| April 2012 Volume 6, Issue 1 |
| Customer Spotlight: CellXion |
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Based in Louisiana, CellXion is a division of Sabre Industries, Inc., the largest telecom shelter manufacturer in the world. CellXion designs and manufactures a full line of concrete, structural steel, and ultra-light aluminum shelters. CellXion also provides mobile, panelized and field-erectable specialty products. Their services include equipment integration and complete turnkey construction, sometimes built entirely to the customer's specific needs.
Click Here to read more about what CellXion does and how Autodesk Vault, Autodesk Inventor, AutoCAD & Intent (ETO) design automation help them win bids and complete projects with Digital Prototyping.
If you'd like to know more about making your workflow more efficient, improving your bottom line or digital prototyping, contact us at D3.
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| March AMUG Meetings |
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March AMUG meetings were held at the Kansas City, Oklahoma City and Little Rock offices on March 8th. AMUG, the Autodesk Manufacturing User Group, is a place to connect with your fellow Autodesk manufacturing users and learn about their experiences with the products. Each meeting is different, but our March meetings included user presentations, skill builders, and helpful tips and tricks.
If you'd like to see photos from past AMUG meetings, visit our Flickr page.
Don't miss the next AMUG meeting on June 14th!
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| Tech Tip: The Cloud |
With the ever-present term of "The Cloud" in today's technology you may find yourself somewhat overwhelmed by all the offerings. Autodesk comes up with great productive tools based in Autodesk 360, aka "The Cloud". Everything from the creative program 123D, to the now tried and true Autodesk AutoCAD WS, allows you to do what you need to do in both the 2D and the 3D world of design.
The Autodesk 360 software offers affordable and customizable project management. Many of the applications are accessible in several ways online via PC/Mac or application-based on Android/Apple devices. Some of the applications do work much better on a tablet format vs. a cell phone display but all are truly shaping up to be productive tools to put in your design toolbox. Coupling productivity with accessibility and topping it off with being affordable makes many of the offerings from Autodesk a very welcome view of the future of design software.
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| D3's New Employee |
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D3 Recently welcomed Dennis Schlack, an Inside Account Representative, to the team. Dennis works from the D3 office in Springfield. Here are some quick facts about Dennis:
 Dennis Schlack
Education: Dennis attended Strafford High School, and then went on to obtain a degree in Drafting and Design from Draughon's Business College.
Work History: Dennis has been in the sheet metal manufacturing industry ever since and even while in High School and college. He's worked for a variety of manufacturers here in Springfield and the surrounding areas including Paul Mueller, Custom MetalCraft, and American Products. His last position was Supervisor of the Pre Fabrication Department at Superior Quality Steel Product, Inc. in Marshfield, MO.
His duties have varied from welding to fabrication to CNC operator, then eventually to engineering and programming. He also owned "All Type Welding" for five years.
Dennis came aboard at D3 TECHNOLOGIES in 2001 and remained until 2009. D3 is such a fantastic place to work so, he's decided to come back for good!
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| Employee Spotlight: Chris Walters |
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Meet Chris Walters, a Solution Executive at D3. Chris works at D3's Kansas City office and has been with us since September 2003.
Click Here to learn more about Chris and read the interview.
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| Quote-to-Design Process Automation |
An Engineered-to-Order Solution for Tanks
D3 Technologies has worked with several manufacturers of various tank-related product lines for the tank industry. Most of the products offered are some form of a steel tank with many specific configurations depending on the application. These variations, although typically modular in design, require considerable effort to accurately describe the design to the customer.
The project described below is focused on creating the system architecture, features, and functionalities of a web-based configuration system for the above ground tanks. While this information is focused on a particular product family type, the solutions described will not only improve the specification process for above ground tanks, but also provide a solid foundation for future addition of any remaining product line.
Currently, many tank manufacturers provide web access for downloadable drawings of pre-determined configurations. These drawings often do not match the customer's desired configuration. In order to provide customers with accurate drawings and specifications, tank design team members manually create drawings and specifications for each desired configuration. This process is labor intensive, error prone, and extends the sales cycle.
In addition, these tank manufacturers recognize that many operations of the design are rules-based operations that can be automated with a knowledge-based engineering system. This realization is especially important given the recent industry trends in retirement. Around the U.S, engineering intelligence is literally walking out the door and into retirement every day. These tank team members intend to capture that engineering intelligence and automate the specification, quoting, and design process with that industry and company knowledge.
Significant opportunity exists to improve the specification process by creating a web-based configurator to be an automated advisor to the customer at the point of design definition. Many technologies are available to create a web based configurator of this sort. Given the input and output requirements of this project, Autodesk's Inventor ETO, a rules-based configuration system, will provide a more extensible and easier to maintain system than other available technologies. D3 Technologies migrated to these advanced tools many years ago in order to stay at the head of the design automation needs of all types of manufacturers.
Common Project Goals
To improve the creation speed, accuracy, and quality of engineering design information for customers. A growing need exists for fully functioning web-based applications that will create automatically multiple outputs (drawings, 3D models, specifications, etc) at the point of customer configuration of a tank product (and other product types). The goals of this effort include:
- Automating the creation of drawings and 3D models at a level of detail sufficient for specification of each configured design.
