There are lots of companies out there than need to make customizations to their products for every customer or every job. This can consume a ton of design time, but there are many products that simply cannot be sold without designing to the customer’s specifications.
Based in Statesville, NC, JMS Southeast manufactures standard and customized temperature sensors as well as temperature accessories, using Solid Edge as their 3D modeling platform. JMS has many clients that demand specific customizations to their products. To expedite this process, JMS spent considerable time building sophisticated 3D models, as well as an Excel design spreadsheet to calculate the effect of various configurations and selected options. They were ready to take the next step: automating their models and integrating the two software programs into one powerful design system.
Through their Solid Edge reseller, JMS found EDA and set up a meeting to discuss their company’s automation goals. We were able to quickly assess their Solid Edge models and their MS-Excel spreadsheets and develop a plan to tie the two software programs together using EDA’s Edge Design Configurator (Excel-based configurator for Solid Edge).
The Edge Design Configurator is integrated with the company’s Excel installation and neatly ties into the design spreadsheets that were already developed by JMS. By using a special menu command, users of the configurator software can quickly generate the custom 3D models they configured with Excel. No Solid Edge experience is required to run the program and to generate the 3D parts and assemblies. Instead, all configuration changes are made in Excel and the models are driven by the spreadsheet. Finished parts, assemblies, and drawings are placed by the program in a user-selected directory. In the future, JMS is looking forward to implementing more of their extensive product lines using EDA’s Edge Design Configurator.
If you’re interested in doing what JMS did and designing faster, contact us!
For more info on how the Edge Design Configurator works, check out our step-by-step configurator implementation slideshow:
Orteq Energy Technology was in the process of changing many of the company’s Solid Edge file names for component parts. Frustrated by the time-consuming process of moving, renaming and re-linking component parts of assemblies manually, Orteq Engineering Manager Pat McGuire turned to Google and YouTube, searching for “Solid Edge automation,” and “custom Solid Edge programming.”
After landing at EDA’s website, McGuire quickly turned to EDA’s Revision Maker (a standalone application which automates renaming and relinking files in an assembly without the need to use Solid Edge Revision Manager) as a possible solution to his dilemma. However, after meeting to discuss Orteq goals and needs, both McGuire and the EDA team realized that a custom Solid Edge solution would be quick to develop and could provide the exact functions that Orteq was looking for.
EDA went to work, writing a custom automation Solid Edge program for Orteq. The Part List Updater Program makes it easy for Orteq staff to import and export data from Solid Edge to Excel. The program starts by exporting the file names and paths of every component in the selected Solid Edge assembly, along with certain file properties. Once the data is in Excel, it’s very easy for Orteq staff to modify it, and then a single click renames files, moves them, and relinks them in Solid Edge, while also updating its file properties!
Custom Solid Edge to Excel application developed by EDA
The program developed by EDA has greatly sped up the process of updating Orteq’s Solid Edge part lists while assuring that all component links are maintained. An additional benefit of using the Part List Updater Program is that all changes made to the parts lists are retained in Excel, so there is actually a record of all the changes made to the Solid Edge files.
Though not a large-scale automation project, Orteq’s case proves that a targeted investment in automation for Solid Edge can pay off in increasing productivity and reducing manually-introduced errors.
Want to see more? Check out our Part List Uploader Video showing the program working step by step. Or contact EDA to see how we can automate your Solid Edge tasks today.
An important part of going to Solid Edge University 2012 in Nashville last week was to be a presenter at the pre-conference Developer Day on June 11. Developer Day was billed by Siemens as an opportunity to meet others like us who were developing special applications and automation programs for Solid Edge, to learn more about API programming for Solid Edge, and to meet the actual developers of the Solid Edge software.
Despite our relative newness to Solid Edge, we were very warmly welcomed by the Solid Edge development community. Mark Burhop, Programs Director for the Solid Edge Ecosystem (3rd from the left below), gave EDA a some very nice shout-outs on Twitter during the conference. We met with Greg Chasteen, Technical Accounts Manager (referred to by one Siemens employee as “Solid Edge God – the guy who can make anything happen”!) and Jason Newell, founder of JasonNewell.NET and a true veteran the Solid Edge programming world, for dinner on Sunday night and found them both to be totally warm and engaging people… very modest, too! Both seemed to be glad of our participation in the event, and we got a little opportunity to ‘talk shop’. I won’t bore you non-programmers with the details
Jason Newell, Mark Burhop of Siemens, and the EDA team at SEU12
Developer Day started bright and early Monday for us West Coast arrivals. I had three presentations: one for the entire group called “Choosing an Automation Program Type Depending on the Task”, and two sessions after the group split into tracks. If you missed Developer Day, I am posting links to each presentation below, along with a quick description. Feel free to download and share them.
