospective vendors submitted ordinary 2D drawings. Our ability to do 3D drawings and SLA quickly, on a speculative basis, really helped us win that contract. And it took us less than two weeks to create our proposal materials."

Once the contract had been won, Bussmann used Pro/ENGINEER’s feature-oriented design processes to complete the project. Bussmann typically uses a range of Pro/ENGINEER modules to design plastic parts, form sheet metal, create dies, and more. "We conceptualized about the disconnect block’s size, fit, function, wall thicknesses, and so on. We needed 2D drawings for production mold tooling, but we use Pro/ENGINEER to create products in 3D because it’s faster, easier, and much more accurate, and it provides superior visualization. And once the 3D drawing is done, you automatically get a 2D drawing. That speeds the whole product creation process, and helps us quickly get quotes out for tooling."

Not only does creating in 3D save 20 hours of work per average part drawing as Sean noted earlier, Pro/ENGINEER also quickly resolves all issues related to fit, so it eliminates all make-good work due to fit mismatches. "That saves at least another 40 hours of rework per project," Sean smiles. "Our scrap savings on this one project were $2,000. Pro/ENGINEER usually gives us scrap savings in that range for just about every project, compared to ordinary, less productive programs.

"Perhaps most important to our customers is the fact that they can actually take our SLA models and plug other components into them -- or plug them into other components -- to prove to their satisfaction the fit of related componentry. Customers love doing that."

In another instance, a customer over time made several major design changes to a part, each of which was in effect a total redesign. "That happens as our customers alter designs to respond to the needs of their customers, or to respond to competitive pressures. With Pro/ENGINEER, it’s no disaster at all. Pro/ENGINEER’s design associativity means that changes made in one part of the design are accurately and fully reflected throughout the entire design. Associativity enables us to painlessly and quickly create an updated SLA model so the world does not stop every time a change comes along. Pro/ENGINEER makes changes almost easy."

Although Pro/ENGINEER has helped Bussmann Circuit Components increase productivity and cut costs throughout every aspect of the design process, nowhere in that process is the impact greater than in tool design. "With Pro/ENGINEER, creating prototype tooling costs about $8,000 for a typical tool for our types of products," Sean explains. "That’s $5,000 less per tool than with the method we used previously. Add all the savings we realize from Pro/ENGINEER from every aspect of the entire product process, and you see the impact this one software product family has had on our profitability and on our success. That’s over and above all the business Pro/ENGINEER helps us win by enabling us to create SLA models that blow the socks off prospective customers.

"We love Pro/ENGINEER. How could we not?"

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CUSTOMER TESTIMONIAL: PARAMETRIC TECHNOLOGY CORP.:

LS Mold Uses Pro/ENGINEER To Enhance Productivity and Quality
And To Propel Furniture Creation Into The 21st Century

Of all the world's crafts, few are as ancient or widely respected as the fine art of creating furniture.
Twenty-six years ago, when LS Mold was founded, creating molds for furniture parts was a tedious, labor-intensive, sometimes frustrating bit of craftsmanship.

But times change. Years ago, LS Mold selected a 2D CAD package to reduce time to market, cut waste, and improve the quality and precision of its molds.

"We chose that CAD system to attract more business. We upgraded to Pro/ENGINEER for exactly the same reason," recounts owner Lloyd Koning. That happened in 1993, when LS Mold -- with Lloyd assisted by both his sons, David and Larry -- graduated to Pro/ENGINEER and 3D modeling.

"A lot of factors moved us toward Pro/ENGINEER," David explains. "We compete to win business from some of the country's top office furniture makers, along with automotive and consumer product manufacturers. We have to be able to deliver molds that are highly accurate, and the faster we can do that, the faster our customers get their new products to market. Office furniture is like every other business -- faster time to market with high-quality products literally makes the difference between success and the alternative."

