CETOL 6σ brings GD&T tools into your CAD system. (Image courtesy of Sigmetrix.)
The CETOL 6σ program is able to integrate into a number of CAD system platforms such as PTC Creo and SOLIDWORKS. From within the host CAD system, CETOL 6σ offers engineers a series of tools to perform their GD&T functions.
New to CETOL 6σ is a series of help content that will guide a user through his or her GD&T tasks. For instance, users will receive messages through an advice system that will be content sensitive to the current step in the workflow. These new help systems will contain information and videos that will tell the user figure out what they need to do next and how they can do it.
“With v9.0, we really focused on getting our users up to speed fast,” said Chris Wilkes, Sigmetrix president and CEO. “Whether they are brand-new users or infrequent users, we know tolerance analysis studies are not necessarily an everyday activity, so we improved the UI and the help files, added tons of tutorial videos and improved the step-by-step guidance throughout.”
Adding all of these help tools will come in handy, as CETOL 6σ has also revamped its UI. The new UI was born from a deep study to simplify an engineer’s workflow. The goal of the changes is to improve the ease of use of the model creation, obtaining and validating results and updating the design requirements of the CAD.
Engineers will all know the frustration of having to relearn their favorite design software once a new UI is implemented. Some design tools like SOLIDWORKS have implemented tools to toggle between old and new UIs to satisfy core users. Perhaps by coupling these UI changes with the previously mentioned improved user assistance features will limit the backlash from core CETOL 6σ users.
The new release of CETOL 6σ also includes a function called Assembly States. This tool will help engineers define which components of the assembly will and won’t be included in the analysis. This will reduce the number of times engineers will reassess a section of the model. To make things even easier, when these updates are needed, the tolerances will also be automatically updated in the CAD file.
To learn more about CETOL 6σ version 9.0, watch this video: