CADWorx University 2012

If you haven't had a chance to attend a CADWorx University event I think it's a great venue and well worth the cost.

This year the event was held in Sugar Land, Texas (a suburb of Houston) and was sold out.  The training sessions were terrific and there was a lot of buzz in the air about the new versions and their increased productivity and ease of use.





 There were numerous sessions on 3D CADWorx modeling, generating specifications, design verification using the CAESAR II stress analysis system, and modeling pressure vessels with PV Elite.

There were also a number of vendors showing their products and how they can be used to increase productivity.  One that looked really interesting to me is called OrthoGen. 

3D Model from CAD System

Orthogen now works with SmartPlant Review data sets - CADWorx is scheduled to follow.


Automatic Labeling Produced from Model



The developers are OtrhoGen ( http://www.3ds.net/orthoview.html) are working with Intergraph now to bring out a CADWorx version. When that happens we'll have another great tool to work with in CADWorx!  Producing orthographic drawings is one of the largest bottlenecks in getting the project documentation done. 

So there was a lot to see and I highly recommend it to design managers, students, and individual designers who want to update and improve their skills, and meet industry leaders in piping design!

If we're both lucky I'll enjoy visiting with you next year at CAU in Los Vegas - June 2013!

 Thanks for reading this, and I look forward to your thoughts and comments.

Anthony Horn
October 2012

CADWorx 2013 Production Modeling Course

The PipingDesignOnline.com website now includes a course that teaches production modeling skills using CADWorx 2013.  It consists of five lessons plus a lab. 

The goal of this course is to get people up and running quickly with the new version, and show them the fastest, most productive techniques in the new version.  Here's a sample video showing the lab exercise that's part of the course.

I think the CADWorx 2013 is a game changer - I believe we'll see productivity increases of 30% to 50% using this new version, when compared to earlier versions of CADWorx.  This will happen for two reasons:
1.  The modeling speed will be much faster since the system now knows the matching end conditions and adds flanges, bolts, and gaskets automatically.
2.  We'll see a decrease of 90% of the modeling errors that cause Isogen to stumble.  This alone will cause a large speed increase in project work.

After using the CADWorx 2013 version - I'm completely sold!  I prefer it to anything earlier, and I think CADWorx has now become an even more imporatant 3D modeling and design system for pipers than ever.

Thanks for reading this - and I look forward to your comments and thoughts!

Anthony Horn
October 2012

CADWorx 2013 Specifications Training Videos

PipingDesignOnline.com has released a new video training module on the CADWorx 2013 Specifications.  These new materials include a set of 17 online videos and a comprehensive set of notes (approximately 100 pages). 

The training program also features an exclusive “copy and paste” worksheet designed to help users quickly automate long descriptions in the new CADWorx 2013 specifications.  Mapping data fields from the tables is as easy as selecting a preset string of data fields from the document and pasting it into the spec editor.   Subscribers employing this method will save many hours and achieve consistent, excellent quality across all of their specifications. 

The table of contents for this online CADWorx 2013 Specifications video training module is shown below. 

Here's an example from the "copy and paste" document: 

 

For more information please visit http://www.pipingdesignonline.com .

Elbows
Previous Versions:  ELL, 90° LR S/STD, ASTM A-234 GR WPB (This is in CADWorx 2012 and older)New Version:  COMPTYPE_CMP_TBL,  S/MAINSCH_SCH_TBL,  ASTM SPEC_MAT_TBL  GR GRADE_MAT_TBL
Copy the above line and paste it into the Spec Editor. 

Dialog box settings:  Schedule:  STD                               Material: A234-WPB
Result:  ELL 90 ° LR, S/STD, ASTM A234 GR WPB (This description will automatically be generated by CADWorx 2013)

New CADWorx Video Search Capabilities

We now have the capabilities to create a CADWorx Video Search engine.  This is a game changer for designers in production who need to see how to do something quickly in CADWorx.  They no longer have to stop and look up how to do specific commands in CADWorx - they can just quickly see it!

Here's a short two minute demo of how this works.

I think this will be a tremendous productivity tool!  For a corporate subscriber, it only takes a 1% increase in productivity to pay off.  It looks to me like this technology will return many multiples of that!

For more information please visit the training website at http://www.pipingdesignonline.com/ .  Thanks!

Great Learning Experience at CADWorx® & Analysis University 2011

At the CADWorx & Analysis University held September 19 – 21, there was a lot of knowledge shared by expert piping designers and engineers.  The CAU-2011 forum was held at the Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in The Woodlands, TX.  There were 30 CADWorx Plant Professional classes, and approximately 40 classes on the CAESAR II® and PV Elite® design systems.

