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eDrawings 2004 becomes a universal tool for sharing product design concepts

eDrawings 2004 becomes a universal tool for sharing product design concepts

Innovative features in eDrawings include the ability to publish eDrawings files from other CAD programs, including Pro/ENGINEER, and the ability to view native SolidWorks and AutoCAD files

CAD files are in high demand these days. But sending them back and forth can be a chore since the files generally are too large to email and maintaining the various viewers needed to open them in their non-native formats can be difficult, too. An easier way is with SolidWorks® eDrawings 2004.

While traditionally used to communicate with suppliers, eDrawings is evolving into a universal way to share product design concepts. New features in 2004 include the ability to publish eDrawings files from other CAD programs, including Pro/ENGINEER®, and the ability to view native SolidWorks and AutoCAD® files.

eDrawings files are a compressed file format, which makes them easier to email. There are two parts to eDrawings software, the publisher, which allows you to publish eDrawing files of drawings, parts, and assemblies from within the CAD program, and the viewer. When the viewer is embedded in the email, the receiver can view the file without additional CAD or viewing software.

eDrawings Professional allows a supplier to receive and mark up this exploded view with a request that the engineering designer double-check the material used for the part.

More to publish, more to view

eDrawings is quickly becoming for CAD what PDF is for documents, a standard tool for sending, viewing, and marking up CAD files. With that in mind, eDrawings 2004 offers more options for publishing and viewing.

Previous versions of eDrawings would only publish SolidWorks and AutoCAD files, but that's changing. SolidWorks has opened the eDrawings code to product lifecycle management software developer Geometric Software Solutions, Ltd. (GSSL). As a result, GSSL will begin releasing a series of eDrawings publishers for other CAD applications starting in November. The first on that list is Pro/ENGINEER.

Pro/ENGINEER users now have an easier way to communicate with their suppliers. They can send a simple, self-opening eDrawings file. There are no viewers to worry about and no CAD programs to fiddle with. The receiver simply clicks on the eDrawings file, and the Pro/ENGINEER document opens.

Viewing capabilities of eDrawings are also expanding. The eDrawings viewer is no longer limited to viewing eDrawings files. Now it can view native AutoCAD DWG and DXF™ files, parts, and assemblies created in SolidWorks versions 97Plus or later. Companies juggling both the SolidWorks eDrawings and Volo® View from Autodesk can replace both with eDrawings. Even better, the eDrawings viewer is free.

Enhancements in eDrawings 2004 include capabilities for viewing native SolidWorks files and AutoCAD drawings, such as this motor.

Views from the vault

In order to make CAD documents accessible to more people, a viewer needs to work within a product data management (PDM) system. To that end, eDrawings 2004 functions inside PDMWorks™ and SMARTEAM®. The official SAP integration by GEDAS is expected shortly. Now users can access eDrawings to view native AutoCAD and SolidWorks files directly from their PDM/ERP vaults without having to download documents onto their computers first and archive their CAD document with eDrawings.

Germany-based Schlafhorst, a textile machine maker, relies on eDrawings in combination with SAP to communicate with its many manufacturers and internal development departments. As soon as the integration between eDrawings and SAP is complete, everyone at Schlafhorst will receive an eDrawings viewer in place of the SolidWorks viewer they currently use. "It will be a better and more universal way to show the drawings and parts and assemblies out of SAP," says Schlafhorst's chief IT engineer, Zoran Stjepovic.

When Accusonic Technology, a Falmouth, Massachusetts-based company that designs hydro-acoustic measurement systems, began outsourcing 100 percent of its manufacturing, it switched to eDrawings to communicate with suppliers more efficiently. Instead of a 2D or TIFF file, the supplier gets a 3D file, which he can intuitively manipulate and animate to see how parts fit together and interact. Suppliers can also communicate back to engineers using the markup capabilities available inside eDrawings Professional.

Accusonic is shifting to SMARTEAM to manage its CAD data, using eDrawings 2004 as its main viewer. This will allow people in its Huntsville, Alabama office to conveniently access the CAD documents needed in order to perform maintenance functions on the company's products.

"We've noticed that the quality of the 3D objects, both parts and assemblies, seems to be better with eDrawings," says Bruce Holway, Accusonic's design group manager. "The accuracy and general appearance of both the wire frame and shaded images in eDrawings is better compared to those in our other viewers."

The image quality on eDrawings 3D models is higher than with most CAD viewers. Models are so accurate that suppliers can take measurements directly from the eDrawings.

Electronic Quality Controls (Boise, Idaho) has traditionally used the SolidWorks viewer and Autodesk's Volo View to view company CAD files and legacy drawings. Keeping both viewers up-to-date is the job of Todd Mansfield, the company's engineering quality systems coordinator. It's a job that has kept him running. Regularly, he has to burn the new versions or service pack updates on CD and then individually install them on 30 workstations throughout the office. But now the company plans on using eDrawings 2004 as a single viewing solution. And because eDrawings updates itself, Mansfield can take off his track shoes and enjoy longer lunches. "It's really a giant step in reducing the administration of the system," he says.

More enhancements

Other eDrawings 2004 enhancements include the ability to zip files, so that they make it safely past company firewalls. In the past, the .exe files were often returned to sender because they were mistaken for viruses. Also, you can now create JPEG or BMP files directly from the eDrawings publisher. Marketing often requests these file types for use on the web, brochures, or product slicks. You can also create STL files from eDrawings for rapid prototyping. And the new perspective view creates depth. Objects up close appear larger, making them more realistic.

Now more than ever, eDrawings 2004 is suited for collaboration. With more publishing and viewing capabilities, eDrawings are an effective way to communicate with suppliers for getting quotes. And because the eDrawings viewer is easier to work with than more technically oriented CAD programs, designers and sales people prefer them for design reviews, trade shows, and customer presentations. 

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