PLM is not Enough

Siemens continues to add useful features, plus SaaS-based subscription elements, to Solid Edge 2024.

BY RALPH GRABOWSKI

Turns out, for many MCAD vendors, PLM is not enough. For nearly 20 years now, they’ve known that by selling software that documents all stages of the lives of products – from conceptual design through to disassembly at end of life – they would make lot more money. Now, MCAD vendors are transmogrifying PLM into digital transformation, seemingly as a rebranding exercise to breathe new life into the aging concept.

“It’s the integration of digital technologies into all aspects of your engineering business,” explained Siemens Digital Industries Software during its recent Solid Edge 2024 launch. Forgive me if I appear skeptical, but I thought we did that 40 years ago when hand drafting became CAD. In any case, the company was referring to their digital transformation software, Xcelerator. Introduced in

2022, Xcelerator is a collection of Siemens software, hardware and third-party vendors, plus a marketplace.

Even so, Siemens’ software unit has spent the last ten years bucking the insistence of its competitors, like Autodesk and PTC, that all software must be resold annually via subscriptions and operate from the cloud. But, the lure of a never-ending revenue stream is always there. And so, for this year’s Solid Edge 2024 product launch, the company didn’t lead off with what’s-new in their design software. Instead, it spotlighted a survey of managers at 400 small- and medium-sized manufacturers.

In that survey, seventy-two percent of those managers said digital technology levels their playing field against larger corporations. This is important, as Solid Edge is aimed at these smaller firms. Some 80% maintained or increased their digital budgets during the pandemic, although we’re not told the size of the increase. More importantly, nearly half said SaaS (software as a service, aka subscriptions) would be a priority in the coming year, while fewer than 30% would make the cloud a priority.

That survey, especially the bit about SaaS software adoption, reinforces Siemens’ decision last year to broadened use of subscriptions through token-based licensing. Similar to floating licenses, tokens give you access to eight additional functions in Solid Edge, such as generative design, point cloud visualization and simulation.

As to cost, NX users currently pay CAD$13,572 per year for 50 tokens, the minimum batch for NX. However, Solid Edge users can buy as few as 25 tokens at a time. While the exact dollar amount is unclear, Siemens says the price is roughly half that of NX’s 50-token minimum. Once purchased, the tokens can be exchanged for 25 licenses of any combination of Solid Edge addons for any length of time. The benefit is that users can jump in and out of using the eight add-ons. The drawback is that, since tokens can only be purchased in groups of 25, your firm might not ever need that many tokens at one time.

What’s New in Solid Edge 2024

For the past decade, some CAD vendors have struggled to add new functions to their software. So, it is good to see that Siemens still comes out with new significant features for its CAD software, especially ones that save time. For example, the Automatic Tube Trimming function cuts holes in primary tubes that intersect with secondary ones, and trims secondary tubes that meet primary ones. End connections are mitered automatically

Another time saver prepares thread geometry in assemblies for 3D printing: Solid Edge leaves inner or outer clearances for threads by a percentage or an absolute distance, and then varies the clearance depending on the 3D printer model and the material. For regular CAM, the software now includes 3D adaptive roughing to remove material more efficiently.

However, some new functions have already been available in other CAD systems for a time. Examples of this include impor ting Excel spreadsheet files; polygon and lasso selection; and searches in the settings dialog box. For sheet metal modeling in Solid Edge 2024, handed (mirrored) parts remain associative to the original and bend centerlines have colors indicating the bend direction.

MCAD vendors are forever looking to improve the load and display time of large assemblies, and here Siemens says Solid Edge is “up to” nine times faster in rotating, panning and zooming large ones without resorting to tricks like hiding features.

In this day and age of AI hype, Siemens says it’s added artificial intelligence to assembly relationships and when editing CAM operations. The AI in the Replace Part command shows previews of suggested alternative parts.

There is more back and forth interaction between Solid Edge and big step-brother NX. When a model is open in NX and Solid Edge at the same time, changes to PMI (product manufacturing information) in Solid Edge is automatically updated in NX. Components modeled in Solid Edge can also now be opened in NX without translation for further modeling and analysis.

When working with other CAD systems, Solid Edge 2024 now allows users to insert models into Solid Edge assemblies (again, without translation) from ACIS, CATIA, Creo and Inventor – in addition to JT, NX, Solidworks and STEP from last year.

Siemens Support Center

Some of what’s new for Solid Edge comes in the form of design automation applets you download from Siemens Support Center. Similar to the Xcelerator add-ons, some applets are free; others will cost you. The Support Center is Siemens’ one-stop website to handle accounts, downloads and support requests.

One applet that caught my eye is the Solid Edge Design Configurator applet, pre-configured data sets for ladders, conveyors and enclosures. It runs inside Solid Edge and parametrically extends the length of ladders to reach the tops of towers, or places conveyor components over the length of a production line.

In use, it appeared that lengths are determined manually or else by importing Excel data. Nevertheless, it is fascinating to watch the conveyor system snaking along, and it reminded me that Actrix could do some of this back in 2000.

Another applet is the new Call Subassembly command that works with Place Part Model and Loop Action commands to configure sub-assemblies right inside the main assembly.

While the pandemic accelerated the use of software like Zoom to replace in-person meetings, engineering teams also need to see drawings and 3D models. Typically, this is done through stand-alone collaboration software like TeamCenter, which runs on “any” device. TeamCenter Share is now built into Solid Edge, but is available only when you pay for an annual subscription.

Hour of Engineering

Related to Siemens’ investment in CAD software, Siemens launched Hour of Engineering, a free Web site for teaching engineering topics to students, last January. The site uses Siemens’ own Mendix low-code application development platform to provide courses that can range from ten to 40 hours long. The site also includes teacher lesson plans for nine topics that cover shapes, how rockets work and so on.

Each topic begins with a video introducing the concept, followed by screenfuls of engineering explanations, and a quiz every so often. Students earn a star for each question answered correctly. There isn’t a suggested age range, so I don’t know if “How many equal planar faces does the cube have?” is too advanced for the first topic, shapes.

The site presents most topics using a CAD-like system to illustrate concepts, but only rarely did it allow students to interact with the topic. For instance, it would have been great to turn a gear manually to see how the direction, speed and power of other gears change, but this particular lesson is all non-interactive.

In an age when my elementary-age grandchildren run interactive educational software every school day on their laptops, Hour of Engineering’s limited-interaction interface is disappointing. Kids ought to be allowed to manipulate simple objects many ways in CAD, which is, after all, the toolbox of engineers.

Wrap Up

Siemens manages to put out a new version of Solid Edge each fall with a nice set of functions. It also takes a customer-oriented approach to selling its software, offering permanent licenses, a desktop orientation and even a “Don’t worry, drawings aren’t going away” message. The cloud is only there for when it makes sense and subscriptions, which start at US$110 for a month, are optional – a handy way to use Solid Edge for short periods of time.

Solid Edge continues to benefit from being a part of Siemens, which actually manufactures all kinds of stuff (unlike all other CAD vendors), and being a part of Xcelerator, which gives users access to advanced software like Siemens Opcenter for manufacturing operations management. |DE https://solidedge.siemens.com