Recently we blogged about how Mark and Phil from the DriveWorks team were travelling to Australia and New Zealand to visit resellers, partners, customers and SOLIDWORKS User Groups.
We last visited Australia three years ago so we were looking forward to heading back out there and spending time with members of the DriveWorks and SOLIDWORKS Community.
Phil and Mark arenow back in the office and we caught up with them to find out more about thier trip down under.
“Our first stop on our Australian trip was to Sydney. We spent our first day there with the sales team at InterCAD, a DriveWorks reseller. On Tuesday, we spent the day on the road with Bill Murch of InterCAD, visiting prospect customers. In the evening we attended the Sydney SOLIDWORKS User Group meeting and I presented to the attendees about DriveWorksXpress and the DriveWorksXpress Training and Certification program. It was great to see that one attendee had already completed the certification!
We then spent the rest of the week training AEs , visiting customers and prospects, and completing some advanced training with Bill.” – Phil
“We started our second week in Australia at InterCAD’s Melbourne office. On Monday, I held a training session with their sales staff and it wasnice to see how pasisonate they were about DriveWorks.
On Wednesday, Bill Murch flew to Sydney and joined Phil and I on some customer visits. We visited A-Line Building Systems and The Shotton Group. We really enjoyed catching up with both companies and they had some great questions lined up for us. Ben Matthews and Martin Clenick from The Shotton Group are joining us at DriveWorks World 2018 and we look forward to welcoming them to the UK.
We then met up with Steve Gallienne of 3D4 Industry, a DriveWorks Partner, who accompanied us to the Melbourne SOLIDWORKS User Group meeting. The meeting had a really good turnout and the attendees seemed to enjoy learning more about DriveWorksXpress during Phil’s presentation.
The next day we were on the road with Bill Murch again visiting Aus Pits. Aus Pits have just started using DriveWorks but they have a clear vision of where they want to be – we look forward to hearing more from them!” – Mark
“In week three, Mark and I seperated and visited two different cities. Mark flew to Auckland and I flew to Brisbane.
On Monday, I worked with Bob Cooley, a Senior Account Manager, in InterCAD’s Brisbane office and we had a really great meeting with a prospect customer. I then worked with Pouya Ghobadi, an Engineer, to complete the DriveWorks Solo training.
Mark spent his first day in Brisbane visiting customers with Fiona Wylens, the Operations Manager of InterCAD’s New Zealand office. On Tuesday, he spent some time with their sales team before heading out again to visit more prospect customers.
On Wednesday I was on the road again visiting a customer. This time I visited Tom Stoddart Pty Ltd, the very first DriveWorks customer in Australia! It’s great to see how happy they are with DriveWorks and what they’ve achieved.” – Phil
“Thanks to Bill Murch and the InterCAD team for looking after us during our trip. It was great to catch up with you!
Recently we’re seeing much more activity in Australia and New Zealand and we’re very excited about the future for DriveWorks in this market” – Phil and Mark.
Were attending and presenting at the Alignex MechFuse design and engineering summit which takes place on 28th-29th September 2017 in Minneapolis.
MechFuse is a two-day design & engineering summit that blends new technologies, forward thinking manufacturing strategies and educational sessions in one event.
On Thusday 28th September, DriveWorks CEO, Glen Smith, is presenting an insider view of the most powerful Design Automation tool on the planet for SOLIDWORKS.
Busy, busy, busy. Were all busier than ever, so once you’ve mastered the well documented benefits of SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD, what more can you do to innovate and stay competitive?
That’s where automating repetitive tasks with SOLIDWORKS Design Automation comes in. It all starts with DriveWorksXpress, a free tool included with EVERY license of SOLIDWORKS.
Join Glen at the MechFuse event to learn more about DriveWorks software and how your company could reap the benefits of design automation!
Registration for the event is free, sign up to secure your place!
Heather from the DriveWorks team is hitting the road once again this fall, for a SWUGN tour of the south and southwest USA!
