CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
November 2007
Implementation Investments
A World-leading Government and Defense Contractor Deploys Fishbowl Solutions
Fishbowl Solutions announced that a world-leading government and defense contractor has deployed its patent-pending CADVerify solution. CADVerify is helping the contractor streamline their drawing release process and improve their CAD data quality - increasing the overall efficiency of their engineering department.
All 3D associative CAD programs like PTC® Pro|ENGINEER® create complex relationships among the parts, assemblies, drawings and other ancillary files during the modeling process. Data management systems such as PTC Pro/INTRALINK® and PDMLinkT help manage these relationships and facilitate concurrent engineering. However, these relationships are still susceptible to "breaking" when poor modeling practices are used. For instance, a user may change a part that is used in multiple assemblies. The current part and assembly may regenerate with no problems. The data management system will understand that the part is used in the other assemblies, but unless the user takes the time to manually validate the part in all places where it is used, problems can ensue.
When a user attempts to open an assembly (or drawing) that has a changed part that was not validated, they may be confronted with a file that will not regenerate or open. The user must stop what they are doing to track down the cause of the problem and fix it. This can be very time consuming because the initial problem might have been created well in the past, having proliferated over time to create a veritable "rat's nest" of problems.
According to Rick Passolt, Business Development Manager at Fishbowl Solutions, "Our clients tell us they spend anywhere from 5-20% of their time fixing problems just so they can complete their day-to-day tasks. CADVerify can give companies this time back."
CADVerify automates the verification process, identifying any broken relationships among CAD files. When invoked CADVerify performs a "where used" search against the modified CAD file that is checked into Pro/INTRALINK or PDMLink. CADVerify identifies all related data and runs a verification against that data to ensure the change did not "break" another assembly or drawing where it is used. The verification process is fully configurable and can be scheduled to run daily, weekly or whatever suits the needs of the customer. Using CADVerify, engineering teams can address broken CAD data relationships and poor modeling practices before they have a chance to proliferate.
CADVerify can extend a PTC ModelCHECKT implementation. An administrator may want to run a more extensive ModelCHECK configuration, or even add custom checks. CADVerify can bundle a complex ModelCHECK configuration into the more comprehensive CADVerify checks and validation options - automating the entire process. And CADVerify, unlike ModelCHECK, is fully integrated with Pro/INTRALINK and PDMLink so it can run on a scheduled or "on demand" basis. CADVerify leverages the "where used" list it generates to validate other drawings and assemblies where the part might be used. These features enable companies to make sure poor modeling practices are caught before they can cause problems.
"Eliminating non-value-add activity is a key objective for every company and "clean" data equals more and easier data reuse for shorter design cycles," states Tim Gruidl, President of Fishbowl Solutions. "The CADVerify approach to validating not only the current item, but all other parts, assemblies and drawings using the item set CADVerify apart from other solutions. We are honored to have a well-respected government and defense contractor deploy CADVerify."
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