Samat official distributors in Spain of DigiPara
On June 6th 2018 we held an event in Zaragoza with our friends in the elevator sector to present the new Liftdesigner 2018 features, as you know, we are official distributors in Spain of DigiPara.
To tell the truth, the expectations that we had created for such an event were exceeded, we knew that our positioning in the sector was quite good, but the response we received was enormous: more than 18 companies and 45 people gathered; in addition, 100% of the people who booked attended the event! And almost half of them are not regular Liftdesigner customers/users,… not yet 😉
I would want to note that multinationals such as Schindler, Thyssen or OTIS attended the event, as well as smaller but very capable companies such Beltrán Ascensores or Hidráulicas Lluis; and from large installers such as FAIN is to manufacturers such as FELESA is. This demonstrates the versatility of the software, its suitability for the elevator industry throughout its product lifecycle… and that the technology is within everyone’s reach! It’s a commodity, not a competitive advantage as it was in the past.
DigiPara has written an interesting and illustrative article in its blog, which summarizes the day accurately, I leave you a link here to take a look at it, I recommend it to you.
For our part, we wanted to emphasize several aspects, which I will explain in several points.
FULL INTEGRATION OF LIFTDESIGNER WITH CAD SOFTWARES
Although DigiPara had made an interesting and important advance in the 2017 version on this aspect due to requested by Liftdesigner users, it was not until this version that we found that the integration is complete and clean. In the previous version, we needed to rely on SolidWorks Excel to create design tables, whereas in CREO even a link like this was not possible.
Now, the integration is seamless because we map the Liftdesigner parameters and link with the variables in our SolidWorks design: directly, with a simple interface that Liftdesigner offers. In addition, we can create rules to indicate when to execute such mapping.
The advantages of this working system are enormous:
- We can comply with the first and sacred rule of process automation in data management: UNIQUE DATA. That is, the user will enter a data, for example the DBG carframe, and no one else in the company or any other department will have to do it or modify it! This introduction, which will be carried out in Liftdesigner, is automatically transferred to our CAD models, to get the deliverable files to manufacture (drawings, list of materials, DXF,…)
- We can lighten CAD models, no need to overcharge them with information or rules of behavior. These are added and controlled from Liftdesigner. No further equations, design tables, configurations, etc. are needed anymore. This became CAD models heavily. (NOTE: if we have a Product Configurator, such as DriveWorks, we will still be improving this automation process; otherwise, Liftdesigner will help us to do this, in part, so we will see below, patience!)
- The work of creating the installation drawings and the deliverables for manufacturing are done by a single person, or rather, in the same phase of the creation of the drawings. Saving time is considerable, once the customer has confirmed the offer drawings: the rest of the work is already done, I promise! Just manage the manufacturing deliverables as you wish. One of our customers has five models of elevator, and one person takes care of all the documentation, unbelievable, don’t you think?
- There’s more to it than that. Now, we can introduce special components into this process. Liftdesigner users know that, when there is a special component, the process is cut, and our beloved software could no longer help us, so moving to AutoCAD (just to «name it», I get nervous!) or other means was mandatory. It’s over! We can incorporate special elevators into the UNIQUE DATA process. Who is going to offer more than this?
INCLUSION EXCEL WITHIN LIFTDESIGNER
We have no limits any longer. In previous versions, we could use Excel to create a template of data outputs, very useful, certainly, but up to that point Excel could collaborate with us.
Now the story has changed, and a lot. The Excel is integrated in Liftdesigner and we can open it from the Windows Explorer and from inside the application. I’m quite sure you’ve seen the advantadges coming, we’ve listed them down here, you better be reading this sitting down, please, here we go:
- We have a data entry. Excel can interface with data from our data management systems. Magnificent, don’t you think? UNIQUE DATA philosophy: «someone» in the company will have already entered the main data of the project and even of the installation, so that the Liftdesigner user avoids this process and the possibility of errors. I repeat, if we already have an electronic data configurator, the customer will be who have to fulfill the order.
- Obviously, we can control any Liftdesigner parameter automatically and in real time. And of course, working with it the way we need to: modify it, validate it, take it to an equation, to a selection table, to an output sheet, to an order template,… in short, I leave you with your own ideas, but we see that they are enough and necessary to run a complete lift.
- As it is an Excel, we can make use of its tools: equations, table selection, etc. Well, as we said before, we can do calculations and configure our elevator, modify any dimension and replace any component. Incorporate your calculations of guides, cables, for instance. Designing a sheet to validate the current regulations, for example. We forsee no limits.
LEVELS OF DETAIL: LOD 100.. LOD 500 AND LOD 500 MAX
A new system of details thinking about the BIM for Liftdesigner projects. It is well known that we can export our models in IFC4 format or in an LDbim file that can be integrated with Revit through a Liftdesigner addin.
But now, we have some tools to parameterize our models and show them with the necessary level of detail. Both components…
… and complete elevators:
IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
To finish, just indicate that a series of improvements have been introduced in the development of the product, such as the improvement of the Development Area, export and import of data from the Datamanager to Excel, selection of components or parts, possibility of creating rules to make visible or hide components, etc..
I don’t go into this point any further (important, no doubt) because this is only understood by the geeks who are dedicated to the development of LD and we don’t want to bore our select audience… You’re welcome!
FINISHING
Without further ado, I hope you were interested in this entry. We encourage those (few) who are reluctant to use the software to check all these benefits of the new version, and to our fans, again thank you for continuing to use this magnificent tool and a special greeting to those who parked their obligations for a day and attended the event. We know that they had a good time sharing, not only the news of the program, but also catching up with each other in the news of the sector, while we enjoyed the views from the attic of the Colegio de Ingenieros Industriales de Aragón y La Rioja and the lucnh that DigiPara kindly offered us. Thanks to Andreas and Sandra for their sponsor.
Finally, I would like to thank the Masters that are making this transformation possible in the sector: Pablo Benedí, Ester Ruiz, Cristina Arruga and José Antonio Miguel. And I don’t thank myself, it’s ugly and pedantic, come on!
If you have any questions or concerns, you can write them down in the comments below or in private at info@isamat.es or dsanchez@isamat.es
