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Solid Edge for Manufacturing, Guitar Die Corner Rounds

Posted on June 14, 2013 | Leave a comment

Here is the first actual part in this series. But before I go on there are some important comments I need to make.

First off I do not represent myself as an expert and what I show is how this user with his knowledge does things. There may be better ways to do this and if so and you know this better way I encourage you to share it here.  One of the things I want to promote here is the exchange of knowledge in the hopes that by the end of the day each of us will be a bit better at what we do. I know how ZW3D and Solid Edge work but don’t really know how other CAD programs work in depth as an actual user and so I am not going to try to make point by point comparisons with them. You guys know how your stuff works and you can watch how I work and draw your own conclusions about what is more efficient.

There are other CAD and CAM integrated programs out there so this idea is nothing new. What IS new with this integration of SE and “Camworks” (HEY, I saw it by name on Novedge today from a Solid Edge guy so I can say it too right?!) is the power of the synergism of Synchronous Tech direct editing and Camworks with its own class leading time-saving capabilities. The combination of the two is going to create I believe the most powerful and efficient mid-range MCAD and CAM integration in the market place.  I have played with it and I have seen the tool paths and later this week and next week I will be cutting parts with it. And yes for those of you who wonder how I can tell what cutting will be like the tool path generation gives you a very concise prediction tool here and it all looks really good. In addition to this we have proven capabilities where this program of Camworks is integrated with another CAD program and these carry over in full plus some to Solid Edge. By the way, one of the interesting things I have heard is that integration between Solid Edge and Camworks is better than that of Camworks and Solid Works. This is because per someone who told me and who is in a position to know that the Solid Edge guys have made every effort to support integration and have fully opened up the API to Geometric to work with whereas Solid Works has not. In a short period of time the Geometric Cam integration will be best done for Camworks inside of Solid Edge.

I am tremendously excited about this whole thing and just wish I could invite all of you over to watch. After the SEU2013 convention (you are signed up aren’t you? http://www.siemens.com/plm/solidedgeu ) I will be able to share as time permits video of how it all works out on YouTube.

For the next month I am really busy between beta testing and SEU2013 and work orders that had to arrive in the middle of all this so I won’t get as much out there as I want to. Of course during SEU2013 I will have some updates if they are not covered already at length elsewhere and my impressions about the new goodies and future direction in any case.

In the mean time here we have a common problem. This one I made myself with a .125 radius inside corner in various places in the part I applied without thinking because I was in a hurry. After cutting the first one I discover that both a .25″ ball end mill and a .25″ x .03R bull nose end mill have the same issue of chatter because of loading up the end mill as it dives into a same diameter corner. Now you can do things like slow the feed rate down as it goes into the corner but high-speed machining was meant to give you quick times to produce parts. Having to significantly slow things down in corners partially defeats this. Substituting a smaller end mill can work sometimes but it too brings it’s own set of problems especially when you have to reach this deep into a part cavity.  We all know this type of design problem is one of the favorite things engineers or designers who don’t cut love to do. Even if you are an experienced machinist and CAD guy these things happen so quick and easy on the spot remediation with part editing is a wonderful solution. Oh, did I forget to mention that I don’t have to worry about where the part came from?

Now you don’t get to see the CAM stuff here but you can see how I address this corner round problem with this part.  There are relationships in the .25″ corners that make editing difficult or impossible if you just grab the corner round and try.  So the first steps are those that involve isolating the features we wish to change. Remember that deleting features to get at what you want is one of the nice things about ST. What you can remove swiftly you can re-apply just as swiftly so the mind set you history only based guys have about what to do here is old hat. This will work just as well on imported parts by the way. As you will see in the video once the rounds are isolated it is easy to change to .13″ radius, re-apply removed features and go from there.  Of course as you may imagine since we now have integration I bet we also might have associative tool path regeneration. Ain’t life grand 🙂

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Final Agenda for Solid Edge University 2013

Posted on June 4, 2013 | Leave a comment

OK folks here is reputedly the final final final agenda for SE2013. http://www.solidedgeu.com/assets/docs/seu2013agenda_handout.pdf