Her tour will begin inTexas, where she will visit both the Fort Worth SWUG and the North Texas SWUG. After that she’s heading to New Mexico where she will present at the New Mexico SWUG meeting.She will wind up her southern US SWUG tour in Tennessee as she presents at the Chattanooga SWUG meeting.
While on the road, Heather will be presenting DriveWorksXpress to the groups and showing them just how easy it is to activate the free design automation tool included in every licence of SOLIDWORKS.She will also bediscussing our new DriveWorksXpress Training and Certification Program.
Well be posting more information on ourevents pageshortly but here are some details of the meetings. If youll be there, dont forget to say hello to Heather!
Fort Worth SOLIDWORKS User Group
9th October
North TexasSOLIDWORKS User Group
10th October
New MexicoSOLIDWORKS User Group
11th October
ChattanoogaSOLIDWORKS User Group
12th October
Glen, CEO of DriveWorks and Maria, VP were invited to the ‘Digitising Bridges’ dissemination workshop at Cambridge University’s Laing O’Rourke Centre for Construction and Engineering Technology.
Laing ORourke have been working on a project to develop a set of design configuration tools for bridges. The tools will create a smoother digital process for the design, manufacture and assembly of bridges, reducing the time it takes to complete a bridge.
Laing O’Rourke chose to develop the tools using SOLIDWORKS and DriveWorks, to automate the manufacture of a set of standardised, validated parts and sub-assemblies for the most common bridge types.
They recently showcased the tools at an event at Cambridge University. We were honoured to be invited along to see the project revealed.
The event was held at King’s College in Cambridge University, where Scott McGovern, Digital Engineering Leader at Laing O’Rourke talked about the project. The event gave the team the opportunity to review and gather feedback on the tools, their capabilities and the development process to date. They also reviewed the research they have conducted and the impact of digital technologies on the construction industry.
It was so exciting to be part of an event showcasing how DriveWorks is being used to transform the design process for an entire industry. We always like to see how our software helps our customers to work smarter. Seeing it on this scale was inspiring and filled us with such a sense of pride in the software we work hard to develop.
Of course it’s not just about the software. The team at Laing O’Rourke have worked hard to get the tools to where they are today and it’s great to see that this work will benefit the entire bridge industry.
The project was set up to develop a unified digital delivery process for the bridge industry. The project configures bridge designs from a set of key inputs and a library of parametric components.
The output is a fully coordinated 3D model, with a pack of data generated automatically alongside it. The data pack contains bridge methodologies, and cost and programme data a single source of truth for the whole bridge lifecycle.
The project is a collaboration between Laing O’Rourke, Tony Gee & Partners and Cambridge University. It is part of a 贈5.6m funding competition led by Innovate UK, drawing on the UK’s evolving expertise in BIM enterprise.
This is the first time a project of this scale, with this much potential for efficiency, has been attempted in the industry. According to Laing ORourkes Explore Manufacturing director, Alan Clucas, the project is being driven by High Speed 2s desire to create a new way of standardising bridges.
Back in June, the BIM hub spoke with Laing ORourke Partnership and Innovation Leader, Engineering Excellence Group, Adam Locke. He talked about the tangible efficencies, and time and cost savings a smoother workflow would deliver. Adam agreed this would be particularly valuable for projects like HS2.
The project uses standards to simplify bridge processes and reduce the time it takes to complete a bridge. Currently the design process is complex, for a single span 30m bridge it takes 32 weeks (excluding approvals). The construction of the same bridge then takes a further 66 weeks.
By digitising bridge design with this project, Laing O’Rourke have identified savings that could see bridge designs produced in days or weeks instead of months and years. Rolling out the project will increase efficiency and capacity across the entire industry.
Adam Locke said the process for designing bridges changes often as most bridges are bespoke. They are designed by different consultants in slightly different ways, rarely enabling the benefits of offsite manufacture and rapid onsite construction.
He says the key focus of the project is about creating a common standard, synchronising data and protocols. The aim is to improve interoperability between different parts of the bridge building process.
The project integrates best practices for manufacturing, assembly and design, to ensure consistent data formats and eliminate any manual processes between stages.
