Skip this 1st paragraph if philosophy boars you.
In the early days of PTC, Pro/Engineer was state of the art. It almost wiped out AutoCAD with their 3D and parametric modeling. There way obviously a lot of focus and drive within PTC. They had a vision of the utopias CAD software and knew how to get there. Over time the company got bigger; slowing creative output. Companies like this slowly fizzle until their market share fades into the mist. There are thousands of tasks and features that are done in Pro/Engineer. If I put on my 1990’s glasses on, they seem efficient and easy to use. Then, I zoom into 2011 and these tasks don’t seem so state of the art anymore. I have yet to use Creo, so maybe there’s hope.
Here are a few examples of enhancements that should have been added years ago:
- Tables: The revision block on a drawing: In the olden days, this was a simple table filled with dumb text. Today, it should be linked to the PDM system. The smart BOM has some good functions, but the interface is not up to par. Take the control panel off of your microwave oven, so there are just bare wires sticking out. Connect the wires in the correct sequence to cook your food. This is the typical Pro/E interface; it just feels like a prototype.
- Drawing notes and text: Slightly better than Edlin (MS DOS), the text editor should be WYSIWYG, with spell check. Bulleted numbers should be auto generated. Is PTC waiting for a Microsoft patent to expire before they do this? And what’s with the special codes for formatting? Hello? Look at the year on your calendar; YES, we're well into the 21st century.
- Engineering: Pro/Engineer is design for…um, uh.. oh ya, Engineers. So if I accidently assemble an M5 bolt into an M6 nut, does the software have the smarts to know something is wrong? Does the analysis team have to manually convert or remove these models and holes? The top 100 engineering type parts, should be recognized by the software. Fasteners, springs, bearings and other common parts need to be more than just dumb models. Dissimilar metal warnings, or smart material finishes could be added. We’re not just drawing pretty pictures all day.
I am hoping the younger generation of programmers, who grew up with Google, Apple and Microsoft, will see the potential in PTC and bring it back to modern times. It's better to have the creativity in the engineering department, than in the Marketing department.