Also of interest for those of you considering Solid Edge is the new Solid Edge community and it is found here. Unlike the long time closed BBS forums anyone can get information, ask their questions and get answers in this open community. Lots of people who are not current users asked for this and here it is.

http://community.plm.automation.siemens.com/t5/Solid-Edge/ct-p/solid-edge

AND last but certainly not least can I encourage you to consider the only Solid Edge convention there can ever be where all the pieces come together. It has not happened before and it can’t happen again. Be there.

http://www.siemens.com/plm/solidedgeu

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Solid Edge ST6 Auto-Align Dimensions Teaser

Posted on June 4, 2013 | Leave a comment

I am not crazy about beta testing as it obligates you to spending time you can spend in other ways. I kind of think that the companies that write the stuff look for volunteers to help them do their job and there is no reward for the testers that I can see other than perhaps getting better software. This is why I have never wanted to beta test Solid Edge.

With CAM though I found myself in a different mindset and I have to say that I have reconsidered my position and have participated in this case. There has been free training and tech support so this alone is worth something to get up to speed with a new program. Plus I am excited to see CAM on the way.

However back to the design side of things. I don’t get a whole lot from Siemens about ST6 even though Solid Edge University 2013 is just three weeks away. I did get a little teaser this morning though and it is one I am glad to see. I have never liked how cumbersome it is to drag around and arrange dimensions in SE in part mode. It even seems to work different from day to day and workstation to workstation.

Drawings have been easier though but this new little enhancement should make a big difference. What I am hoping is that there will be help to for dimensioning in parts and sketches. Like you guys though I have to wait and see just what is in the box when I get the box. ( Well not really, I get to see it just not play with it at Solid Edge University 2013. By the way have you signed up to go? http://www.siemens.com/plm/solidedgeu  ) I was hoping that I would get to see ST6 when we were beta training for Brand X Cam, you know, that CAM program we can’t talk about yet. But the stinkers had us use ST5.

Anyway here is the teaser as information slowly dribbles out.

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Solid Edge University 2013 Update, CAM Woo-Hoo!!

Posted on May 28, 2013 | 12 comments

Looking forward with great anticipation to the end of June and SEU2013. Spent some time last week working with some goodies I am prohibited from discussing much so I will have to just hint and make vague generalities and be grudgingly accepting of this for a few more weeks. Detail WILL be forthcoming soon though.

In the mean time though      http://www.solidedgeu.com/assets/doc…da_handout.pdf  will take you to the latest posted agenda for SEU2013 and in particular I would direct your attention to TADA  !!

ScreenHunter_01 May. 26 04.15

That’s right, Wednesday morning 9:00 to 10:00 brings us the first ever CAM section for Solid Edge. And I mean JUST for Solid Edge and none of this NX Cam Express or all the other not truly integrated CAM stuff SE users have had to limp along with up until this point in time.

Now CAM might be old hat for other programs but not here. And while other programs might have a great ecosphere of apps they have other serious problems like forced migration to the cloud or a new kernal or both and soon to be uncontrollable related miscellaneous costs and data hostage taking. HEY all you doubters prove me wrong. Is this not exactly what Carl Bass of Autodesk and Bernard with Dassault have been saying now for some time? These are words of intent out of their own mouths and you better start taking them seriously. The funny thing about Autodesk and Dassault that can’t be said enough is that while they won’t put their source code on the cloud they expect you to do so with your equivalent-in-value CAD and design data. I am amazed at the number of CAD users that just drift along oblivious to these disruptive and damaging and more expensive to boot paradigms heading their way.

What we are going to see in SEU2013 is the maturing of the most powerful mid-range MCAD program which will include for all those who have been complaining about lacks in surfacing the end to complaints in this area.  SE has a plan and it is consistent and it does not include the cloud or kernal switches. And it has of course the most powerful single new tool for CAD and that is direct editing Synchronous Tech built on the Parasolid kernal they just happen to own and control. I can’t begin to state the power of this and those that don’t have it are quickly falling behind in overall efficiency of design. Plus it belongs to Siemens which bought it to improve their own manufacturing efficiencies.