When LS Mold's customers started using 3D CAD for product design, Lloyd, Larry, and David saw the future crystallize in front of them. "3D parametric design is the future," Larry declared. "2D was fine in its time, but that's history. Everyone is moving to 3D solid modeling simply because 3D models are more realistic and accurate. The parametric nature of Pro/ENGINEER solids makes 3D design much faster because the models are easier to manipulate. You also get a much more tangible product to look at than you did with old 2D packages, no matter how good they were."

Major Technical Challenge
 There is no shortage of technical challenge in executing mold designs for today's sophisticated, adjustable, ergonomic office chairs. Larry notes, "We're working on functional pieces such as inner backs and inner seats, devices which adjust the chair to the user, and outer aesthetic parts -- ergonomic sculpted arms, stacker chair seats, and backrests. These are all complex surfaces. Most of the major furniture manufacturers who are our customers already use Pro/ENGINEER, which simplifies and expedites the entire product sequence from design to introduction."

The quality of LS Mold products has always been good, but it's significantly better with Pro/ENGINEER. "When we were designing products in the 2D world, making changes was difficult, time-consuming, and expensive," David explains. "With Pro/ENGINEER, we make changes 50% faster, since there's no need to re-create everything. Pro/ENGINEER's 'associativity' changes all relative geometry automatically.

"With Pro/ENGINEER, we no longer need patterns or duplicating aids. Parting lines match perfectly every time, requiring little or no polishing," David says. "Parting line mismatch is clearly visible in products made from inferior molds, and is unacceptable in the industries we service which have aesthetically demanding designs." (A parting line is the location where two mold halves meet.)

Pro/ENGINEER also makes possible the benefits of concurrent engineering. "We can share engineering information with our customers early in a project. That means that we can concurrently execute different aspects of the design process -- aspects which would normally follow one another," Larry offers.

"Pro/ENGINEER has enabled us to use all of our high tech capabilities more efficiently," he adds. "We use Pro/MANUFACTURE to cut electrodes for our CNC EDM machines. Each electrode can give our customer a visual representation of the part before any steel is cut. If there are any concerns, engineering enhancements can be made with little or no impact on the mold itself."

Mold quality is enhanced with Pro/ENGINEER. "With our old 2D package, it took many steps to get molds ready for manufacturing," David explains. "Pro/ENGINEER eliminates those steps, which reduces engineering lead time by up to 75% and improves quality."

LS Mold has three Pro/ENGINEER stations and uses Pro/SURFACE, Pro/MOLD, Pro/MANUFACTURE-Advanced, Pro/CDRS, Pro/MECHANICA, Imageware/Surfacer, and ICAM post-processing to create its molds. "We develop designs on Pro/ENGINEER, use Pro/MECHANICA for design analysis, then use Pro/MOLD and Pro/MANUFACTURE to complete the process," says David.

LS Mold cut its typical 22-week lead time to just nine weeks from design through initial "almost perfect" product samples (a 59% reduction) when the company created a plastic injection mold for the fixed arm of an office chair for a key customer. The chair subsequently earned the gold award for Best New Seating Product at the NeoCon Office Furniture Show in 1995.

David concludes: "By using Pro/ENGINEER and its related design automation tools, we've cut mold and engineering lead times by 50% to 75% while dramatically improving product quality. That's a lot of benefit from one product family."

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COMPUTERVISION CORPORATION COLLATERAL:

CV Toolmaker: The Solution for Manufacturing Tools, Dies, Molds, and Patterns

Manufacturing tools and dies -- whether for shampoo bottles, auto fenders, tail light lenses, electric drills, or anything else -- involves promises you make to people who depend on you. You can keep those promises easily with CV Toolmaker, the most productive manufacturing tool you can buy.

A Proven Tool To Help You Succeed

Your company’s success depends on your ability to deliver quality and performance which meet or exceed customer expectations, delivery which is on or ahead of schedule, and costs which are at or below budget. Indeed, these things decide customer satisfaction -- and they determine whether you have a long-term "customer" . . . or something less.

