PTC’s LiveWorx 2023 was a huge success. EAC is proud to have been a Premier Sponsor for the leading technology trade show in Boston, MA that ran from May 15-18. LiveWorx brought over 10,000 attendees from all over the world to the Boston Exhibition Center (BCEC) to learn and share insights about today’s digital transformation for the manufacturing industry. 

The exhibition hall was buzzing with energy as EAC’s booth was filled with great discussions and technical demos revolving around navigating the digital thread. As the #1 PTC Reseller and Solution Provider in North America, it was great to be back with PTC leaders and innovators under one roof while connecting with our customers and network, sharing how we help manufacturers in various industries.

Event Highlights

With groundbreaking intelligence from PTC at the Global Partner Summit, to country star Dierks Bentley (wearing an EAC company ball cap), to hosting PTC’s CEO Jim Heppelmann at our EAC x Fishbowl Solutions Happy Hour, plus exciting guest speakers such as celebrity mountaineer Alex Honnold- LiveWorx 2023 was one for the (digital) books.

Navigating The Digital Thread with EAC

EAC Product Development Solutions is at the forefront of providing and implementing digital thread solutions for companies seeking to transform how they design, manufacture, connect to, and service their products. EAC’s advanced industry knowledge helps resolve pain points companies face from multiple facets throughout the product development lifecycle. Our experts at LiveWorx had seven successful IgniteTalx and Breakout Sessions that covered a wide range of topics, including:

Special Thanks

Thank you to everyone who attended our presentations and visited our booth at LiveWorx. We enjoyed meeting with you and learning about your manufacturing challenges, wins, and visions for the near future. We look forward to continuing the conversation and helping you improve your operations throughout the product development lifecycle. Thank you to PTC and our customers who joined us for LiveWorx 2023.

If you missed LiveWorx 2023, you can still get access to our presentation slides or book a technical demo by sending us a note here. Our experts can answer any questions you may have. Contact us today to learn more.

See you in Boston next year!

Repeatedly in life, you hear the phrase “practice what you preach.” A charge to show the world what you’re saying is true and viable. Well, that’s exactly what we did and continue to do here at EAC headquarters.

EAC’s popcorn machine recently had a broken part rendering it difficult to produce popcorn that wasn’t blackened to a crisp. 

Our design engineers took one look at the problem and took action. Using PTC’s cloud-based Onshape, one engineer began the initial CAD design of the part off-site simultaneously as another designer was able to edit the part geometry on-site. This increased collaboration and excelled design iteration with updates in real-time.

With the initial design completed in Onshape, minor tweaks were made and work through versions 2 and 3 were finished in just a matter of days. The CAD file alone, however, was not going to fix the burnt popcorn issue – it was time for prototyping.

Unfortunately, the original part had deteriorated over time which made it difficult to capture accurate measurements. Adjustments to the prototype would have to be made along the way to make sure that it fit just right.

Using our Formlabs 3D printers, the designers printed V1 and V2 on the Form 3+ printer due to the accuracy and speed in which they could turn around a prototype. Since our team wanted to test out their iterations quickly, they took advantage of the new and improved software and hardware offerings on this printer. The off-site designer was able to print the prototype after the on-site designer prepped the printer before leaving the office that same day. As a result they produced functional, high-quality prototypes and end-use parts in record time.

The prototype material used accelerated necessary edits, but was not used for the final product due to the level of heat it would take on sitting above the popcorn kettle. The final piece was printed with Nylon resin on the Fuse 1 printer. This new SLS printer not only sped up the production process, but allowed for long-lasting results using an incredibly durable material. It was time to install the ready-made part – our popcorn machine was going to pop again. 

By using modern collaborative design tools in Onshape, our team was able to seamlessly work together remotely and also quickly iterate a quality design ready for prototyping. Formlabs’ connected printers with remote access, printing, and monitoring created an accurate and durable part that was ready to be put to use.

Together, the two solutions streamlined design, prototyping, and part production processes. Our design engineers saw a problem and practiced what they preach – filling the halls of EAC with the smell of fresh popcorn once again!