This can’t be  stressed enough and it should be a pivotal consideration for any CAD user or CAD using company. What is the underlying philosophy of the company whose design software you have bought into?

……. If it does not have as it’s reason for existence providing great tools  for your bottom line and manufacturing efficiency.

……. If it is not used by the author for the very same things you intend to use it for and who then prove it out in their own manufacturing ecosystem should you or can you afford to be there?

There is only one major CAD author in this world who operates on a ten year plan and owns design software PRIMARILY to control and develop for it’s own manufacturing enhancement around the world. We who buy into this buy into real world tools void of all the fantasies that seem to currently be emanating from Dassault and most certainly the cloud coming from both Dassault and Autodesk.

Rather than being in the cross hairs of  companies that desire me as chattel with no regard for my future or bottom line I am with a company that worries about what I need and provides it. I recommend for anyone interested that they attend http://www.siemens.com/plm/solidedgeu

The conference is $550.00 after June 7Th for one and three can go for $1,100.00.  Local hotels are available for roughly $65.00 a night for decent rooms if you want to save additional money. This is by far the most economical conference by a major CAD company in the USA. Come and see what the next reigning king of the MCAD world is all about and be there where it all really and finally begins. Can you tell I am excited? If you knew what I knew you just might be too.

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Solid Edge University 2013 and Manufacturing

Posted on May 17, 2013 | Leave a comment

There are times where knowing about things and not being able to talk about them is a mixed blessing. It is a privilege to be told and shown things in confidence. But it is a PITA when you know you have good things to share but can’t until the OK to talk is given. Especially when you have a blog and would love to get the word out.

Back in Solid Edge University 2012 there were a few things shown and integrated CAM for the future was one of them. It was public then and still is but that is about all we can say about it. Today however I was given a teaser video and with great delight I will share it with you.

http://youtu.be/X-qPOaQ4-7o

I am excited, I know how droll can you be when software excites you, but I am and you have a clue why now. This is only one of other things that will happen at SEU2013. There is a philosophical shift at Solid Edge towards a complete manufacturing ecosphere and an emphasis on design to manufacture for engineering professionals and companies large and small. They have a plan and are adhering to it to be the best mid range MCAD solution in the world and this will now include integrated applications that will allow for design and then to parts out of your door to customers. After all one of the largest manufacturing conglomerates in the world, Siemens, bought UGS (NX and SE and the rest that goes with them) with the intent to use it to enhance their own production and design. I think better than any other major CADCAM software writing company out there these guys understand and work towards real world efficiency and we get to benefit from this as software customers.

OH, and can I say with complete confidence there are NO CLOUDS in our future and no kernel changes either. Life is good when you know where your software of choice is headed and their leadership tells you so in plain English and then shows you with their actions they mean what they say. How refreshing in this day and time to deal with people who put their cards on the table rather than a bunch of obfuscatory PR corporate leader BS meant to gull you into places your companies can’t really afford to be.

There will only be one time where it can all come together for Solid Edge and this year will be it. If you can possibly be there I would most certainly advise it. Hope to see you there!

http://www.siemens.com/plm/solidedgeu

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Solid Edge for Manufacturing Series

Posted on May 16, 2013 | Leave a comment

I have decided to take a bit of a new direction regarding  MCAD specific program commentary. While I am interested in what is happening in the MCAD world I don’t have enough real hands on knowledge to talk from a user perspective on things like SolidWorks or Inventor, the two main competitors for Solid Edge. I do intend to talk about generalities and where they are heading but my real interest in these programs is not the nuts and bolts of how they work for daily users but rather where they are going and the severe problems ahead for users because of this. Problems like kernel change and forced cloud usage, corporate management that won’t be honest with users and other things like this are fair game and require no daily CAD program user abilities to reflect upon. Or the serious lack of direct editing which has been such a boon in my world with Solid Edge.