“Choosing an Automation Program Type Depending on the Task”, download. This was a fairly broad presentation aimed at anyone who is considering any kind of automation, laying out the questions that should be answered before even starting a new project: What is possible with automation? What type of program would be best suited to the task at hand? What are the advantages and pitfalls of the different types of programs? I also tried to provide examples of when EDA has used each type of program to solve a particular problem. This included a demo of a Web-based configurator program that automates the creation of custom Solid Edge models, which was a bit of a challenge since we didn’t have Internet yet on the first day…
“Solid Edge Light-Weight APIs,” download. This presentation was an overview of 3 different light-weight API programs for Solid Edge: Revision Maker (an EDA configurator program that automates Revision Manager), a program that exposes the Solid Edge file properties, and Solid Edge readers. I gave some example code for each program, which you will see as screenshots in the presentation. Just a note that Revision Maker is available as a free 30 day download from EDA’s website here, if anyone wants to try it out. It allows you to copy, search and rename file names, and configure any assembly by updating its exposed variables in one step, while maintaining all the links between the new assembly its linked parts and draft files. Misa just made a little video tutorial on how to download the program, below. I think our visit to Nashville must have influenced her choice of music to go with the video:
“Architecture for Web-Based Engineering Automation Program,” download. This was a topic that I was really excited to present at Developer Day, and one that I personally am very passionate about. EDA has developed a number of Web-based configurator programs that allow users (customers or sales people) to design equipment and get quotes online, AND that drive their CAD systems to create models, drawings, flat patterns, etc. Here’s a real-world project we did: Tramco Design Center. Anyway, the presentation outlines some of the great advantages of automating your CAD system over the Web, while also discussing pitfalls that you need to be aware of and the types of automation that can be accomplished via the Web. I outlined what all the components of a Web-based automation program, including user interface, server systems, and different types of model delivery systems, and how all the pieces need to communicate with each other.
I found it very interesting to note that several people who attended this session had already tried to develop Web-based configuration & automation systems for their Solid Edge designs but had been unsuccessful so far. There was a lot of good discussion and questions after the presentation and a high level of expertise in the room, including a few folks from the Solid Edge development team.
If you missed the presentation, you can actually try out the Web-based configurator demo on our website. It uses a HTML5 graphic created with Canvas 3D to allow you to dynamically update a zoom-pan-rotate enabled enclosure “model”, enter a custom size, create your own cutouts on any side of the enclosure, then “order” Solid Edge files, SAT, or DWG files of your model, which are delivered via email. I encourage you to check it out.
There are more presentations from Developer Day listed over at http://solidedge.codeplex.com/ (for now) if you’re interested in knowing what other sessions covered.
If you need any custom development of Solid Edge programs, Web-based configurators, or other productivity apps, please Contact EDA.
EDA was at Solid Edge University (#SEU12) in Nashville this week, as a sponsor as well as a presenter at the pre-conference Developer Day. The venue was breathtaking. As a plant lover, I can’t tell you what I would do to have this bromeliad-laden waterfall in my backyard…
You had to see it to believe it.
As a developer of custom programs for Solid Edge, EDA was really interested in meeting real Solid Edge users & resellers to find out what kinds of applications could improve productivity for the most users. As we talked with folks from a staggeringly diverse range of industries, the answer became clear. One person after another told us how their company could benefit from some kind of customizable configurator that could drive their Solid Edge parts and assemblies– whether they manufactured medical equipment, or superconductor parts, or custom furniture. That’s why we quickly ran to the FedEx center and created these lovely signs:
No, we did not write on the walls of the convention center.