CV Toolmaker software helps you consistently produce and deliver tool and die products which meet or exceed your customers’ expectations. You’ll find specifics about your applications in the shaded area to the right.

Performance. Computervision has been involved in CAD/CAM software for more than 25 years. Computervision’s rich experience in what you do day in and day out has yielded a product that brings great performance to every aspect of tool design and manufacture, where speed, quality, accuracy, and flexibility are absolutely critical.

Expandability. CV Toolmaker software is available in discrete components. Buy only what you need to meet today’s requirements, with the knowledge that you can expand functionality as your needs grow.

Superb customer support. Computervision and Computervision Reseller Technical Support personnel know CV Toolmaker inside-out. More important, they know machine shops inside-out. Ask a "machine shop" question, and you get a clear, unmistakable "machine shop" answer -- which works.

The materials assembled for you in this CV Toolmaker pocket folder detail every aspect of the current Toolmaker product offering. What follows are highlights of some of the most notable benefits available to you from CV Toolmaker.

CV Toolmaker gives you the tools to deliver above your customers’ expectations. Toolmaker consists of five software modules:

CV Design and Drafting.

Design and Drafting gives you tools to construct 2-D and 3-D wireframe models using geometric modeling techniques, and to generate standards-compliant engineering drawings. This component also enables you to produce engineering drawings from models created with CADDS 4X or CADDS 5.

NURBS Surfacing.

NURBS surfacing includes all the basic NURBS capabilities most often required in the tool and die industry.

CVNC-M2/M3.

CVNC generates 2-, 2 1/2-, and 3-axis toolpaths to speed all toolmaking operations -- including roughing, semifinishing, and finishing. This powerful CV production tool is one of the world’s top selling NC software packages.

IGES.

The CV Toolmaker IGES component delivers mature, reliable, highly productive support for data exchange -- including complex contoured surfaces and trimmed NURBS.

CVGP II Generalized Postprocessor.

CVGP II supports machine control data output for 2-, 2 1/2-, and 3-axis mills, basic wire EDMs, and flame cutters.

Key CV Toolmaker Features/Benefits

Because Toolmaker has been designed and refined hand-in-glove with machine shop pros, it uses language that’s familiar to you -- not "computerese". Real productivity starts quickly. And,

CV Toolmaker delivers what you really want:

Complete Data Exchange Capabilities.

Tool and die shops increasingly are called upon to provide intense support for international design standards. CV Toolmaker gives you dependable, high quality support for IGES, VDA, SET, and STEP, which means you can quickly begin work on files transferred to you in every widely used format worldwide. When a customer gives you 2-D or 3-D wireframe, surface, or solid models, you can readily work with them to generate precise toolpaths quickly.

Stamping Dies.

Computervision’s highly advanced software simplifies and expedites creation of both 3-axis and 5-axis semifinishing and finishing toolpaths. And CV Toolmaker’s straight line and curved machining capabilities with scallop height control enable you to produce finished die blocks quickly.

Forging Dies.

Sophisticated, productive software designed specifically for forging dies helps you create precise 3-axis NC toolpaths which enable you to rough, semifinish, and finish very complex die cavities exactly to required dimensions and within specified tolerances.

Injection Molds and Die Cast Tooling.

CV Toolmaker enables you to machine hundreds of surfaces in one command, cutting deep cavities using waterline roughing and finishing. In countless other ways, Toolmaker makes you more competitive in high-stakes injection mold and die cast tooling opportunities.

Patterns and Prototypes.

The speed with which you can deliver patterns and prototypes to your customers directly affects their time-to-market. CV Toolmaker not only helps you deliver patterns and prototypes quickly, it helps you deliver highly accurate parts -- which contributes greatly to long-term customer satisfaction and your future business.

Faster Generation of NC Toolpaths.