A question that comes up periodically from some SolidWorks users is just what do we Solid Edge users do with our program of choice? This in conjunction with a past post of mine requesting problem parts that had no takers made me think about why I write this blog and what purpose would I like it to serve besides being a bully pulpit for things I like or dislike.

My sole reason for getting involved with CAD programs was based upon the realization in 2003 that I needed to expand my machining capabilities beyond manually operated equipment. This led to me getting my first CNC mill, a used Haas VF3. At the time Surfcam was offering a free 2d program which was all I needed. What quickly became apparent to me was that you have to feed this CNC mill and you need parts to put in the CAM plans to do so.  Just like the genesis of CAD in the real world was for the ability to communicate to machines to manufacture objects I was now faced with the same quandary.

The path I followed was buy a machine and then you need a CAM program to utilize it. Then I discover that since so much of what I was asked to do was reverse engineering of existing parts or design new I needed a CAD program. So 2D or 3D? It never made any sense to me at this point in time (2004) to learn 2D when it was clear after research that the future of machining was going to be off of 3D shapes. Besides that a 3D part is ever so much more self explanatory and visually concise that I never hesitated to go directly into 3D modeling and bypass 2D. Lets face it, all I ever need in 2D anyway is more easily created from 3D.

And of course history based Parametric modeling has it’s own share of problems which led me to have a look at Synchronous Tech in Solid Edge just before the release of ST1. I bought Solid Edge ST1 and have been here ever since for all my parts creation or imports.

My sole use for design has been to feed the manufacture of parts either in my shop or as parts created and sent to others who have capabilities I don’t for manufacture. And in reality while many designers I fear never see the inside of a manufacturing facility the only real reason for their jobs is that it is expected that somewhere at sometime something will be made from these designs.

SO with this in mind I begin the Solid Edge for Manufacturing series. I am going to take parts I design and produce in my shop and show how  I do so with the emphasis on  parts design for manufacturing. From designing for manufacturing to designs that incorporate assemblies which allow me to cut parts and jigs for those parts from the parent part I intend to demonstrate how this shop does things with Solid Edge. In the near future the upcoming wonderful CAM goodies I can finally talk about when Solid Edge University starts up this June will be in addition to parts creation. Yeah that’s right you heard me CAM goodies on the way.

The frequency of these posts will  depend on when I think I have an interesting or different type of part to talk about so if this is of interest just be on the lookout.

 

By the way, the upcoming SEU2013 this June will be the only event like this in the history of Solid Edge where you can be there when all the pieces of the puzzle are finally put in place. Hasn’t been one like this before and there can’t be one like this later so may I recommend to the curious or the fence sitters debating going that you do so.

http://www.siemens.com/plm/solidedgeu

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Intel Rejects Cloud for Design and Manufacturing Data

Posted on April 18, 2013 | 17 comments

I have been writing about the fraudulent nature of the promises of any CAD (And CAM as far as that goes!) on the Cloud company for a couple of years now. My real interest began when Dassault decided they were going to gut the security of every one of their clients by forcing the use of the cloud. Or at least that was the stated intent at the time as they attempted to paint a pretty picture of how things would be for those foolish enough to buy into this. http://worldcadaccess.typepad.com/blog/2011/01/41questionsaboutthecloud.html

Now I know I have discussed this at length before and I have quoted the above article before. But it bears repeating here that basically none of these questions have been directly answered by any CAD or CAM on the cloud company. I feel they know these are not solvable problems right now so rather than admit this they just won’t talk about it. Those of you in the real world outside of the corporate boardrooms might even go so far as to say deliberate deceptions would be the right term and I think so to. The idea that single threaded applications can’t work better in the cloud where there are hundreds of cores available for your use is swept under the carpet. Instead we hear the cloud is a wonderful thing and no one bothers to qualify what he says. Indeed if they were honest they would say that this CAD cloud thing is applicable to FEA and rendering only and is dependent upon your internet connection quality and has gobs of charges waiting in the back ground. That single thread is still that and what they offer does not fix this. But you can still rent hundreds of cores if you wish. And they will make sure it ends up costing you more in the long run because it is all about the money and not about you.

