Translate, View and Compare Models in a Multi-CAD Environment

Kyle Maxey posted 2016-01-26

ASFALIS direct translator interface.

No matter what industry you are in, one thing for sure is that product development cycles are under pressure to shorten. One method for achieving results on tighter timelines has been to outsource design processes to outside firms. The other popular option for confronting this monstrous problem is by having a huge team tackle as many aspects of the design process as possible that can be handled simultaneously.

Whether your team is outsourcing product development phases, or marshalling huge in-house teams to work together concurrently, one big problem seems to always pop up—multiple CAD formats. While some engineering firms have turned to neutral file formats, such as JT, to store and retrieve CAD data, translating to and from these neutral formats can still lead to data loss or mistranslation.

That’s where Elysium’s ASFALIS EX7 comes in.

With ASFALIS EX7, engineering teams can employ a powerful data translation and validation tool that can read the native geometry of one CAD program and transform it into another a file that can be used by another CAD platform. What’s more, ASFALIS EX7 claims to be able to compare a model, as well as the data associated with it, before and after an engineering change.

“With the increased use of MBD [model based definition] and ECO [engineering change order] management, validation of CAD data has become much more important in the manufacturing world today,” stated Kentaro Fukuta, general manager of global business at Elysium. “Data validation is widely utilized throughout the manufacturing process, verifying data before and after the engineering changes to efficiently and effectively confirm and inform of modifications.”

In addition to its translation abilities, ASFALIS supports 3D PDFs, which are often used to view 3D models and geometric validation information without having to use a special viewer. Finally, ASFALIS’ new release also supports the STEP AP242 business object model (BOM) XML formats, a product definition format that’s been championed by the aerospace and automotive industries for its performance in long-term data archiving and retrieval.

For more information, see the ASFALIS product page on the Elysium site.