Stephen Covey’s landmark book ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ lists the 7^th critical habit as “Sharpen the saw.” It references a parable of a lumberjack and a stranger. The woodsman is very busy cutting down trees. As he completes more and more work his effort increases and his productivity goes down because his saw dulls over time. The lumberjack, exhausted and cursing the labor, is approached by the stranger. “What’s the problem?” asks the stranger. “My saw is dull and won’t cut well” responds the lumberjack. “Why don’t you sharpen it?” asks the stranger. The lumberjack responds “What kind of question is that? Because I would have to stop sawing, and I’m very busy.”  The stranger responds “But, if you sharpened your saw you could cut more efficiently than before. You could get even more work done.”
It’s important to sharpen our saw. We need to keep working to improve our knowledge base, approach, and overall situation. This may involve attending a training class, reading a book, mentoring and being mentored, or joining a peer group. I understand this can be difficult in the world of product development / engineering / design / manufacturing / and service. There is always pressure to get to market, get to the trade show, meet customer demands, etc.

Efficient engineering, design, manufacturing, and service requires efficient use of the supporting technologies for each role. Our training group consistently proves a return on our customer’s investment in training and development. That’s because technology keeps getting better. If you don’t know how to take advantage of the full functionality of your tools like PTC Creo, PTC Windchill, PTC Arbortext, and PTC Mathcad…you’re cutting with a dull saw.

We consistently schedule key PTC certified training classes and training courses that help people throughout organizations make the most of their technology. We deliver everything from Windchill Administrator courses to training classes for specific PTC Creo tools and functionality.

Do me a favor. Take time to sharpen your saw. A few days in a training course could save you hundreds of hours down the line. Contact our training group to learn more about our training and mentoring delivery options and full course catalogue. And check out this blog to learn more about how to select a PTC Training Course and Training Class provider.

We are an Authorized Training Partner of PTC. Our training and mentoring group delivers and sells PTC University Training solutions. This helps ensure you not only get the technology you need to dramatically improve the way you design, manufacture, and service your products and enterprise, but the knowledge to fully take advantage of your software investment.
EAC was one of the first authorized training partners. Why should you care? We have more experience mapping organization’s needs to the perfect PTC Training Course. We have more experienced instructors ready to deliver PTC Training Class content and customized training to create additional value for students and organizations. It also means we know a lot about what people want from a training experience, and what they should ask of their provider.

Many people see professional development, or continuing education, to somehow be exempt from the due diligence one would apply to…say, selecting a college. The truth is, it is important to carefully choose the company and people your organization uses to deliver a comprehensive PTC training course schedule or a single PTC training class.

Here are some questions you should ask a potential training provider:

• Do they have real-world experience using the products?
• Do they understand how various solutions work together?
• Do they offer training on multiple PTC training course segments (PLM, PDM, CAD, AR, IoT, etc.)?
• What delivery methods to they offer? (in center, onsite)
• Do they offer extended access to Instructors for questions after a course ends?
• Do they offer the ability to audit a PTC training class for a year, in case a student needs a refresher?
• What is their cancellation policy? (Things come up, sometime a plan doesn’t work out. Here’s ours)
• Do they offer volume pricing discounts?
• Are there any current promotions?

We are here to help you know all the picks, clicks, and technology tricks to make sure everyone on your team is a power user. You need to complete projects as fast as possible – good training makes that possible. Here is our current training calendar. It displays all of the currently scheduled Creo training, Windchill training, and Arbortext training. Please contact us if you don’t see a specific training course. We may be able to add it to the existing calendar or deliver the training class specifically to your organization.

Augmented Reality (AR) is a powerful tool used for design reviews, collaboration, and communicating design intent. The AR functionality built into every seat of Creo makes it easier for CAD users to share design info with colleagues, suppliers, customers, and manufacturing partners in a rich, immersive way.

First of all, why use Creo?

PTC Creo, formerly Pro/ENGINEER, is a product design software used by manufacturers for mechanical engineering, design and manufacturing. Creo supports designers from initial concept to design, simulation, and analysis. This CAD tool offers industry-leading capabilities, augmented reality (AR), and the ability to capitalize on the potential of the Internet of Things (IoT) – which enables users to produce better products, more efficiently, and at a lower cost.

