Fujitsu Launches PLEMIA Concurrent Design Manager for 3D CAD Data Management of Globally Distributed Design

                             Enhanced system to be widely provided to small and mid-sized companies moving forward on utilizing CAD

Fujitsu today announced the release of a new version of FUJITSU Manufacturing Industry Solution PLEMIA Concurrent Design Manager, which includes enhanced features for distributed design at sites in and outside Japan. The new version will be available from February 12.

PLEMIA Concurrent Design Manager is software that takes enormous volumes of data, such as with 3D data and related diagrams which are cumbersome to manage when multiple designers are involved, and in addition to efficiently managing design histories on a per-part basis, generates the information needed for the manufacturing process from this managed data.

The new version was created with global design teams in mind, and comes with a replication feature that synchronizes the latest versions of massive 3D CAD files between servers at multiple locations during the night, which brings greater efficiency to collaborative design work that is distributed among overseas sites, where network delays can easily occur. In addition, it can now manage FUJITSU Manufacturing Industry Solution iCAD SX, the company's design-support tool for heavy industrial machinery. It also adds a feature that can automatically convert the data it manages into STL(1) files for output to 3D printers.

Fujitsu will widely offer PLEMIA Concurrent Manager to small and medium-sized companies that increasingly use 3D CAD data for design, and is committed to supporting manufacturing innovation among its customers in the manufacturing sector.

Background

In the manufacturing sector, a single product may be designed at multiple sites, and the design may also be customized locally to meet the needs of markets in many countries. These trends are also becoming increasingly widespread among small and medium-sized companies.

The extremely large size of 3D CAD files means data is shared by sending DVDs or e-mail, network syncing or other method. But sending files by DVD or e-mail makes them difficult to manage centrally, and relies on people to receive and manage them. Network syncing with worldwide sites, meanwhile, requires time, among other problems. Moreover, when multiple people are involved in design work, it is necessary that the person in charge has a consistent grasp of the latest design data that should be worked upon.

Fujitsu is offering PLEMIA Concurrent Design Manager to address these problems. Today, even as distributed design is conducted in and outside of Japan, this software efficiently tracks design histories for individual parts and enables globally distributed design work to proceed smoothly. The new version will be available as of February 12.

Product Features

1. Enhanced features to support globally distributed design teams

The new software version comes with a replication feature that will sync massive design files between servers overnight, or at any designated time, avoiding the time-consuming process of having to send such heavy files. This means that, for example, the design of a core module designed in Japan will be copied to servers at sites outside of Japan overnight, enabling those locations to use the latest design when doing any local customization, thereby supporting collaborative design between multiple sites. It enables customers to construct their own distributed design environments that best suit them, according to the particulars of their design sites. In Japan, for example, where there are dedicated high-speed lines, a customer may use the standard feature of automatic syncing for distributed design among two or more locations in Japan, while using the new replication feature for overseas sites.

The product is Unicode-compliant, so it can be used between multiple countries regardless of database language, and has time-zone support(2) so that designers in every country can use their own time zone to maintain accurate logs.

2. Supports iCAD SX, a 3D CAD tool for large-scale industrial machinery comprised of tens of thousands of parts

In addition to the eight types of 3D CAD software already supported, the new version adds support for Fujitsu's own iCAD SX. By using PLEMIA Concurrent Design Manager to manage design data from iCAD SX, which is tailored to handle designs of large machinery or plants comprised of tens of thousands of components, exclusive setting features, such as features that block registration of duplicate file names, track revisions, and manage editing privileges on a file-by-file basis, enable easier management of designs involving multiple team members.

3. Automatic conversion to STL files for 3D printers

After a model has been built through 3D CAD, the new product can convert the 3D CAD-formatted data into STL data for input to a 3D printer. It can also maintain a log of generated STL data.

The new product was developed by Fujitsu Systems East Limited.

Notes:

(1) STL

An acronym for "stereolithography," a file format system for 3D CAD software developed by US-based 3D Systems

(2) Time-zone support

Stores all times as Greenwich Mean Time and can display all times in each user's local time zone by calculating offsets.

About Fujitsu Limited

Fujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company offering a full range of technology products, solutions and services. Approximately 170,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.4 trillion yen (US$47 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013 For more information, please see www.fujitsu.com.



Source: Fujitsu Limited

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