Compatible with part databases from many different CAD systems, CVNC is a fast, easy-to-use, and complete NC toolpath generator which supports every process from 2 1/2-axis drilling to 5-axis milling, including 2-1/2 axis pocketing and profiling. Toolmaker easily handles multiple-surface machining (many surfaces, not just a few), profiling, and gouge and collision avoidance. And advanced material modeling algorithms define uncut areas (after rough cutting) and then machine only the remaining material, a great time savings. All of which means fast, high quality results for your customers. Warning: One CADDS 5 CVNC/ CV Toolmaker user admonishes: "Don’t let the other mold builders in town know how fast CADDS 5 CVNC is...."*

Parametric Associativity.

Any changes made to a parametric model is reflected at once within the NC data -- which means manufacturing engineers and NC programmers will be able to use their time more efficiently.

Totally Integrated from Design to Manufacturing.

Toolmaker ensures that what you create in the design process is precisely what is manufactured on the shop floor. The database is the same; there is no possibility of errors in translation between design and manufacturing. Design data becomes manufacturing-ready, quickly. And on-machine prove-outs become virtually unheard-of!

"Early Intervention" Can Cut Manufacturing Costs.

Because CV Toolmaker readily accepts a wide spectrum of electronic input from your business partners, you can receive design databases earlier in the product creation process. This enables you to make suggestions which can improve the product’s manufacturability, cut your customer’s manufacturing costs, and decrease their time-to-market -- all factors which help make you a more valuable long-term supplier.

Expandability.

Toolmaker offers several important expansion opportunities:

Although your shop may not require any of these capabilities today, you can add them gradually as your needs indicate. Buy only what you need at the beginning. Expansion is fast. Increased productivity comes quickly.

Technical Support That Works.

CV Toolmaker experts are focused on helping you achieve maximum productivity. As we said earlier, they speak your language because they’ve "been there . . . done that." Help will be what you need, when you need it.

Look Inside. For details on any aspect of the design-to-manufacturing capabilities of CV Toolmaker, see the materials assembled for you in the literature pocket. For answers to specific questions or to see demonstrations of Toolmaker, call your Computervision representative, conveniently located in offices around the world.

(Boilerplate)

*Contact information available upon request.

 

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Computervision Optegra Vault Data Sheet

To get to market first -- and beat your competition -- you must shave every extraneous second off the product process, from design through manufacturing.

Computervision developed Optegra Vault to help you expeditiously store and retrieve an unlimited amount of product information including CAD/CAM and CAE drawings, models, raster images, technical publications, and SGML documents regardless of the application they are associated with or the hardware those applications run on -- Sun, HP, Digital-Alpha, IBM, NT. (Optegra means optimal integration.)

Optegra Vault Overview:

Precise Project Management and Tracking

Optegra Vault manages, catalogs, and safeguards electronic data, thereby enabling your engineering organization to easily track the progress of all your product data electronically. It includes features such as electronic voting, revision control, and messaging. Regardless of the number, size, or complexity of your projects, Optegra Vault helps you clearly organize, secure, and manage all the data from every project, quickly.

Perhaps the most important benefit of Optegra Vault is that it helps get the right data to the right person at the right time -- wherever they are on the network. User-definable flexible access controls, for example, enable engineers to get analysis files and tooling designers to get assembly information so these two primary development activities can proceed in parallel.

In addition to organizing the way you store and retrieve product data, Optegra Vault helps automate the complete design review and release process. It enables your engineering management team to create design review procedures incorporating product graphics, through which those concerned can visually monitor design status on demand. Key people receive current design information for review, which keeps them up-to-speed and gives them an immediate ability to express comments or concerns.

As it proceeds through its automated design review and approval process, Optegra Vault quietly and dependably collects detailed reviewer feedback and tallies review committee votes for part approval/rejection. Designs meeting approval criteria advance to the next process step automatically, without deadline-threatening and energy-wasting paperwork.

Optegra Vault’s built-in electronic messaging capability ensures that every user is notified of any design status change automatically, which helps projects proceed without "surprises."

