Thank you to everyone that provided feedback about our Training classes.  Our goal is to create a schedule in 2012 that reflects the needs of the local engineering and manufacturing community.  We appreciate your efforts toward that goal!

Ever wondered what "MEP" stood for or how you could find local resources for your manufacturing company?  The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) is a nationwide network focused on working with small to mid-sized U.S. manufacturers to help them create and retain jobs, increase profits, and save time and money.  There are MEP centers in every state, with over 1,300 field staff of technical experts.  Their job is to provide manufacturers resources centered on five key areas:

• Technology Acceleration
• Supplier Development
• Sustainability
• Workforce
• Continuous Improvement

If your company is looking to grow or is exploring ways to innovate, contact the MEP center in your state:

IDAHO COMPANIES: 

MONTANA COMPANIES: 

WASHINGTON COMPANIES: 

WYOMING COMPANIES: 

Welcome to Season 3: 2012 of eTV!  Check out two new user-centered episodes that highlight the power of SolidWorks Enterprise PDM and SolidWorks Flow Simulation.

Episode 7: Design 1st Simulates a Smarter Product

Join a SolidWorks technical manager as he learns how Ottawa-based firm Design 1st integrated SolidWorks Flow Simulation into their process to assess risk, productize features, and establish marketing plans—all prior to manufacturing.

Episode 8: Beckett Gas Streamlines its Workflow

Next, we'll head to the Ohio Valley to learn how longtime SolidWorks user Craig automated time-consuming workflow processes and identified potentially costly design flaws.

The following link to letters to help justify to your manager why you should attend SolidWorks World 2012:

Get three passes to SolidWorks World for the price of two!   This letter explains the benefit of sending 3 employees from your company for the price of two!  With more than 150 technical training sessions and over 100 software, hardware, and service providers, you'll need more than one person to see them all.

Boosting your design productivity.  This letter highlights the return on investment realized by attending SolidWorks World.

Advancing your SolidWorks skills development. This letter explains how SolidWorks World can heighten your skills, and also focuses on important aspects of the SolidWorks community.

Shaping the future of SolidWorks development. This letter explains how SolidWorks World can benefit even the most experienced users, and also discusses other important opportunities available at SolidWorks World such as networking, focus groups, and access to SolidWorks technical staff.

Identifying complementary SolidWorks solutions.  If you're in the market for add-on or complementary solutions for your SolidWorks applications, this letter explains how attending SolidWorks World can provide an efficient way to evaluate over 100 SolidWorks Partner companies in one location.

As of the 2012 release, SolidWorks Professional and SolidWorks Premium licenses now have a new automatic Costing tool that generates estimates of part manufacturing costs that adjust whenever you modify your design. The Costing tool is divided into two capabilities:

Machining Costing:  Use the Machining Costing tool for parts that are machined from solid block and plate stock material. Machined parts use machining as part of or all of their manufacturing processes. Machining Costing refers to parts that start as a block of material or a plate of material (such as a metal plate) and are milled or drilled, and cut using waterjet or plasma to create the final shape. Parts made from blocks use manufacturing techniques such as milling and drilling. This tool covers parts that start out as block-shaped stock and use:

• Milling operations (such as face, flat end, or ball end milling, and chamfering)
• Drilling operations (such as blind and through drilling, reaming, and tapping)
• Library features
• Custom operations (such as painting, anodizing, and heat treat)
• Machine or process setup operations (such as milling machine setup costs)

Parts made from plates use manufacturing techniques such as laser, water jet, and plasma cutting, in addition to milling and drilling. This tool covers parts that start out as flat plate stock and use:

• Same as listed above, PLUS:
• Cutting operations (such as laser, water jet, and plasma cutting)

The costs calculated by this tool are as accurate as the data in your templates. Although SolidWorks provides pre-populated templates, it is best to create custom templates based on your manufacturer's costs. We recommend that you work with your in-house manufacturing departments and external manufacturing vendors to create custom templates that reflect actual costs. Questions on any of this? Contact Quest Tech Support at 800-370-3750.