I recently attended the 3D Collaboration & Interoperability Congress (3D CIC), produced and hosted by Action Engineering. This unique event focuses on CAD-agnostic methods for advancing the Model-Based Enterprise (MBE). 3D CIC attracts a diverse group of attendees, those ranging from several industry sectors, such as automotive, aerospace, and medical involved with all phases of product development to representatives from standards bodies, such as NIST, ASME, and DMSC. Needless to say, this widely divergent group makes for interesting conversations and debates that you’re not likely to hear and participate in at other technical events.

For its part, and for several years now, Action Engineering has been one of the chief proponents of Model-Based Definition (MBD) that leads to the Model-Based Enterprise (MBE).

The theme of this year’s Congress was “Trust Digital,” but what does it mean?

Action Engineering MBD Interoperability Discussion at 3D CIC (Featured on “Trending Today,” Fox Business News)

According to Jennifer Herron, CEO of Action Engineering, “In many ways, digital trust is analogous to a financial banking institution. The more “trust coins” you deposit, the more you can withdraw. In a technology context, custody chain of trust is through 3D models. Organizationally (people side), if you have people who trust each other, you have a lot more coins to draw from as you go down the digital transformation path. If you have an organization where people don’t trust each other, it makes trying to change any processes nearly impossible. On the technology side) if people don’t trust that the technology is not doing what it’s supposed to be doing, or documented to do, that poses a real problem. So, it’s important for software vendors to be very specific about what their products can and cannot deliver, because it’s significantly confusing customers, and impacting trust.”

“If we trust something, we’re more likely to adopt and use it. On the other hand, if we don’t trust something, there is no way to use it and its data reliably.”

Herron added, “Trust starts with communication that requires a common lexicon – the vocabulary of a branch of knowledge – in this case product development and engineering that promotes the digital transformation of manufacturing.”

Read the rest of Trusting Digital Driving Manufacturing Transformation

The effort to develop and implement truly autonomous vehicles (AVs) is one whose magnitude (at least from a technology standpoint) hasn’t been matched since the “Space Race” in the 1960s in terms of resources necessary, economic impact and societal implications.

The journey to autonomous vehicles has been undertaken by virtually all traditional vehicle manufacturers, but you may be surprised to learn about a company that has entered the race – Hexagon – a diverse company known primarily for metrology (precise measurement) and production automation, among many other things in widely ranging industries.

Hexagon’s involvement with autonomous vehicles was recently showcased at its annual conference, HxGN Live 2019. During and after the event Hexagon’s Positioning Intelligence (PI) division provided material from presentations and demonstrations that illustrated its progress and future direction of autonomous vehicles with its digital solutions that create Autonomous Connected Ecosystems (ACE). The company stressed, however, that while progress has definitely been made, there is still a long way to go before vehicles can be truly autonomous because of safety and reliability issues.

Read the rest of Hexagon Navigating the Road from Assisted to Autonomous Vehicles

A couple weeks ago I attended the biggest and most important 3D printing/additive manufacturing conference and exhibition in North America, RAPID + TCT 2019. I was not disappointed and continue to be amazed at the number of new companies that continue to proliferate and evolve at this event put on by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME). This year’s event attracted over 7000 attendees, including approximately 50% who said they were first timers – always a good sign for event organizers (and exhibitors), and testimony to an industry that continues to enjoy large growth.

Read the rest of RAPID + TCT 2019: AM Industry Continues to Explode with Growth

Sanjay Gangal interviews Paulina Tellebo, Marketing-communication Manager of Tacton at SolidWorks world

Sanjay : Can you tell our audience a little about Tacton.

Paulina : Tacton is a world leader in software solutions for the manufacturing industry. We support manufacturers across the globe with digitalizing their sales process and connecting that to product design, and order fulfillment. We specifically serve manufacturers with really complex products, so that's our area of expertise.

As a leader in configure price quote (CPQ), we began in Sweden in 1987. With extensive industry expertise, we understand the challenges of high variance, high complexity manufacturing like no one else. We see the opportunities of tomorrow, anticipating the challenges of Industry 4.0. Furthermore, Gartner has recognized Tacton CPQ as the go-to vendor for manufacturers in the following areas:

Read the rest of Interview with Paulina Tellebo, Marketing-communication Manager at Tacton: Making Manufacturing Complex Products Simple