Highlights of Optegra Vault

Optegra Vault is built upon the conviction that to succeed, enterprises must provide authorized personnel with shared access-on-demand to current, accurate, precise, and complete product data, to facilitate product creation and greatly accelerate time to market. At the same time, it must enhance data integrity and never jeopardize it.

Optegra Vault:

Options

Optegra Workflow modules provide a streamlined workflow solution that works with Optegra Vault, or independently

Some Optegra Vault Key Features, and How They Work:

™ Provides Networks of storage areas.

Optegra Vault provides data storage across the network which maximizes storage capacity without loss of control. A balancing algorithm efficiently distributes data among disk resources to prevent overloads. Customizing capabilities allow project managers to, for example, place all released files in one disk drive or optical storage "juke box."

™ Attribute Management Capability Helps Classify Data.

Project administrators can associate alpha-numeric information with any Optegra-managed part or file, which means they can easily classify, notate, sort, and store objects in scores of clear, memorable file types for rapid future access.

™ Backup and Recovery.

Optegra Vault protects and synchronizes two databases, one with product data and the other with "metadata" which is stored in a Relational Database Management System (RDBMS). Whenever an updated file is saved, it is time and date stamped as the current version, and the prior version, stored elsewhere, is flagged for backup. Multiple versions remain in place until an incremental or universal backup is performed, which can occur while the server, database, and local system remain operational. Non-current file versions are automatically deleted during backup. Integrated recovery features protect against hardware or power failures, network failures, user errors, and media failures. In every situation, the objective is identical: preserving data integrity -- keeping data just as it was immediately before the problem occurred.

™ Archive Management.

Infrequently used files can be archived off-line, with access location retained on-line for fast retrieval on demand.

Optegra Vault provides a Graphical User Interface to expedite set-up, back-up/recovery, archive management, and system maintenance.

Configuration

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COMPUTERVISION CORP. COLLATERAL

CVship: End-to-End Shipbuilding Solutions For Long-Term Success, Not Merely Survival

Spurred by rapid geopolitical changes, many military shipbuilding budgets have dropped precipitously.

The removal of many restrictions on international trade has made the "global economy" a genuine reality, substantially increasing the need for new, highly sophisticated merchant vessels.

Meanwhile, rapid changes in shipbuilding and in related technologies have enabled the best international shipbuilders to create, design, build, and launch large, complex vessels in as little as 18 months total time -- from design start to launch.

As their customers’ demands grow ever more complex, the world’s most successful shipbuilders turn to CVship: the shipbuilding solution geared specifically to meet every need of radically changed late-1990s-style shipbuilding, with maximum productivity. Behind CVship is Computervision, a major worldwide supplier of Computer-Aided Design/Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) and Engineering Data Management (EDM) software to the shipbuilding industry.

Inside the literature pocket of this folder you’ll find detailed specifics on every aspect of CVship software.

Changing Processes, Changing Imperatives, and Constant Challenges

Computervision recognizes that shipbuilding today is immensely complex, involving people in different companies, often in different countries, performing related functions simultaneously. Each requires critical information that is constantly changing and which is often controlled by someone far distant.

At the same time, they are unrelentingly cost-conscious -- as they require you to be, scrupulously.

To be awarded shipbuilding contracts in these times requires you not only to bid low, it also requires you to design a ship which will cost its owners less to operate. Further, the ship must be refittable economically, once the need arises.

Couple these challenges with the fact that fewer ships are being built because of military cutbacks . . . the fact that there are more shipbuilders, especially from emerging economies. . . and you realize that competition and the pace of change can only grow more intense.

One Solution: CVship

Having spent well over 20 years working intensively with most of the world’s top shipbuilders, Computervision has the experience and depth to help you respond to these and to other challenges not yet defined.

CVship is a totally integrated end-to-end solution. Given vessel requirements such as size, speed, objectives, and mission, CVship enables you to:

CVship...creates the kind of environment that encourages teamwork, cooperation, confidence, and high productivity. Computervision’s close work with the world’s leading shipbuilders has yielded hundreds of important software refinements over the years.

