Speeding time to market on the 3D path: Large numbers of users are still stuck in the 2D design space despite the significant benefits of moving to 3D

摘要

There are sill some 200,000 seats of 2D CAD in the world, licensed and paying maintenance, according to John Corris, Solid Edge business unit manger for UGS in the UK, which his company believes could usefully be converted to 3D. The figure could well be higher; it's unlikely to be lower. So why aren't they changing to 3D? The problem is not lack of incentive. It's well know that designing in 3D brings huge time and cost savings when models have to be analysed using FEA (finite element analysis) or CFD (computational fluid dynamics), or converted into CNC machining instructions. Nor is the problem cost. An entry level version of Solid Edge, for example, is only ￡1,495, while the full version, which includes data management, surfacing, sheet metal facilities and advanced libraries, costs just ￡5,000. The problem is persuading designers still accustomed to working in 2D to take the plunge into a different way of working and thinking - and that is not a new problem.