Simus Systems Case Study
Market: Digital Data Optimization and Costing for Manufacturing Companies
Working with Spatial was a real milestone for us: Thanks to the powerful 3DInterOp library, we were able to successfully bring our complex CAD-based solutions to the cloud while remaining flexible to meet individual customer requirements. For us, Spatial is not just a technology partner, but a true enabler of our product strategy.
The Company
Simus Systems develops software to support the digital transformation of engineering companies. The company was founded in 2002 as a spin-off of the University of Karlsruhe. Simus Systems’ core competency is optimally structuring and classifying data to make it usable for further value-adding processes. Even extremely large data volumes can be handled, regardless of whether they are material master data or CAD data. The Simus Systems software calculates manufacturing costs at a very early stage, giving companies planning security and an overview of project cost control. With the Simus Systems classmate solution, the user can create work plans, create and maintain material master data, generate texts, or assign customs tariff numbers automatically. A clean database enables many automated processes, thereby relieving various departments.
Developing Automatic Classification Concepts Simus Systems developed the concepts for automatic classification based on the results of two research projects involving industry examples. The projects aimed to automatically classify data, such as article data and 3D CAD models, to increase data quality in mechanical engineering projects. The basic idea was to evaluate the implicit properties of the models and make these explicitly available to the user through analysis with the aim of reuse. Based on these concepts, the Simus Systems classmate software suite, which includes classmate DATA (master data classification) and classmate CAD (geometry classification) modules, was developed. A corresponding search component, classmate FINDER, was created, which was later expanded to the browser-based easyFINDER.
Later, classmate PLAN was developed, which is based on the geometry analysis results and automatically derives a routing based on the material and the existing manufacturing technologies and calculates the manufacturing costs for the 3D geometry model. This was later expanded to include the socalled CO2 footprint.
The Challenge
Implementing a standardized interface for reading all CAD formats
Simus Systems faced similar challenges to other companies in the market. A cloud-based, somewhat slimmed-down version of the very comprehensive on-premise solution was intended to appeal to new customer groups. However, the previous approach, which was directly linked to an installed CAD system, was no longer easible for using the software in the cloud. Simus Systems needed a way to read files from different CAD systems and convert them into a standardized format. This import should be scalable and parallelizable
Key Insights
Expanding a portfolio with cloud solutions
The use of the 3D InterOp library enabled Simus Systems to integrate solutions into the cloud. Eventually, their portfolio of offerings was expanded to include on-premise implementations. Working with Spatial and their Technical Account Managers to integrate 3D InterOp into their solutions strengthened Simus Systems’ market presence. After integrating with Spatial, Simus Systems registered and established new brands, including costing24 and Simus Connect. Simus Systems successfully achieved its goal of standardizing processing for all CAD model formats.
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