Every once in a while I see an article I consider quite powerful for the viewpoint I subscribe to regarding the cloud. Today I bring you one from Intel CIO Kim Stevenson. http://www.zdnet.com/intel-cio-kim-stevenson-on-big-data-openstack-women-in-it-7000014221/

I think it bears repeating a bit of it here.
“•Design: “Silicon design will never go out to the cloud. That’s our core IP,” said Stevenson. She added that no cloud service level agreement or chargeback would ever compensate for Intel’s intellectual property being leaked. Instead, product design runs on a high performance computing grid that’s internal.
•Manufacturing: Manufacturing is another area that won’t be put into the cloud. The information is housed in small data centers near the manufacturing site and later aggregated.”

Now I am going to ask publically of Dassault and Autodesk these questions.
If Intel can’t protect it’s data online how will you be able to do so?
If chargebacks won’t cover Intel’s proprietary information losses how can you cover CAD and manufacturing data losses for the customers you have and want to force onto the cloud?

Last but not least is why do the representatives from the top down from Dassault and Autodesk blatantly lie about and or ignore the various egregious aspects of the cloud and expect to get a free pass on this? Now I say they lie deliberately and with intent as I refuse to believe that all these things I find in public domain as news they are unaware of. Deliberate omission of information is after all a method of lying isn’t it? And they do refuse to make whole anyone using the cloud and their software from any damages that result. Read the TOS for Fusion 360 as an example. What is left is for CAD and CAM customers to start considering the integrity with which their CAD software suppliers are treating them. If you are using Dassault or Autodesk products and they force you to the cloud in any way to use their products they quite clearly have contempt for you as a customer and only see you as chattel dollar signs. If you are contemplating using ANY CAD or CAM program that forces your data to the cloud from anyone you are in jeapordy. I mention Dassault and Autodesk because their actions to force users into an insecure paradigm for whatever reason causes them to lead the charge here.

As a fine example of corporate deception and double speaking I present Autodesk’s Fusion 360 TOS. In particular pay attention to sections 7.1, 7.2 and 7.3 and it tells you all you need to know of the integrity of Autodesk and how they will stand behind their customers. This is the current version from 3/13/13
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=21310328
For Dassault we have http://www.3ds.com/terms-of-use/ While I did not spend a whole lot of time digging I could find nothing on Mechanical Conceptual and I suppose this is because it is not out there yet for the public. But in any case pay attention to the weasel words in section 9. I am sure you will find them amusing as I did.

Is it any wonder with the integrity of the cloud service offering companies that Intel does not want their intellectual properties or their manufacturing data to reside there? I find these comments from Intel CIO Kim Stevenson to be incredibly revealing and directly damning against Dassault and Autodesk from an unimpeachable source they can’t contradict. The lawyers that Dassault and Autodesk employ agree totally with Kim Stevenson and thus these onerous evasions of responsibility from them to any customer who uses cloud based whatever from these guys.

An interesting commentary I read recently stated that when us old fuddy-duddy users who still believed in things like autonomy and personal control over our affairs, data and destiny were replaced by the young guys who were so electronically connected in every area of their lives and could care less about fuddy-duddy concerns this cloud would work. Work for who dare I ask? Somehow I think that when even these superior mentality uber-connected cutting edge near cyborg wannabes get screwed enough by these cloud companies they to will reject this mess. Nothing like a little real life medicine to cure naivety I always said and thus will die the current equivalent of the Dot Com frauds of the late 90’s.

Look people, in particular those of you with Dassault or Autodesk or considering them or any other CAD CAM company that would force you to the cloud. Can you afford to deal with companies that treat your lifeblood with such disdain? Intel clearly thinks not and so should you in my opinion.