- Automating the creation of a Construction Specification Institute (CSI) document of each configured design.
- Creating a configuration application that is straightforward to use and readily available for current and potential tank customers.
- Architecting a solution that may be extended to other product lines by means of data entry and rules creation.
- Architecting a solution that allows for the future integration of functionality such as Quoting, Pricing, Costing, BOM, and Shop Drawing outputs using a common set of rules and code base.
- Directing the customer to specify the design in such a way that helps both the customer and the manufacturer.
- Reducing time to delivery and errors as compared to the current specification process.
Success Defined
Very simple. Clients are able to advance their businesses to meet the demands of competition and at the same time allow for growth without having to add costly overhead. Do more with less...a recent client went from 24hrs to 15min, what can you do?
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| CAD Workstations on Windows 7 |
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Windows 7 and Autodesk 2013: two things designed to work together. If you are making plans for either one of the two, you need to consider both for optimum performance and best in class approach.
D3 TECHNOLOGIES offers CAD Workstations on the Windows 7 platform! Be sure to check out the custom Lenovo CAD Workstations that D3 is now offering to exceed the needs of our customers. Click here to see what we have to offer. Don't see the model you are looking for? Contact your local sales representative for more information.
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| ZCorp is Now 3D Systems |
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3D Systems has now acquired ZCorp, both leaders in 3D printers. This acquisition integrates the best of ZCorp's color, speed and cost benefits with 3D Systems' extensive portfolio. Together, 3D Systems now has the broadest offerings in the dynamic, rapidly expanding 3D content-to-print space.
To learn more, visit our webpage or contact your local Solution Executive.
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| D3 Recognized in Platinum Club |
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Recently, D3 was recognized as Autodesk's Top North American Reseller in Manufacturing Suites Sales, earning a spot in the Platinum Club. Platinum Club partners consistently help encourage their customers' adoption of 3D design software in multiple industries and demonstrate what it means to be a trusted advisor to Autodesk users.
To learn more about our Platinum Club designation, read the press release.
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| Autodesk Cloud |
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Autodesk Cloud is a collection of web-based features, products, and services that enable you to extend your desktop with cloud computing capacity and capabilities, helping you rapidly design, visualize, simulate, optimize, and share ideas - transforming the way you work.
To promote collaboration and help improve project quality and results, the Autodesk Cloud documents service provides 3GB of cloud-based storage to Subscription customers, allowing you to share design files with anyone, anywhere, through a web browser or mobile device, without the need for desktop software.
Plus, customers with an Autodesk Subscription to select products or suites have exclusive access to powerful cloud-based services, including:
- Autodesk Cloud rendering
- Autodesk Inventor optimization (Coming Soon)
- Autodesk Revit Conceptual Energy Analysis
- Autodesk Green Building Studio
- Autodesk Buzzsaw
With these services, you can perform computer-intensive functions in the cloud - which allow you to explore and visualize more design options, streamline collaboration, and optimize your designs without investing in new hardware or software.
For more information about how the Cloud works, contact your D3 representative.
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| Autodesk PLM 360 |
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Success today depends on your ability to introduce innovative new products faster than ever before, while improving quality and reducing costs. Autodesk 360 for PLM transforms the way companies solve these challenges with a powerful, affordable, and easy-to-implement solution for PLM (product/project lifecycle management) that can help you become more competitive and grow your business.
Built on the cloud, Autodesk PLM 360 software-as-a-service streamlines the management of data, people, and business processes to help you develop products faster with greater profitability and higher quality.
Autodesk PLM 360 makes powerful PLM business application benefits available to companies of all sizes with low up-front costs and no prerequisites or installation.
If you'd like to know more about PLM or how Autodesk 360 Nexus could benefit your company, check out the website, then contact your local D3 representative.
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| Autodesk Manufacturing Solutions Mixers |
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D3 will host a series of mixer events to highlight issues important to the manufacturing industry today, as well as the Autodesk 2013 products. Each event will take place from 3:30 - 6:30pm. The events will be in:
- Little Rock, AR on June 5th
- Tulsa, OK on June 6th
- Springfield, MO on June 7th
- Kansas City, MO on June 12th
- Denver, CO on June 13th
Look for more communications about these upcoming mixer events, as well as information on how to register. We hope to see you there!
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| Autodesk Certification Days |
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If you're serious about your Autodesk software education, now is a great time to get certified or re-certified. The official Autodesk Certification Days are:
- June 15th
- August 10th
- October 12th
If you'd like to get certified or have questions about the exams, contact us to learn more.
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About D3 TECHNOLOGIES
D3 TECHNOLOGIES is an engineering & design technology consulting firm that provides solutions to increase engineering efficiency in the manufacturing, plant, and process industries. D3 is an Autodesk Gold partner and maintains training centers at each of its locations. Our goal is to provide clients with high quality service so they may receive an improved return on their investment.
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| Special Offers |
Contact Us today to learn about our promotions and special offers on software, hardware, or training. You can always visit our Website or Social Network pages to learn about promotions or special events. Click the icons below to visit the pages:
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