One of the key technologies at the International Woodworking Machinery & Furniture Supply Fair 2012 next month will be software applications. Visible in many of these products are platforms — AutoCad, Inventor, REVIT — from Autodesk.
A search for software at IWF 2012 returns more than 51 companies, including equipment manufacturers who integrate their offerings with software applications.
Microvellum, Booth 4553, for example, began building its applications in the 1990s around Autodesk’s AutoCAD software. It says a typical wood products manufacturer starts with design in AutoCAD, and the design data then integrates with CNC-enabled manufacturing equipment, and that same design information can also be used to optimize wood use.
Likewise for, 20-20 Technologies, whic is also integrated to Autdoesk's AutoCAD. 20-20 Technologies' software is design for the full spectrum of production, from closet design and production to full integration of factory operations.
20-20 Technologies 4735 ArtCAM/Delcam 4522 Cabinet Pro 4723 CAMWorks 4417 CIM-TECH.COM, Inc. 5820 Compass Stair Software 4342 ETemplate Systems 4149 Eurosoft, Inc. 4335 Fagor Automation 5829 FIMMA Brasil 4317 Friedman Corporation 4535 Global Shop Solutions 4657 Hymmen Industrieanlagen GmbH 4558 Cameron Automation 6412 KCD Software 2854 Mastercam 4715 Microvellum, Inc. 4553 Missler Software / Topsolid 4523 Mozaik Software, Inc. 6101 OmegaCube 4422 OSAI-USA 7141 Planit Solutions, Inc. 4613 Prime Estimating & Software 4439 Riverside Tool Corp. 7129 SA International 5440 TeleNotes 5859 Termolegno Srl 7164 TradeSoft, Inc. 4327 Unicut Sp. J. 4841 USNR 4653 Vectric, Ltd. 5839 WoodStream Services 5457 *List does not include major equipment providers,who also offer operational and equipment control application. |
Another wood industry developer of Autodesk products is SigmaTEK Systems, Booth 5343. Its latest SigmaNEST software received the Autodesk Inventor 2013 certification, verifying compatibility with the Inventor 2013 design and production application. “As Inventor continues to expand in functionality and use, it is important that companion tools continue to advance and leverage CAD model usage,” says SigmaNEST’s James Lindsey.
Another Autodesk platform gaining the attention of the woodworking industry is REVIT, which functions as a design and production application for custom design of building projects, and links to Building Information Modeling (BIM) Systems. Marvin and Pella use Revit to fulfill custom window orders, for example. Advanced Cabinet Systems, Marion, IN, uses it for its commercial cabinetry and store interior projects.
Autodesk will be represented at IWF by Widom Associates, Booth 4545. Steve Widom, chief technology officer, says his firm is the only Autodesk AutoCAD and Inventor reseller in the U.S. (of some 250) that is focused on woodworking.
“The Inventor technology is the first tool that actually allows you to consider design first and not drafting,” Widom says. “Wood industry software tools can do a decent job using libraries of components,” says Widom. “But you are so involved in drafting that you miss the focus of what you are doing. Inventor frees up the design side of things to make decisions early on in the process.”
It can also test designs for stress factors, load capabilities, and visualize placement of hardware. At IWF Widom says he will “let woodworkers know there is another tool that can do anything — from catalog driven cabinetry to things that are the most creative, like one-off custom furniture.”
He hopes to show woodworkers “how interactive it is and how much it is like the process you are already using to build projects in your shop.” Output can drive CNC machines or calculate how to build jigs for a manual shop. “Autodesk offers universal tools,” says Widom, “ones that develop relationships between fabricator and designer and architect.”
Have something to say? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.