Today, CVship is a cherished asset of top shipbuilders, greatly reducing cycle time and effort while yielding superior-quality results.

For more information (segue to boilerplate). . .

* * * 

Computervision Distributed Vault Data Sheet

Accessing critical product data quickly from huge databases can be a frustrating, time-consuming experience -- one which can be orders of magnitude worse if the database is scattered among many divisions or among many companies "cooperating" on a project or -- perhaps worse still -- scattered in many locations worldwide.

To find the data you need, you must know:

Even if you are armed with search parameters which you think are complete and correct, you may well encounter unforeseen obstacles in your search -- and the additive delays that always seem to follow.

Optegra Enterprise Data Management Solutions

Product Data Management in multilocation enterprises has never been more complicated or more critical. This is why, as part of its Optegra family of Enterprise Data Management solutions, Computervision developed Distributed Vault (TM). .

Using Distributed Vault, all authorized members of any multilocation organization or multicompany venture can access current, up-to-date electronic information about any aspect of complex projects seamlessly, enterprise-wide. When questions arise about any aspect of a massive project, Distributed Vault makes available answers which may allow the project to stay on deadline and on budget.

All product data and metadata (attribute and control data) is manageable through Distributed Vault -- documents, parts, assemblies, and all attributes -- through a process called Publishing.

On a practical basis, it is often the case that much product data and metadata cannot be stored in one place because of its sheer size, which is often into the terabytes.

Distributed Vault links Optegra vaults scattered in different locations, perhaps even worldwide, into a simple, user-transparent archive which lets all users store, manage, and easily retrieve product development information regardless of location. Distributed Vault enables users to determine how and where to store data and metadata, and how to manage and distribute it within a multivault environment.

An Optegra Vault add-on module, Distributed Vault minimizes time-consuming wide-area network transactions by maintaining up-to-date local copies of documents controlled by other Optegra vaults. Accuracy is guaranteed since Distributed Vault notifies users automatically if changes are made to these documents. This is accomplished through a process called Subscription, described in more detail later in this data sheet.

Overview: Transparent, Secure Access

To protect sensitive data and to streamline information access across the distributed network, Distributed Vault lets project administrators define vault-to-vault communications. The project administrator authorizes information distribution. This helps guarantee the integrity and security of important data. It is not necessary to involve any MIS administrators in this process. Distributed Vault provides the flexibility for you to make some vaults accessible to vendors and customers, while others are maintained strictly off-limits. Or, accessibility can be flexibly determined on a file-by-file basis

At the same time, each local Optegra Vault retains its autonomy -- its own valid users, metadata, vaulted physical data, user groups, projects, back-up schedules, etc. You can restrict access to sets of files -- for example, those in development, private files, and so on, until they are ready for "public" view.

Distributed Vault uses the Optegra communications utility, NSM, which has been providing secure data transfer with multiple checks of data integrity for over 10 years. Moreover, users need not be logged into the server at all times to execute transfers. Authorized individuals can quickly access what they need regardless of the type of information involved or its location, through Distributed Vault. There is nothing complicated about accessing critical files.

Once data has been made available on the network, users can access just physical data, such as drawings, documents, or spreadsheets, or physical data and related metadata. Pieces of data or entire files can be copied or moved easily, by authorized parties, which enables authorized users to move information where it’s needed, when it’s required.

How It Works: "Registering" Files and Making Them Available

For Enterprise-Wide Access

Each originating vault in the Distributed Vault environment is assigned to a Distributed Object Directory, which becomes a clearinghouse for metadata for all included files (called "registered objects") from originating vaults.