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Solid Works Users, Send Me Your Problem Files

Posted on March 25, 2013 | 8 comments

typical Solid Works fail

I have mentioned this and no one has taken this seriously yet so I am going to try again. I am looking for MCAD files from Solid Works users that fall into the following categories. Problems creating it in SW, problem with editing or families of parts in SW and last but not least imports that fail in SW. It is my intent to create videos utilizing these files and demonstrating how it can be done with data imported as dumb solids from Solid Works in Solid Edge. I have always felt that there is nothing better than using actual parts to work with over canned demos all slick and polished from Siemens. So my mission, and I hope some of you will be so kind as to oblige me, is to get files from you so I can create some videos.

HEY, worst case scenario is that if it is of interest to you, you can see how someone else using a different program solves the same problems you face. Please leave a reply here and I will get back to you with contact information.

Here is a specific example of what I am talking about. This part was sent to me by a member of the Huntsville Solid Edge User Group. For some reason I can’t fathom he is still strictly an ordered user in ST4. He had a lot of trouble with an imported step file and here I show him how to repair this using Synchronous in ST5. Basically like many history based or ordered users he eventually ended up rebuilding the part after fiddling with it for some time. Now I mention that this was not repairable in ordered in the video clip but I suppose it could be if one fiddled long enough or knew the cool tricks for doing so. My attempts there to get this done in ordered were brief and I went to Synchronous rather quickly where I knew I would not have to fool around. I do all my parts in Synchronous as it is just to quick and reliable for me to consider ordered or traditional history based stuff anymore. And to be honest here I have to sit down and remember just how to inflict the pain of straight ordered modeling upon myself and I spend little time doing so. There apparently are some real benefits to combining the two at times although I have never had a need to do so.

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Five Free Spots Reserved for Qualified Solid Works Users at SEU 2013

Posted on March 22, 2013 | Leave a comment

OK folks the count down for ST6 is going quickly and at this end I am getting excited about what is coming. Of course there are the things some of us get to see and can’t talk about which of course makes the wait worse for us. We get to see the new toys or hear about them and then have to wait. Sometimes I think ignorance is bliss and maybe would be preferable to you can look but you can’t touch. Anyway that is the way it goes.

Solid Works is by any number metric the largest 3D MCAD modeler out there. They have become a part of a company that does not understand how the success of SW was part of a plan that listened to users and interacted with them. Today it is top down chaos with one thing said one month along with promises only to see a diametrically opposed statement soon after and failures to deliver promised software or all this cloud goodness everyone is supposed to be in awe of. Naturally in a vacuum like this there will be something that comes along to fill it.

I prefer to think this over the next few years will be Solid Edge and while SW is not going away it’s market share will be severely cut. When technology advances as profoundly as it has with the implementation of Synchronous Technology in SE it is only a matter of time before clear advantages with direct editing will prove itself to doubters and there stands SW with nothing to offer.

Now part of the master plan for SE to acquire SW users is to make the change as painless as possible and in light of that I will copy what Dan Staples sent to me this morning.

“”We will waive the conference fee for the first five qualified individuals to sign up to participate in a one hour usability session. Qualifications: A minimum of two years using Solid Works in a production environment; no more than two hours prior hands-on experience with Solid Edge”

I will be adding information on who you contact for this but you guys over on the SW side of the fence who are interested have an opportunity here to attend SEU 2013 for free. Now I assume that since this was not specified you are responsible for lodging and travel. This is a chance to see exactly what the program is all about and meet the people employed with Siemens.

I believe that ST6 is when all the pieces of the puzzle will come together for SE and soon we will be looking at SW users and saying “you to will be assimilated” and many of you will. Better ways of doing things with methodology that can work with files from anywhere and not watch your stuff blow up all the time is a compelling argument to switch from the tired things you know and can work with to a far more productive way.

I also have an offer to SW users. I would like you to send me a problem file you have along with an explanation of why it fails in SW. It can be one you have created or one you have imported that you can’t easily work on and I want to make some videos showing how SE would work on the same part. I find there is nothing that beats working on someone’s problem part to show just exactly why your way is much more efficient. SO, five go to SEU2013 for free and send in your files and get some insight into a better way for free. Now on this parts file thing. Remember I am a guy that does design build for machinery, just like 90% or so of the MCAD world I would guess. You send me some sort of byzantine plastic tail light housing that in all likelihood is beyond my skill level I will try to find someone who can work on it. But for the 90% of you who do the same kind of work I do bring it on. Post a reply here and I will get you the contact info for the parts files.

