Siemens adds AR for enhanced design visualisation at manufacturing firms

Siemens Digital Industries, the industrial software solutions arm of German conglomerate Siemens AG, has launched the latest version of its Solid Edge software which enables small and medium-sized companies to accelerate product development and manufacturing processes.

Siemens said in a statement that the new features such as augmented reality (AR), expanded validation tools, model-based definition and 2D Nesting will fully digitalise the design-to-manufacturing process. 

“The latest enhancements to the Solid Edge portfolio can help small to medium-sized manufacturers digitalise their entire product development process from end-to end,” said John Miller, senior vice president, mainstream engineering at Siemens Digital Industries Software.

The company said that Solid Edge 2020 features new validation tools that have been integrated for conducting motion and vibration simulation, which can help customers cut down on costly prototypes. 

The addition of model-based definition enables customers to completely define parts, assemblies and manufacturing instruction digitally from their 3D model, it added.

Further, 2D Nesting capabilities have also been added to optimise cutting patterns, reduce waste and costs, and accelerate manufacturing processes.

"Sharing designs in AR/VR with Solid Edge 2020 could change how we do almost everything. It's an absolute game changer and will help us design better, while communicating more effectively and efficiently with our customers and engineers," said Stefan Islinger, information management, IM-computer-aided design (CAD) support for Krones AG.

The new technology also delivers hundreds of core CAD enhancements such as new sheet metal capabilities, 3-10 times faster large assembly performance, new data migration tools, and other features across the portfolio, the company said.

Siemens also claimed that these enhancements will help facilitate a software application that is easy-to-use, deploy and maintain while also helping advance all aspects of the product development process. 

Earlier in the day, TechCircle reported that Siemens has launched a unified software solution for manufacturing operations management (MOM).

Called Opcenter, the solution will enable manufacturers to implement strategies for the complete digitisation of manufacturing operations.