Once the project administrator decides that a file is ready for enterprise-wide access, a data pointer to it is registered to that vault’s Distributed Object Directory. Users responsible for determining access also determine its scope -- for example, whether the file will be accessible on a read-only basis. The most important aspect of file availability is flexibility. You can "distribute" files based on network, organizational, or process requirements, or any other criteria . . . all of which provides a degree of access which you can customize to the needs of your business.

The process of determining scope of access is called Registration. There are five registration levels for files/parts:

1. Query. The registered file is listed in the Distributed Object Directory but is maintained inaccessible.

2. Read. The file/part is available on a read-only basis. Any attempt to "write" to the file will fail.

3. Write. The file is accessible for read/write.

4. Cwnable. In addition to being made available for read/write purposes, the file is eligible for EXPORT MOVE operations. This capability, which is usually treated as a special privilege, is used to move a file from one vault to another.

5. Local. The implicit registration of unregistered files/parts is "Local," under which the referenced part or item does not participate in the Distributed Vault environment. (Parts can be easily reverted to the "local" registration through re-registration.)

A Distributed Object Directory listing all accessible files enterprise-wide is located at each Optegra Vault node, which makes access across the entire distributed vault network completely transparent.

The Object Directory maintains a "near real-time" image of all the objects it contains. Any activity involving any registered objects produces the altered object for public view, and logs the current state of the object in the Object Directory.

Users accessing information across a Distributed Vault network use precisely the same query/access Optegra Locator interface as they do with a local Optegra Vault. "Transnetwork" searches proceed automatically, with simple point-and-click functionality and dialog boxes, helping users retrieve requested data from the controlled storage area and electronically delivering a copy to the user via the network. The Optegra Locator software, working with Distributed Vault, resolves all issues of location and access, so the user need merely "see and ask" to find sought-after files and data.

While in use by its requester, the file is locked from modification by other users. Although others can view the file, no one can else can modify it until it has been checked back into the database. This prevents time-consuming and potentially costly data conflicts.

Also, when you access and while you are working on a file which is maintained at a remote location, Distributed Vault allows you to maintain an up-to-date copy of it locally, which minimizes WAN network traffic, expedites local user access, and maximizes convenience network-wide. Because you are working on the accessed file locally, you are not constrained by any WAN bottlenecks. The speed of your work is controlled locally.

Further, an intelligent "check in/check out" feature of Optegra Locator maintains revision codes so that released files and parts cannot be modified, and only one in-work revision of a file or part can exist at one time. This eliminates much wasted motion and the frustration that comes with it.

Using Subscription To Track Progress

Subscription notifies users when the state of a given "object" changes -- for example, when a file is released. Subscription links a data object with an event and an action, all of which means that when something of user-defined significance happens, the user hears about it. There are many applications for this feature, all of which revolve around customized response. Key designers or program management people can tell the system to let them know when some very specific things happens, so important actions can be triggered. It can be an important, highly leveraged management tool.

Controlling File Location

When files are moved from one location to another it’s your decision who retains control. When files are Copied, the original is retained in its vault while a duplicate goes to the requester. Either can be modified, and each retains reference to the other, to ensure accuracy and consistency.

Moving an object means permanently relocating it. A record of the move is maintained in the originating Optegra Vault.

Replicating/reading an object means creating one or more copies at a second location, where they are "read-only". Replicating/writing creates a single copy at a second location, which can be modified. Although the original object is locked against update, the modified copy can be submitted to the originating vault for optional update.

All options have one common, critical thread: flexibility. Distributed Vault gives you a framework for creating data accessibility throughout your organization. Because there is enormous variability in when and how organizations access, process, and dispense information, Distributed Vault encourages you to custom-tailor accessibility precisely to your organization’s needs . . . and to change the nature of that accessibility, whenever appropriate, as your organization changes over time.

Distributed Vault Highlights

 Configuration

 

LEGAL:

These drafts are copyright ©, JMB Communications, 2005.  All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. These writing samples were prepared by JMB Communications for Parametric Technology Corporation and for Computervision Corporation, which own copyrights to the final versions. 

Updated 9/22/05