We got a ton of positive feedback on our Web-based configurator demo (if you weren’t at SEU12 or you want to see it again, it’s live on our website here.) I was standing in the back of the room when Madison demonstrated the demo during Developer Day and saw a lot of heads nodding; one guy leaned over and said to his buddy, “Now THAT is cool…”
During the first of his three Developer Day sessions, Madison of EDA tells audience, "Automation is to Engineering as Robotics is to Manufacturing"
While there is definitely a lot of interest out there in custom programming for Solid Edge, as evidenced by the healthy turnout at Developer Day, the takeaway from SEU12 for EDA was:
There are a lot of companies using Solid Edge that don’t have anyone on staff to do custom programming and they don’t know where to go for programming services (Hey everybody, over here!). Resellers are in the same boat with some having limited staff to handle their clients’ programming requests, and others looking to partner up with custom developers like EDA.
A configurator product that integrates with Solid Edge is an important need that is not being filled for many companies, whether they’re engaged in mass customization or simply have a lot of engineering design rules that must be applied to their products. EDA’s Excel-based configurator could fill that need, especially for those companies who don’t have the capability to create a configurator program of their own.
Twitter can give you a warm, fuzzy feeling inside:
Awww, shucks...
We will have more up on the blog soon with more thoughts on Developer Day and some downloads of our presentations, etc. Meanwhile if you have any Solid Edge programming needs, configurator needs, or want to learn more about our Solid Edge services, please contact us.
EDA is excited to play a part in the June 11th Developer Day that kicks off Solid Edge University 2012 in Nashville next week. When we learned from Mark Burhop’s post on the Siemen’s blog that 1 in 5 attendees of Solid Edge University have also signed up for Developer Day, we were thrilled and also a little nervous… it seems that there are a LOT of people out there interested in programming/automation for Solid Edge! I hope to be able to share some useful infomation for those folks coming to Developer Day.
I have three presentations lined up:
1. Picking the right kind of automation for the task
This presentation will adress some very important questions that every company should ask before writing a single line of code: “What is possible with automation?” “What types of automation programs can be created for Solid Edge?” and “What are the pitfalls, the advantages and disadvantages to each type of automation program?”
2. Creating Web Based Applications for Solid Edge
Web applications are great way to get more out of your Solid Edge software. In this presentation, the architecture of Web-based applications will be covered extensively.
3. Lightweight APIs: Revision Manager, File Properties, SE readers
This presentation is for the real code jockeys attending Developer Day. We’ll go over 3 different lightweight API programs and examine real code samples for each.
The API programming world for Solid Edge is a vast and sometimes confusing place, so clearly even with a whole day devoted to programming, there will be questions enough to go around. Feel free to contact us at EDA if you have any specific questions about Solid Edge automation, integrating Solid Edge with other software, or driving your Solid Edge designs from a Web-based application. During registration, breaks, and meals, we’ll be at the EDA sponsor table and can talk to you about specific projects and automation goals you might have in mind.
For the first time ever, EDA, Inc. will be at the Solid Edge conference, Solid Edge University 2012 in Nashville, Tennessee held June 11th to 13th. We will be demonstrating a Web-based Solid Edge automation program at our sponsor table, as well as having a significant presence at the much anticipated June 11th Solid Edge Developer Day.
At Developer Day, EDA Software Engineer Madison Miner will be presenting the advantages of web-based automation programs as well as discussing best practices when automating Solid Edge on the web. Fellow presenters at Developer Day will include Greg Chasteen (Technical Account Manager, Siemens PLM Software) and Jason Newell (founder of the Solid Edge programming resource site JasonNewell.net). Anyone interested in Solid Edge programming should definitely attend Developer Day. Topics listed on Siemens’s website include:
An overview of the Solid Edge API
Automating Solid Edge
Using Microsoft .NET
Creating Addins and Apps.
An update on the latest development tools for Solid Edge ST5
Round Table discussion with the actual Solid Edge developers.
And More!!
Developing Web Applications for Solid Edge
Want to get a sneak peek at the Web-based program we’ll be bring to SEU? This demo shows how a manufacturer of custom products (electrical enclosures in this case) could allow their customers or sales staff to design a unique product on the Web, submit it online, and then receive Solid Edge models or drawings to spec via email, all generated in a few minutes by an automated Solid Edge design program developed by EDA.
As a Siemens Solution Partner for Solid Edge and a Solid Edge Application Developer, EDA staff will be available to meet with Solid Edge users one-on-one at the conference and discuss developing custom Solid Edge applications. Improve your company’s Solid Edge productivity by automating the design of your products. To make an appointment to meet during the conference, please contact EDA or call 360-398-1319 (US).