Here’s a few examples of how you can benefit from the ability to rapidly create, publish, and share AR experiences directly from Creo.

Creo AR is fundamentally changing the way product stakeholders outside of engineering consume and leverage product data.

Common industry challenges and how to fix them

Share augmented reality experiences

Challenge: You need to quickly, efficiently, and safely get feedback for a design review from a supplier or vendor.

Preparing and packaging models so that people can see them for distribution and review can be a challenge. Engineers typically go through a process of saving a copy the files and keeping track of drawings, assembly, and parts with a risk of compromising intellectual property in the process.

Solution: Creo AR allows you to rapidly define and publish AR experiences that can be distributed instantly only to those who have permission to view it.

Visualize augmented reality experiences

Challenge: You’re unable to convey the size and scale of your design.

It’s difficult to visualize a design if it’s behind a computer screen or you don’t have the means to meet up and physically see the prototype. Engineers can spend a lot of time and money on creating multiple design drafts and prototyping for a short review feedback that could end up relaying to them that more changes need to be made.

Solution: Creo AR allows for immersive design data with full context and scale so that you can interact, explore, and engage with design data.

Creo AR Design Share Extension

The Creo AR Design Share extension allows you to create and manage more augmented reality experiences. The extension allows you to fully control the authoring and accessibility of your company’s AR experiences which protects your intellectual property by preventing access to critical CAD data.

The first 5 AR experiences you create within Creo are free. After that you can purchase the ‘Enterprise package’ which allows you to create 50 models, or the ‘Individual package’ which allows you to create 10 models. Purchasing one of the packages for the Creo AR Design Share extension will also give you permanent shelf life (versus 6 months free) and the administrative control to add and remove authors and viewers as well as add and delete AR experiences.

The value of augmented reality across the Enterprise

Augmented reality goes beyond the ‘cool’ factor. Organizations can make money with the value that AR brings to design, manufacture, selling, service, training, and operations. Talk to our Smart Connected Enterprise experts to learn more about augmented reality.

Designing a product without integrating simulation into your workflow is like giving a concert but never rehearsing. Why would you do that?

Top Performing organizations meet cost targets, remain on spending plans, and beat their due dates. One way they accomplish these objectives is by utilizing simulation tools to empower their organizations. Here’s 10 ways simulation will put you ahead.

1. Simulation software = better design decisions

Simulation tools enable engineers to have better insights throughout the design process.

For example, with the use of simulation engineers can conduct sensitivity studies, analyze trade-offs, remove excess materials and even evaluate motion envelopes.

By using simulation during concept design, engineers are able to explore and consider more options.

These options permit engineers to see the influences and effects of different design guidelines and limitations.

Testing many conditions, simulation software allows engineers to narrow down choices for the best concept.

This is how engineers are able to make better, highly informed design decisions.

2. Simulation helps avoid over engineering

By simulating your designs in a variety of environments, you can easily determine what is necessary within your design and what is not.

This helps engineers eliminate excess materials, and ultimately create better products.

3. With Simulation software, you find problems earlier  (while they’re still cheap to fix)

Engineering simulation software helps organizations discover hidden interactions that can cause big problems.

How? It’s simple.

If the materials you’re using to build and design a product can’t perform under stress, you can find out early in the design process.

This helps your design team get it right the first time.

4. Simulation tools improve product quality

Simulation tools enable engineers to analyze and validate the performance of 3D virtual prototypes before the part itself is created.

With the ability to validate and test designs early in the design process, engineers are able to create and evaluate more concepts and ideas within allotted time frames.

This means more ideas, more designs, better quality and ultimately a better product.

5. Simulation software improves product reliability

With simulation software, results are accurate and reliable and can be easily calculated with very little input from engineers.

By using simulation-driven design to optimize product performance, quality and durability- you can be sure that your is more than reliable.

6. Simulation tools cut product development time

Organizations are able to reduce product development time with simulation tools because less time is needed for physical testing, fixing late problems, and rework.

When design engineers know how to run simulations, they understand the requirements for the analysis model. By taking these requirements into consideration as they design, model, and build products, the analysis becomes easier and takes less time to prepare.