This annual event always creates a buzz of excitement.  I was able to sit in on a few classes and really enjoyed hearing from the top designers from around the world about how they utilize the software in real situations.  It’s a high level, informational power packed three days.  At the end of the day, everyone mingles and gets to know each other.  This is a great way to network and make friends with others in the piping design industry. 

At Intergraph’s invitation, I presented a couple of sessions on eLearning systems for CADWorx, and I was able to show the design issues I considered in building my online system:  http://www.PipingDesignOnline.com.  In preparing my presentation, I realized just how important it is for our industry firms to invest in training.  We benefit from improved productivity (better speed with less errors), we’re investing in the career development of our key people (which increases their company loyalty), and we’re sharing our knowledge with the next generation of young designers.  Within five years our industry will see over half of the workers being born after 1981!  What an amazing statistic!

The conference attendees met with the Intergraph® representatives in charge of the various product lines, and they shared with us their plans for their next releases.  One thing I particularly liked was the new Specifications Editor for the next generation of CADWorx.  When I saw it last year I was a little taken aback, but after attending a training session with Mark Bross, the President of Kahuna Design in Colorado, it completely changed my mind.  Mark made it look easy, and I think the new editor will be a great tool and an improvement in how we organize our specifications data.  Soon we’ll be building specs from drop down lists of choices, branch tables, and many other easy to use options.  I’m looking forward to it.

There were many other great classes and teachers – too numerous to mention.  There were enough options for every attendee to leave there with more knowledge about Intergraph software and piping design.

So it was a great three days – if you have a chance next year, don’t pass it up!

eLearning and Design Team Collaboration

It's been a busy few weeks!

I was fortunate to speak at the Hexagon Conference in Orlando on using eLearning systems for CAD training.  In exploring the topic, I got back in touch with a lot of interesting information.  There's a steady expansion of eLearning systems, and it's expected to continue and accelerate.  The delivery platform is excellent, and you can get consistently good results with people learning the materials. 

The big issue I'm seeing however, is getting busy designers to actually invest the time to go through the lessons.  They get involved in a project, and find it difficult to take the time to learn.  So management must stress the importance of following through - then everybody wins!  The designers expand their skills, and the project gets done in a more timely fashion with fewer errors.  Management support and follow up is so important if you plan to implement an in-house online CADWorx training system!  Please take it on and watch great things happen!

Please join me in September at CADWorx University 2011.  I'll be giving a couple of lectures there on utilizing eLearning for in-house CADWorx training.  I'll have some interesting things to share on combining an eLearning system with a project team communication system.  I think there are opportunities for exciting results!

Coming soon - a new training manual for CADWorx 2012

Also, here's another project I wanted to announce today - a new book on CADWorx!  It's focused on training, and should be ideal for universities, CADWorx trainers, and in-house corporate training.  It'll be released soon - please keep an eye on this blog for further announcements.


Work on the website (http://www.pipingdesignonline.com/ ) continues steadily.  There will be some "AutoCAD Basics for Piping Designers" videos posted there soon.  Also the piping videos are getting rerecorded using the ribbon and features in CADWorx 2012.

See you in Houston in September!

A new way to learn CADWorx!

I'm very excited about the opportunity of sharing with you the many features, shortcuts, user tips, and best practices in running CADWorx in a production environment!  Thanks for taking a look - let's get started!

This blog will keep you abreast of

• New features in CADWorx as they become available
• New video training courses and lessons on my training website
• What's coming next on the training website
• and special free lessons and videos you will have private access to on this blog!

A special video for you

Here's an online video lesson for you, if you'd like to view it.  In these three videos you'll learn

• Setting up Isogen on your system
• Creating Project Directories
• Generating an Isogen isometric

Please click this link to view:  http://pipingdesignonline.com/blog_page_one.html

News and Updates

• Currently the website (http://www.pipingdesignonline.com/) has over 150 CADWorx training videos and over 350 pages of notes and lessons.  It is available for your use 24/7 to be viewed on a computer or iPad.  Please take a look for full details.
• The first structured step-by-step course is now available online:  CADWorx Plant Professional - Piping Level One.  The system will generate a certificate automatically when all of the course assignments are completed.

What's coming next

• The second piping course, CADWorx Plant Professional - Piping Level Two, is being written now and will be released in about three weeks.
• There will be extensive updating of the videos and lessons that will start in a few weeks, when the newest version of CADWorx is released.
• We will be posting new training videos for you on the Next Generation CADWorx soon - please check back!