Toolmakers require best-in-class solutions to meet the challenging demands of their discrete manufacturing customers and to compete in a global marketplace. Additionally, the ability to create molds and dies quickly and accurately is important to the manufacturing and overall product development process. Historically these tools have been created in 2D CAD environments, but are increasingly being designed in 3D CAD/CAM systems. With its optimized high-speed machining capabilities, Pro/TOOLMAKER will offer manufacturing engineers and machinists a powerful package of NC programming capabilities that include NC post-processing and tooling libraries in a single product. Pro/TOOLMAKER enables companies to reduce scrap costs, increase product quality, decrease production time, and deliver products to market faster.
Pro/TOOLMAKER is part of the PTC(R) Product Development System (PDS), and as a result is able to provide a unique connection between product design and manufacturing. Pro/TOOLMAKER and Pro/ENGINEER NC and tooling solutions will enable designers to work side-by-side with manufacturing engineers which allows for real-time changes to designs that lead to optimal product designs created for manufacturability. Additionally, toolpath data created using Pro/TOOLMAKER can be managed in Windchill(R), PTC's content and process management software, allowing manufacturers to manage all 3D CAD/CAM/CAE information in a centrally located system. This provides the security and flexibility that designers, toolmakers and manufacturers require in order to optimize its product development processes.
"Pro/TOOLMAKER provides a tighter link between product design and manufacturing which will give us the ability to optimize our toolmaking as it supports the complete product development process," said Brett Mitchell, director, RP Tooling. "PTC continues to deliver solutions that are flexible, integral and targeted for our increasingly complex manufacturing requirements. Using PTC's solutions enable us to be successful in this dynamic market."
Pro/TOOLMAKER 8.1 advanced machining capabilities include:
-- Support for 5-axis positioning (3+2 machining)
-- Automatic 3D roughing and rest-roughing for smooth and efficient toolpaths
-- Specialized core and cavity machining strategies with area clearance, core and rest-roughing to maximize material removal
-- Slope-based machining to allow for steep and shallow angle control
-- Flat-surface machining to easily detect all flat surfaces
-- Spiral and radial toolpaths to maintain toolpath efficiency with constant contact
-- Morph and boundary machining to provide excellent surface finish
-- Pencil single-pass and multiple-pass milling
-- Rest-milling for all finishing toolpaths and tool shapes
-- New integration provides associativity with Pro/ENGINEER data
-- Multi-CAD support
-- Immediate support for six languages, including English, German, French, Japanese, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese. Support for Italian, Spanish and Korean languages expected later in 2007
-- Includes PTC's GPOST for creating and updating post-processors for any type of CNC machine
"Pro/TOOLMAKER is the newest addition to the PTC PDS and delivers an incredible opportunity for manufacturers who want to improve collaboration across the multiple supply chains responsible for toolmaking," said James Heppelmann, executive vice president software products and chief product officer, PTC. "When time frames for designing and manufacturing molds and die tools are reduced, new products can be introduced to market faster. A tooling development process integrated with the design and the manufacturing teams results in an increase in product quality and a reduction in scrap costs. Through these efficiencies and capabilities, Pro/TOOLMAKER can enable manufacturers to deliver more complex products faster and with less cost."
Pro/TOOLMAKER Availability
Pro/TOOLMAKER is planned to be available in August 2007 in six languages, including English, German, French, Japanese, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese. Italian, Spanish and Korean versions are expected later in 2007. For more information about Pro/TOOLMAKER or other Pro/ENGINEER NC and tooling solutions, please visit the product pages on www.ptc.com/go/protoolmaker. The timing of any product release, including any features or functionality, is subject to change at PTC's discretion.
About PTC
PTC (Nasdaq: PMTC) provides leading product lifecycle management (PLM), content management and dynamic publishing solutions to more than 50,000 organizations worldwide. PTC customers include the world's most innovative companies in manufacturing, publishing, services, government and life sciences industries. PTC is included in the S&P Midcap 400 and Russell 2000 indices. For more information on PTC, please visit www.ptc.com
Statements in this press release that are not historic facts, including statements about expanding the future integration and support of PTC software solutions, are forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Those risks and uncertainties include the following: the success of our initiatives to facilitate our customer's understanding of the benefits of our integral PLM solutions, including return on investment and value creation; we may be unable to successfully develop the technology necessary to enable fully associative, reliable NC toolpath programming for Pro/ENGINEER and other CAD systems; the market for, and customer adoption of NC solutions may not grow as quickly as we expect; we may be unable to retain and maintain relationships with key employees, distributors, customers and other strategic partners of NC Graphics (including those within markets and vertical industries with which PTC has little experience), which may lessen our ability to deliver and support integral NC solutions; we may be unable to adequately support multiple solutions acquired through strategic business development initiatives in industries outside of PTC's traditional customer base as well as other risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in reports filed by PTC with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including PTC's most recent reports on Form 10-K and 10-Q.
PTC and its logo, The Product Development Company, Pro/ENGINEER, Pro/TOOLMAKER, Wildfire and all PTC product names and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Parametric Technology Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries.
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