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Solid Edge Social Community

Posted on January 7, 2013 | 2 comments

I want to announce the formation of the Solid Edge Social Community. Here is the link to it. http://www.soliddna.com/SEcommunity
This has been started by Luc Poulin of SolidDNA who is linked to here at the sidebar.

I think it bears a bit of commentary as to who Luc is and why you should go there if you have an interest in Solid Edge. I first met Luc at PLM World in Nashville 2009 where he was one of 37 Solid Edge attendees. Well before there was a re-establishment of the new SE community he had an interest and was there on his own dime. He has been an active part of the revival of the Solid Edge community not so much with his web sites as with his prolific technical support and how to’s which show up on a regular basis at the Siemens BBS forums and pretty much where ever SE users congregate. Behind the scenes he has been of material help to people like myself, Matt Lombard and many others on how to do things or solve problems.

While I am involved in the use of SE and helping to create a community for users I have never considered myself an expert user of Solid Edge. My business does not require me to be and my plate is full enough that I learn what I need. Luc on the other hand IS an expert and is well regarded by people who go as far back as Solid Edge V1.

He has toyed with the idea of creating a community forum for some time now that would be open to the public that would be geared towards anyone who was interested. I remember discussing stuff like this with him 3.5 years ago. I think highly enough of Luc to have recommended him to Siemens in the past to be a liaison for the French speaking community of SE users in Canada (eh!).

Luc has however remained independent for whatever reason and this is his forum created because he likes Solid Edge and thinks you should too. Luc also has a back ground in actual manufacturing software such as CAM so he knows how all of these tools of ours are supposed to inter-relate to allow us to be productive in our work. I think that outside of Eng-Tips and the official Siemens BBS this site of Luc’s deserves to become within the next year one of the top forums for SE. (As a side note here Eng-Tips while valuable has some odd notions of what is proper and you can’t post things about user groups or conferences or whatever else they don’t like at that time. Eng-Tips is a commercial site and is moderated with their own special interests in mind first and foremost.) I want to encourage everyone who will to go there and register and even more importantly to contribute in some way. Active volunteers and community participants at this time are far and few between with Solid Edge. Really this is true for any CAD software as when you think of the number of subscribers compared to the number of people who participate online very few are there and I think the vast majority who show up are lurkers.

But the establishment of a network of communication which Luc’s forum will help to do has far reaching potential consequences for those who will help.

Networking between users is hard to do when the VARS and software authoring companies keep the lists of subscribers in a vault you never have access to. They generally are not going to help you find other users in your area. Networking between individuals is how you find work, get work, get hired, improve your professional career and most importantly in some ways find a local source of talent you can go to with your laptop and file when you need to be bailed out. The side benefit of enjoying the company of your peers is also well worthwhile in my opinion.

So go there and help kick start this thing with Luc. Stay there and help make it happen. Now I am going to talk to the SE users who primarily participate only on the BBS about something I think is important. For some reason SE users are some of the most insular people I have met in the software world. Pretty independent minded and self reliant they have for the most part only communicated behind the closed doors of the BBS forums and rarely venture into the world at large. Now I am going to say that some of these guys were a big help to me when I started and still are but only on the BBS and rarely do you see these uber users in the public eye or forums. I think it is time for this to change and for these talented individuals to help get this community going. I think Luc’s site is a fine place to start and it is time to do more than show up at something once a year and hide in a closed forum for the rest of it. Did I just say that? Well, really, did I mis-state the truth? I know how many of you guys are excited about the revival of the yearly conferences but I am telling you this is only part of the puzzle to be put together. The university will last four days this year. The forums however last all year and should be an integral part of serious SE users who see value in the growth of SE and the community to their future.

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