Custom models created online using EDA automated programs
Note: One thing about working for a company that offers SolidWorks automation & custom programming is that it can make you a very lazy SolidWorks user. Very lazy. Any time you have to do the same thing 10 times in a row in SolidWorks, you start to think, “Hmmm, maybe we could write a program to automate that…”
There are a couple ways to find and select components or features in the SolidWorks Feature Tree. Both of these are built into SolidWorks and can be very helpful when the Feature Tree becomes too large or complex to search through manually. However, these tools also have their limitations– which is why I got EDA’s software engineers to write me a SolidWorks addin to provide the user with a more powerful search and select tool.
In my case, I had to find and select 50 parts from an assembly of 1500+ parts, some of them 8 levels deep so I could change their appearance to match various backgrounds. This process had to be repeated for each of the 7 backgrounds that I had to work with. Yikes!
1500+ parts, 8 levels deep!
The obvious and most basic tool for navigating the SolidWorks Feature Manager is the Go To command. Just right click in the Feature Manager and select “Go To…” and type in your search critera. When you click “Find Next”, the next feature or component that fulfills your search criteria in the tree is highlighted. This is fine if you are just looking for one component or feature, but it doesn’t help you search for ALL components that satisfy the search criteria, only the next one. It will also find mates and reference geometry and other non-components, which I wasn’t interested in.
Go To finds only the next item in tree
Another built-in tool is the Feature Manger Filter. By typing in the search criteria in the filter box, SolidWorks will show only those components/features that satisfy your search criteria. This is a quick way to cut through a lot of parts or features and find only those items you want. However, this tool also has its limitations. It does not show components if they are hidden or suppressed, and it does not select the filtered components, so you still have to manually select the components in the graphics window or the Feature Tree before you can modify their appearance or perform other actions on them.
Filtering components is helpful but the command doesn't select the filtered parts...
The SelectByName addin developed by EDA is simple to use (it has its own menu with only one command, so you can’t really miss it!). Type your search criteria into the search box, hit “OK” and the program goes through the entire feature tree, level by level, searching for and selecting every part or feature that fulfills the search criteria. It works even on parts that may be hidden or suppressed. In my 1500+ part assembly, it took about 5 seconds to go through every level and select all the parts I was looking for. Now changing the appearance of all these parts at once is just a matter clicking on the Edit Appearance icon in the Heads Up Toolbar and adjusting the colors, illumination, etc. Thanks guys!
SelectByName searches all levels and selects all parts that meet the criteria
Contact EDA if you have a custom SolidWorks programming application or add in you’d like to develop.
As EDA is in the business of developing custom AutoCAD programs, and that task usually falls upon my shoulders, I found myself in the position of developing an AutoCAD 2012 plug-in that needed the ability to insert a block somewhere within the viewable area of the AutoCAD drawing window. The reason for this was that after the block was inserted I would invoke a move command upon that block so that the user could then choose a location for the block with the ability to see the block as they are moving it into position. (more…)
I often find myself in need of SolidWorks tips & tricks (even as a Certified SolidWorks Professional) so today I was scanning the SolidSmack.com blog and I saw this post about an ergonomic vertical mouse:
I was so bummed because my trackball mouse just died recently and I had to order a new one. I wished I had seen this post first, because it really does look like a more comfortable position for your hand and more ergonomically correct. I use my trackball all day, and while it is much better for my wrist & hand than a regular mouse, I often still have issues with my mouse hand/arm.
I guess the vertical mouse has been around since the mid 90′s but this was the first time I’d ever seen one. But did I really want to throw away my new trackball & shell out $90 for a new one?
Not as ergonomic as it could be.
Then the light bulb went on.
See picture below to see how to turn your regular trackball mouse into a vertical mouse. It totally works! I like my “new” vertical mouse so much better!
I recently discovered a “special feature” in Solid Edge ST4 that presents an interesting challenge when trying to save a .SAT file through the API. Solid Edge would freeze solid and never return. The call below caused Solid Edge to lock up:
mSE.ActiveDocument.SaveAs(@"C:\Path\File.SAT");
I Googled for a solution and found this post indicating that saving a SAT file through the User Interface used to be a problem with Solid Edge in ST3, however it was fixed in ST3 Maintenance Pack 1. Apparently only saving a .SAT file through the UI was corrected, saving a .SAT file through the API still presents a challenge. (more…)
