Spending too much on prototyping? Learn how to save money!

Here we go! It’s that exciting time again, it’s time to start a new project. This time however, things must be different. The last project didn’t follow the schedule accordingly; the team wasn’t as efficient as it could be, and you’ve surpassed the intended budget. As a manager or lead engineer you are concerned, and you have every right to be; it’s extremely important to stay on schedule and on budget in a product development environment.

One design stage that is often overlooked by managers and engineers alike is the prototype stage. The reason for this is because the focus in this stage becomes mainly around testing the design at any cost. No one wants to take any risks in testing the product accurately, and they shouldn’t, but there are certainly ways to ensure efficient design and product validation without spending too much time and money in the prototype stage. In this two-part article, we will explore 5 different strategies that could help with such a task.

Follow Digital Prototyping Methods:

Before even thinking of manufacturing a physical prototype, it’s important to know that there are CAD and Simulation Software at the disposal of your engineers to perform what is called, “Digital Prototyping”. These tools should be used throughout the design stage, and before manufacturing, to validate and optimize the performance of the design.

View original source: http://www.cadmicro.com/prototyping-learn-save-money/

Resetting SQL Server Login Credentials for PDM

System administrator account (‘SA’) in SQL server plays a vital role in managing the file vault database and the vault data. In this post, I will show you how to reset credentials for the system administrator account in SQL server and to integrate it with the server components of PDM.

Steps to reset SA credentials:

1) Log in to the SQL server host with windows administrator credentials.
2) Open SQL server management studio and connect to the database with ‘Windows Authentication’

View Original Source: http://www.cadmicro.com/resetting-sql-server-login-credentials-pdm/

What people are saying about Altium Designer?

Functionality, breadth of features and ease of use top what designers like most about their preferred CAD software, while cost is their biggest concern.

Those are the findings of a recent survey, undertaken by PCD&F, looking at which tools designers use – and which they prefer.

Of the 269 designers who responded to the survey, 62% indicated they were senior PCB designers, and nearly 45% of all respondents said they have over 30 years of experience in the industry, while three-quarters have more than 20 years’ experience. More than 68% work for OEMs.

What do designers like most about their preferred CAD software?

By far, functionality and breadth of features topped the list at 56%. Another 23% said their preferred CAD software is easy to use, while 6% said they like its speed best. Some 6% said it’s easy to learn. Cost was best for 5% of designers, and compatibility with other tools and collaboration capability received 2% of responses each.

View Original Source: http://www.cadmicro.com/people-saying-altium-designer/

Top 10 Technology Trend Predictions for 2017

Each fall, Gartner, a provider of independent research and advice to IT companies, releases their Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for the coming year.

In a series of 3 blog posts, we would like to add our perspective on this list for 2017. Together with our partners at Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks, Altium, and Markforged, we want to let you know that we have solutions that target these trends. Thankfully, we have invested in these trends for a number of years already.  Working together, we can empower your business with the power to innovate and succeed.

Trend #1: AI & Advanced Machine Learning

SolidWorks Xdesign, which is coming later in 2017, has a design optimization tool in which the computer offers design solutions.  From a recent interview with Gian Paolo Bassi, CEO, Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks:

“The idea is to free up the imagination of the engineer. Xdesign will suggest geometry based on stress and strain optimization algorithms to create the best design. We envision the machine telling you that this part is optimized from a statistical point of view, and now you as the engineer have to turn it into an industrial part. An engineer would then verify the part through their manufacturing experience and training.”

View Original Source: http://www.cadmicro.com/top-10-technology-trend-predictions-2017/