Procad are delight to inform you that we are hosting the official launch of the Autodesk 2013 product portfolio at various location around Ireland in May & June 2012.

This is a fantastic opportunity to see the latest design solutions that are helping design professionals all over the world produce the best products faster and more cost effectively with Digital Prototyping and BIM.

This year we are covering a broad range of both Manufacturing,  Data Management, and for the first time Architectural products.

We’ll be reviewing the latest “Cloud” based technology – Autodesk 360 - from Autodesk and we’ll be showing how Procad’s Subscription customers can extract even more value from their Subscription and Maintenance contracts.

This year we’ll be kicking off in Limerick’s premier venue, Thomond Park, so a great opportiunity to visit the home of Munster Rugby. There’ll be refreshments on the day and the chance to enjoy a memorable stadium tour. We can’t promise any famous faces but we’ll bring a camera & ball just in case!

Register Now for an event near you and learn how the newest release can help you lead the way.

Great news for those people interested in Data management.

Autodesk have expanded there native Data management tools such has Vault and Streamline to the Cloud!!

Autodesk PLM 360 is the latest offering to build upon the company’s leadership with cloud-based solutions. Unlike traditional PLM systems — which have historically been expensive and complicated — Autodesk PLM 360 is instant-on and easily configurable to meet customer-specific product-lifecycle process needs across the enterprise. It is also the first cloud-based PLM solution focused on business applications beyond engineering and bill of material management. As a result, employees in a range of roles — from planning and product development to quality and compliance to service and more — can better access product and project-related information that helps them continuously improve the products they design and manufacture.

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Our subscription customers now have access to Autodesk Cloud which takes design process’ to the next level.  Ideally you would want your projects to have every material tested, every alternative design explored and every visual iteration of the end product presented. Up until now budget, time and resources made this impossible but Autodesk Cloud is making it a reality!

Dependant on what Subscription contract you have, you may be entitled to extended tools for collaboration, viewing, editing, storage, rendering, optimisation & energy analysis – and even if your not on subscrition you can still avail from 1gb of free storage on the Cloud!

1. Collaboration – exchange and manage project information across companies, teams, and locations.
2. Viewing – view and mark up DWF files on the web or on your mobile device.
3. Editing – edit DWG files on your mobile device or the web. Multiple users can edit the same file in real-time.
4. Storage – store your files in the cloud and access them anytime, anywhere, with 3GB of storage per seat on Subscription. Read more

Firstly Happy New Year to you from all the Team at Procad!

Secondly, I would like to address this blog post to the issue of DWG recovery in AutoCAD. Files can get – fully or partially – corrupted for a number of reasons, such as interruption when saving or problems on the hard rive while writing however there are a tips which may recover your work.

1. Try opening the drawing on a different release of AutoCAD.
2. Use the RECOVER command – this repairs a drawing and then opens it, you will need to have a drawing open in order to do this.
3. Use the RECOVERALL command to repair a drawing and any xrefs attached to it and open it, again you will need to have a drawing open for this.
4. Locate the .bak and .sv$ for the related file, these are found in the TEMP folder which can be found in C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Local Settings\Temp or alternatively you can enter %TEMP% in the windows explorer navigation bar – ensure your files and folders are not hidden. A .bak files type is a backup file created when the user saves a drawing while a .sv$ is a backup of a timed autosave. When you have located these make a copy of them and change the extension (.bak & .sv$) to .dwg and then open them in AutoCAD. Read more

At the recent launch of Energypoint, Finance Minister Michael Noonan was invited to say a few words about the importance of local industries remaining competive and taking the opportunity to review all possible sources of cost savings including Energy Monitoring and Targeting.

ProcadGroup have been involved in Energy awareness for a number of years and have successfully project managed and completed initiatives all over Ireland. Taking things to the next level involves identifying further cost saving opportunities within organisations with higher energy bills. This allows companies to set their budget and work within specific parameters.

Procad has been able to utilise the latest Autodesk Technology to help orgainsations to assess the energy needs at the design stage. Autodesk Factory Design Suite 2012 allows you to input the energy requirements of the equipment being used within a production line and to easily come up with many scenarios that will show the  most economical layout and configuration to ensure cost savings and energy usage.

Procad are organising weekly demonstrations of Factory Design Suite both online and at venues near you.

Contact us today for further information.

Pictured below is Cormac Lyons and Minister Michael Noonan, reviewing the Autodesk design Suites and discussing the enormous benefits that are offered within the Autodesk Factory Design Suite and the Autodesk Product Design Suite.

Review of the Autodesk Design Suites by Michael Noonan