solidworks2017前瞻：solidworks PCB

Technology is easy. People are hard. When it comes to management of mult-disciplinary data, think first about people who are in charge of all these pieces of information. There are multiple levels of integration between multi-disciplinary data. It can be 3D model level integration. A typical example of bringing 3D models of electronic components such as PCB design into MCAD tools. Another dimension of multi-disciplinary data is integrated bill of materials. Technical difficulties and disagreement between people often can lead to problems in establishment of cohesive multi-disciplinary data management solutions. PLM fails to provide a way to manage multi-disciplinary BOM and changes. High-tech and electronic industry is specific because of high diversity of design tools – mechanical, electronic, software. PLM tools are not integrated well with design tool, which leads to poor BOM management – limit of tools, complexity integration between tools provided by multiple suppliers.
PLM整合多学科数据的困难性

In the past, the MCAD-ECAD collaboration headache was a simple communication problem: To come up with a neutral file format that lets each discipline transmit its respective design to the other. But to design a connected device, where the outer shell and the internal parts must fit like hand and glove, the two sides must work together closer than ever before.
过去，机械CAD与电气CAD协作沟通困难，所以才有中间文件格式。
A format like IDF (intermediate data format), which is supported by most industry-standard software from both sides, removes the communication barrier between MCAD and ECAD disciplines, but many experts feel a new lingua franca is needed. EDMD (electrical design mechanical design) is a protocol championed by ProSTEP iViP, an international association that develops and defines standards for product data management and virtual product creation. “It’s actively maintained, so we meet with other CAD and ECAD vendors monthly or bimonthly to develop it to include what the modern designers need,” says Eckhoff.
像IDF这样的文件格式，支持多数行业标准软件。打破机械CAD与电气CAD沟通障碍。但是新的通用语言是必要的，
At the core of PCBWorks is a set of powerful schematic capture and PCB layout tools along with an easy-to-use interface that works in tandem with existing mechanical workflows in SolidWorks. Design data between components and mechanical enclosures are linked seamlessly between electrical and mechanical workflows, with the world’s first-ever managed Engineering Change Orders (ECO) process delivering changes in design data from SolidWorks to PCBWorks using native SolidWorks files.
solidworks pcb 的核心是一个PCB原理布局工具和易于使用的界面，在现有的机械工作流上沟通solidworks。组件间的设计数据和机械零件在机电工作流中无缝衔接。
What will be a trajectory of integrated development between Altium and Solidworks? Will it lead to more advanced design system integration beyond SOLIDWORKS? Will Dassault Systemes decide to acquire Altium to create MCAD+ECAD bundle? These are all good questions to ask…
EDA vendors and vision of intelligent lifecycle
To solve design information exchange is very important. But what is next? How multi-disciplinary design will connect into the process of manufacturing, services, maintenance. These are questions usually asked by MCAD companies bringing a concept of PLM to manage overall product lifecycle.
智能生命周期 EDA 多学科集成
What is my conclusion? Modern products are creating significant amount of complex design and manufacturing planning challenges. The core cause of that is in an increased product complexity, integration of multi-disciplinary data, introduction of IoT and connected technologies. Distributed manufacturing makes the design and manufacturing planning even more complex. Software vendors will be forced to think outside of a traditional silos to solve these problems. Just my thoughts..
现代产品是创建大量的复杂的设计和制造计划的挑战。核心原因是产品复杂性增加,多学科的集成数据,引入物联网和连接技术。分布式制造设计和制造规划更加复杂。软件供应商将被迫跳出传统的束缚来解决这些问题