For this to happen, naming conventions and output files from each stage of the process need to be structured and arranged in a systematic way. Using DriveWorks, Laing O’Rourke can specify rules to determine how and where each file is saved.
Laing O’Rourke started small with their project, firstly identifying the appropriate segments of the bridge market to automate.
Speaking with the BIM hub, Adam Locke explained they knew they couldn’t focus on everything initially. Instead they looked at the base components for bridges, which can be assembled in a variety of different ways. To ensure a standard across the industry, the project enables them to define the components, select them and combine them in the original design.
DriveWorks software is modular and scalable so for every DriveWorks project, we recommend companies ‘start small’ and add to it over time. Even at this scale, Laing O’Rourke have recognised this is the best practice.
Eventually, theproject will cover all aspects of designing bridges and the research delivered could also inform the processes for other parts of the construction industry too.
Read the full interview with Adam Locke, Laing O’Rourke Partnership and Innovation Leader, Engineering Excellence Group, from the BIM hubhere.
DriveWorksXpress is a free design automation tool included in every license of SOLIDWORKS.
More and more companies are adopting design automation techniques to save time, reduce repetitive engineering tasks and minimise costly errors. Design automation is becoming the norm and engineering professionals can gain the skills they need by completing the DriveWorksXpress Training and Certification.
What?
The DriveWorksXpress Training and Certification is a free certification for all engineering and design professionals who have access to SOLIDWORKS.
Becoming a Certified DriveWorksXpress Associate gives you new skills to add to your r辿sum辿, opens doors in a competitive jobs market and differentiates you from your peers.
How?
You can become a Certified DriveWorksXpress Associate by completing 3 steps in just 3 hours:
Step 1:Download and complete the DriveWorksXpress Training Tutorial.
Step 2:Take a short online test to complete the certification.
Step 3:Join a global community of DriveWorks and SOLIDWORKS engineers.
Why?
Embrace Design Automation techniques to work smarter.
Gain an extra qualification to gain an edge on the competition and stand out from the crowd.
Join a community of professionals to improve your career prospects in a competitive jobs market.
Improve your employability with an extra qualification on your r辿sum辿.
Learning Resources
We provide all the resources you need to easily complete the DriveWorksXpress Training and Certification and gain this valuable new skill to use in industry.
Completely Free
DriveWorksXpress is a free tool included in every educational and commercial license of SOLIDWORKS and the certification is free for anyone who has access to SOLIDWORKS.
Professional Certificate
On completion of the DriveWorksXpress Certification you’ll receive a professional certificate to add to your r辿sum辿 and prove your knowledge.
Use our top tips to make sure you get the most out of your 30 Day Free Trial of DriveWorks Solo.
Use DriveWorks Solo to reduce the cost of custom designs, respond quickly to sales inquiries, enhance product quality & reduce repetitive tasks.
Download a 30 Day Free Trial of DriveWorks Solo to see the functionality for yourself and follow our tips below to help you get the most out of your free trial.
Download the free Training Manual to learn how to use DriveWorks Solo step by step. There is also a training video for each lesson to make it even easier.
Meet other users, share tips and tricks and find solutions. Get involved with the forums, watch how-to videos and download the training tutorial.
Head to the DriveWorks YouTube channel for an in-depth look at DriveWorks Solo with useful how-to videos and sample project walk through videos.
Join the DriveWorks Solo Getting Started and DriveWorks Solo Online Training webinars to learn more, ask questions and get up and running quickly.
Learn about DriveWorks Solo by downloading the sample projects and picking them apart to discover how each one was constructed and what it can do. Each project comes with a useful walk through video and a PDF with the key facts.
Packed with valuable information so you can find answers to your questions and learn what’s possible, following best practices and picking up tips and tricks. The search function makes it really easy to find what you’re looking for.
Calculate ROI for DriveWorks Solo, based on automating one of your own products. It accounts for the cost of the software, the time it will take to implement and the savings that can be made and how soon you will benefit.
Throughout September and October 2017, save $500 on the price of DriveWorks Solo with Subscription Support when you upgrade from DriveWorksXpress.
Terms and conditions apply.
