PHOENIX. Siemens, with headquarters in Munich, Germany, has unveiled Solid Edge 2019 with new wiring, harness, and printed circuit board (PCB) design tools – integrating and building upon software technology related to the company’s acquisition of Mentor Graphics (now Mentor, a Siemens company) in Wilsonville, Oregon – as well as mechanical design enhancements and modular plant design capabilities.
Solid Edge is a portfolio of software tools designed to help advance all aspects of the product development process, including mechanical and electrical design, simulation, manufacturing, technical documentation, and data management. Solid Edge 2019 adds electrical and printed circuit board (PCB) design technologies, new requirements management capabilities, fully integrated simulation analysis, the latest tools for subtractive and additive manufacturing, and free secure cloud-based project collaboration.
Aerospace and defense organizations are particularly likely to benefit from Solid Edge requirements management and design for cost features, as well as built-in data management, technical publications, simulation, and 3D printing.
“The global market requirement to develop and deliver increasingly complex products in shrinking timeframes has created many new challenges for our customers, as well as new opportunities to differentiate,” says John Miller, senior vice president, Mainstream Engineering, Siemens PLM Software. “I’m confident that the integration of leading technologies from Mentor and the next-generation design capabilities delivered in the Solid Edge 2019 portfolio will empower our customers to innovate in the new era of digitalization.”
The expanded portfolio makes it easier for customers of all business sizes to realize innovation by taking advantage of the end-to-end digital twin, according to company officials.
“The integration of mechanical and electrical design tools within Solid Edge will enable us to develop and deliver our custom electro-mechanical systems faster and at a lower cost than our competition,” explains Eric Becnel, vice president and chief engineer at RadioBro Corp., a small team of engineers that invents cutting-edge miniature electronics for aerospace in Huntsville, Alabama.
Integrated software applications are critical for today’s complex multiphase design projects. Solid Edge Wiring Design provides design and simulation tools for the rapid creation of wiring diagrams and verification of electrical systems.
Solid Edge Harness Design adds intuitive harness and formboard design tools with automated part selection, design validation, and manufacturing report generation.
Solid Edge PCB Design accelerates schematic capture and PCB layout, and is integrated with mechanical design to reduce costly errors.
The latest release of Solid Edge provides new modular plant design capabilities, with Solid Edge P&ID Design and Solid Edge Piping Design. Providing 2D flow diagram and symbol support for P&ID creation, Solid Edge P&ID Design supports strict governing requirements for plant design. Solid Edge Piping Design capabilities include automated 3D piping design with 3D part libraries and automated isometric drawing output for plant design, which can help reduce design errors and ensure efficient piping design.
New design for additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, capabilities include better control of shapes, weight, and strength, and specific factors of safety to enable customers to develop new designs never before possible. Solid Edge also automates print preparation, including multi-color, multi-material printing capability, which reduces bill of material (BOM) size and parts inventory and decreases dependency on costly manufacturing equipment. The new capabilities enable manufacturers to produce low production lots quickly and affordably.
New in Solid Edge 2019, Solid Edge CAM Pro is a flexible system that uses the latest machining technology to program CNC machine tools efficiently, helping confirm parts are manufactured as designed.
Siemens PLM Software, a business unit of the Siemens Digital Factory Division, is a global provider of software solutions to drive the digital transformation of industry, creating new opportunities for manufacturers to realize innovation. With headquarters in Plano, Texas, and over 140,000 customers worldwide, Siemens PLM Software works with companies of all sizes to transform the way ideas come to life, the way products are realized, and the way products and assets in operation are used and understood.
