Virtual Manufacturing: Sophisticated Design Tools for the 21st Century (Technical Insights)

Frost & Sullivan, November 1998

Driven by the wider availability

of low-cost 3D graphics hardware,

and advances in Internet technology

that make it easier for even complex

information to be disseminated from

UNIX workstations to desktop PCs,

virtual manufacturing is the wave of
the future. It will enable companies to

reduce design and production costs,
ensure product quality, and slash the

time needed to go from product concept
to production—making it possible

to respond instantly to continually
changing market and world conditions.
Virtual Manufacturing, a report
from Technical Insights, presents you

with valuable intelligence on this fast
emerging field. You'll find out what

virtual manufacturing can do for you
... how to apply it in your industry ...

what technology is currently available

and what is coming down the pipeline
... and what the market prospects are

for virtual manufacturing products and
technologies.

Build A Factory In Your Computer

In a manufacturing environment
without computers, a designer would

draw and draft the components of a
product in a detailed 2D diagram. In

order to verify that the various components
and parts would work together, a

physical model would have to be built
and tested. The results of these tests

would be analyzed and modifications

would be made by the designer in the

original drawings to reflect the asked
for enhancements and improvements.

The quality of a product would be

determined by a manual process,
prone to natural human errors—and

high costs associated with building
prototypes, repeated testing, and
redesign.

The advent of computer aided
design (CAD) systems has changed all
that. CAD, computer aided manufacturing
(CAM), computer aided engineering
(CAE), design for assembly
(DFA), design for manufacture (DFM)

and visualization and simulation soft-ware

have helped to bring about significant

reductions of time and costs
in manufacturing.

Computer integrated manufacturing
(CIM), which allows engineers to

take information from a CAD system

and utilize it in a CAM environment,

has provided one model for unifying

all of the computer aided processes
involved in manufacturing. CIM technologies

allow the use of product data

across a spectrum of applications
without requiring the recreation, and

subsequent loss of valuable information
in translation, of that data.
Molding, welding plans and
numerical control (NC) cutting paths

for milling machines and lathes can be

generated from data derived from
solid models created in CAD applications.

Parametric design technologies

allow the information that shapes the

model to be altered easily and quickly

to modify the parameters of a part as
the need arises. The amount of modification

that can be done in this way,

before a commitment has to be made
to manufacture, significantly cuts the

cost of re-tooling manufacturing
equipment for similar modifications.

Virtual Manufacturing shows

you how to pull all these technologies

together into an agile manufacturing
enterprise—a virtual factory on a

computer that can analyze and pin-point

flaws in the manufacturing

process before they occur on the actual
factory floor. You'll learn the elements

that make up this environment—

and how to make them all
work smoothly together.

Identify The Right Tools For Your Needs

Plus, Virtual Manufacturing

gives you a detailed rundown of key

companies developing virtual manufacturing
applications, together with
information on their products, and

useful market data including previous

performance and forecasts of future
prospects. Whether you are looking to

purchase the components of a virtual
manufacturing system, or are considering

an investment in a company that
builds such components, Virtual

Manufacturing is the resource you
need.

Executive Summary

Methodology

Introduction to Virtual Manufacturing

Defining VM

Manufacturability

Agile Manufacturing

Alternative VM Applications

Chemistry

Medical

Petrochemical

Market Opportunities

The Hardware Market

3D graphics acceleration

3D CAD Markets

Rapid Prototyping

VR Markets

Online and Communications

Markets

Virtual Reality

Deneb

Division

Prosolvia Clarus

Engineering Animation

Sun Microsystems

Computer Graphics

Systems Development
(CGSD)

Evans and Sutherland

Superscape

Training

New VR directions

Digital Analysis

CAD-based

Finite Element Analysis
(FEA)

MacNeal-Schwendler
Corporation (MSC)

Structural Research Analysis

Corporation

Motion Analysis

Knowledge Revolution

Mechanical Dynamics

Computer-Aided Design
Software, Inc. (CADSI)

Hardware Technologies

The 3D Graphics Pipeline

3D Graphics Hardware

3Dlabs

Evans and Sutherland

Hewlett-Packard

Intergraph

Advanced Rendering

Technology

Real 3D

Silicon Graphics

Display Technologies

Stereographics

Input Devices

Standards

NIST

IGES

STEP

OpenDWG alliance

OLE

The Internet

VRML

Java 3D

Modeling Kernels

ACIS - Spatial Technology

Parasolids - EDS Unigraphics

Appendix

Commercial

Universities

Medical

Chemical Simulation and Visualization Tools

Government Simulation and Visualization

Tools

Patents

Publications and Online

Resources
Government Laboratories (International)

Military

Selected Research Contacts

ICEMT

Institute of Systems Research

NIIIP

University of Illinois

Sandia National Laboratories

USC

Virginia Tech

Penn State University
University of Portsmouth, UK

Stanford University

University of Wisconsin

TEAM - Technologies

Enabling Agile

Manufacturing

Customers who bought this item also bought

• 3D CAD - Global Strategic Business Report
• Computer Technology for Textiles and Apparel
• 3D CAD Software Market in the APAC Region 2011-2015
• Global 3D Computer-aided Design Market 2011-2015
• Computer Assisted Surgical (CAS) Systems - Global Strategic Business Report
• Global 3D Computer-aided Design Market 2010-2014
• Computer-aided Design Software Market in Australia 2010-2014
• 3D Computer-aided Design Market in APAC 2010-2014
• Three-Dimensional (3D) Technology Market (2011 – 2016) By Products, Applications & Technology Focus, Global Forecast & Analysis – Features Introduction To 4D Technology
• CAD Report 2010