7. Innovation is increased with simulation

With the help of simulation tools, engineers can also be more innovative.

Time-savings allotted from simulation and virtual prototypes enable design engineers to evaluate more design iterations.

8. Simulation helps you get to market faster

Simulation tools help streamline product development activities by enabling concurrent design and analysis.

How? It’s simple.

With simulation, the analysis process is faster. For instance, you can forget any reliance on 3^rd parties for analysis because you are able to now do it in-house.

By identifying and eliminating errors early in the design process you will resolve errors early, eliminating late-stage changes and tedious rework. This will also greatly speed up your processes.

Simulation tools empower design engineers to make better design decisions.

Better design decisions ultimately produce more competitive products that cost less and get to market faster.

9. In the long run, simulation tools save costs

Simulation helps engineers make better design decisions at much less cost because they can subject virtual models to real-world forces.

By using fewer prototypes and focusing simulation on areas of high sensitivity and fatigue, an organization can save time and money.

For example, engineers can reduce product costs by optimizing designs to meet multiple objectives, such as maintaining a product’s strength while reducing its weight.

This is exactly how the use of analysis and early optimization to properly size geometry can reduce material costs.

Aside from material costs, how do product failures, warranty, and repair cost impact company profits? Tremendously.

Using simulation tools organizations can avoid costly recalls and reduce after-market service, warranty, and repair costs.

It’s easy to see how simulation tools will save you money simply by eliminating the need for project re-work, prototyping, and over-engineering 

10. More competitive products

Simulation software provides engineers with additional insight, which leads to better design decisions and product optimization.

By using simulation, design engineers are able to develop higher quality products that are easily differentiated in the market.

Having more technical illustrations than information is beneficial in many ways—and the solution to do so is easier than you think.

Here’s why you should be using more technical illustrations and the best way to create them.

Technical Illustrations are Easy to Understand

We all know the saying “ a picture paints a thousand words”—and in this case, it’s more than true.

It’s much easier to interpret a picture than to understand and read through lots of text. Using illustrations in tech pubs, user manuals, and service manuals reduce user errors.

Illustrations Take Away the Need for Text

Have you ever bought anything from Ikea? Sure you have! They sell their flat pack furniture all over the globe using the same manuals. That is the power of illustrations. You can drastically reduce the amount of text that is needed by producing illustrations.

Using Technical Illustrations Reduces the Need for Translation

With less text that is needed or used, you can reduce your translation costs.

So Why Doesn’t Everyone Use Illustrations?

The traditional process to create illustrations is time-consuming and can be froth with problems.

Let me illustrate it for you.

Odds are if you are using the traditional illustration process, your technical illustrators most likely work with engineers to get snapshots of CAD information to use in illustrations.

These snapshots are usually static because they are captured at only a moment in time, usually near the end of the product development process.

Because the illustrations are static, they are not always easy to interpret. This means the text is still required to properly convey the information.

If your snapshots were taken at the end of the product development process because there was ‘ less likelihood of the product changing’ – you could be delaying your shipment process.

Often a product cannot ship until the technical information that is associated with it is ready to ship with the product.

Now consider all the back and forth communication between both the engineering department and the illustration group.

Traditional illustrations are difficult to keep up to date. Commonly the illustrator needs to go back to the engineer for updates every time there is a change to the product.

If at any time there is a miscommunication, your illustrations could easily become inaccurate; exposing your organization to the risk of unsatisfied customers, frustrated field technicians, and the possibility of lawsuits.

It’s easy to see why the traditional methods to create illustrations are downright time consuming and prone to error.

So How Can You Make Technical Illustrations Easily?

The answer is Creo Illustrate.

Creo Illustrate leverages CAD data to create illustrations that, depending on your PDM/PLM setup, maintain an associative link to the original CAD data.

This means any changes you make with your CAD data can automatically update all your illustrations and possibly your publications.

With Creo Illustrate you have the ability to start creating illustrations early on in the product development process, with a guarantee that your illustrations are always kept up-to-date. Start developing product documentation during the product development process instead of after the product development process.

See Creo Illustrate in action! Watch this short video.

• -Josh Siebert, Engineering Manager, Condux International

• – Eric Wahl, Owner, Colorado Solar Inc. 
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