Work Smarter, not Harder with SAP PLM!

By Thuc Nguyen

After 2 years of working at CIDEON America and helping SAP Customers improving their data throughput performance across the entire company and between ERP, PDM/PLM, I have learned that many SAP Customers are implementing SAP just with sole purpose of managing their business processes such as human resources, accounting, customers relationship, manufacturing, etc. Based on our daily conversation with SAP users, I noticed the disconnection between Engineering/R&D and Business Enterprise. Many of them chose to separate PDM/PLM systems and SAP ERP Platform. This disconnection would then cause delays in time to market, manufacturing of the wrong product, higher overhead costs, which impact their net profit.

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SAP TechEd

By Madeleine Neisler

SAP TechEd is almost here! SAP TechEd has been held since 1996 and is THE premier technical conference for all things SAP. It is usually held in at least two to three locations every year. Today we discuss years past, what to expect this year and how you can bring your A game.

The Art of Writing Methods

By Douglas Golomb

Many companies either do not have any published written methods, or have them but they are very difficult to follow. It can be an extensive amount of work up front to write them, but there is a huge payback in results. A method should be the first layer of support to the end users. They need to be mandatory prior to opening a helpdesk ticket for a solution. If the user ignores published methods; it is the responsibility of the support person to send them a link to the proper instructions. In time this will eventually become a habit by the end user to go directly to the published methods.

Engineering in Fashion

By Madeleine Neisler

Fashion is not simply clothing and style. It’s so much more. It is fine arts, architecture, and engineering to name a few attributes seen in this pliable art form.  Focusing on the engineering aspect, Carnegie Mellon University, College of Engineering, electrical and computer engineering alumna Nere Emiko is making waves in the fashion industry.  She has gained notoriety in industry magazines, participated in significant trade events and has her own business.  She uses her advanced engineering education to design wedding dresses, jewelry, furniture and embroidery rather than designing processors, systems, circuits and computational algorithms.

Benefits of Green Technologies

By Walter Riskie

While there is still a debate about the reality of Global Warming, there are a great number of global scientists as well as the general population that do agree Global Warming is a reality. While a percentage may see this as something to fear, others see it as an opportunity to innovate. Instead of curling up in a ball and waiting for the oceans to rise and sweep them out to sea, they decided to come up with solutions to start fixing the problem.

Cideon Software GmbH & Co. KG and Seal Systems AG Forge Partnership

Software companies Cideon Software GmbH & Co. KG and Seal Systems AG, providers of conversion and output management solutions for SAP, have entered into a partnership. The aim is to optimize and enhance their respective data-conversion as well as information and document-provision product portfolios. The two companies’ existing solutions will not be affected.

Insects in Engineering

By Madeleine Neisler

We’re in the midst of summer and, in many places, it’s not only hot out – but the bugs are out too. This got me thinking about insects in engineering… always thinking engineering. You may ask yourself how an insect could be involved in an engineers experiment. Have you looked closely at, let’s say, a beetle? Every beetle has a special shell, almost like a suit of armor to protect it. According to Manufacturing and Engineering Magazine, engineers are working to de-code the architecture of a beetle’s shell in order to make evolutionary advancements in the engineering field.

Making the Impossible, Possible

By Bill Svokos

Is there such a thing as impossible? This all boils down to perspective. Things that are deemed impossible one day become a day to day routine the next. For example, man being able to fly was considered an impossible task, yet today thousands of people are flying, daily, as normal routine. Some may say this is due to an advance in technology, or intellect, of mankind over time, but what is it that gets us past that threshold? What is it that causes the change from impossible, to possible? The short answer is you have to ask a question. Ask yourself, ask others, but at the end of the day a question must be posed. Why is this you might say, because in order to find the answer to something impossible, you first need the question as to why, or what, is “impossible”.

Nikola Tesla Day

By Madeleine Neisler

Happy Nikola Tesla Day everyone! Today we celebrate the namesake of Tesla Motors, and more importantly one of the most renowned inventors, electrical and mechanical engineers and physicists! He is most widely known for his influences on the development of the modern alternating current electricity supply system. Today we discuss some of his greatest accomplishments and celebrate how this genius helped to shape modern technology, still very much relevant in this day and age.

SAP Optimization & Performance Tuning – Implementation; Part 2

By Matt Costello and Travis Stonebraker

The implementation of SAP, supporting software, and other tools can impact system performance. With SAP, as with any software implementation, if the implementation is not run properly or corners are cut, the users will suffer in their day to day activities. In Part 2 of SAP Optimization and Performance Tuning, we’ll focus on how issues caused by poor implementations can be avoided, as well as discuss some best practices to follow.

Week of Making

By Madeleine Neisler

Welcome to the National Week of Making everyone! What an exciting time to be a “maker.” With all of the advances in modern technology we are sure to see some great inventions and meet the amazing makers behind them. National Week of Making is happening right now! It started June 16 and runs until June 22, 2017.

Legacy CAD Data Migration to SAP – Part Two

By Matthew Costello

A business migrating data from a legacy software into any new system, including SAP, has hurdles to overcome, even once the high-level plan for the migration has been discussed and put in place. There is more to it than just moving files from one storage location to another. Ideally, the migrated files will be searchable, usable, and migrated in a way that best suits the business needs. In part one of this blog, we discussed considerations for coming up with a migration strategy, as well as how to relate the legacy system to the SAP system. Here, we will talk about some of the key details that can make or break the end to end migration processes such as data extraction, metadata mapping, and standardization. We will also touch on data cleansing and responsibilities.

Engineering Behind Running Shoes

By Madeleine Neisler

Each year, millions of runners across the globe join in celebrating Global Running Day. This year, it takes place on June 7th. Participation is easy – just lace up those shoes and go for run. The idea is to spread the joy of running – in a marathon, around the block, or just in a game of tag.

A Newcomer’s Perspective on Sapphire Now 2017

By Khalif Woodard

As I boarded the plane from Philadelphia, PA to Orlando, FL I pondered what my experience would be like at SAPPHIRE Now. I envisioned an exciting time with very knowledgeable people, and that is the exact experience that I had. This was my first time attending SAPPHIRE Now and most certainly will not be my last. Rows and rows of exhibitors occupied the 1,000,000 square feet of Orlando’s North and South convention center halls. Each booth possessed its own unique appearance, as well as its own unique brand of people. There were so many companies at this event and their focus was learning more about SAP and connecting with the community at large.

SAP Optimization & Performance Tuning – Infrastructure; Part 1

By Travis Stonebraker and Matthew Costello

SAP system performance is a common topic of discussion in the world of consulting, and as consultants, we are usually tasked with identifying and assisting with the solution to challenges causing a system to run slowly or inefficiently. We’d like to take some time to lay out and discuss some improvements that can be made in infrastructure, implementation, and work process to increase the speed of a slow system, or how an inefficient process can be improved. In part one, we’ll focus on infrastructure.

SAPPHIRE NOW & ASUG – Five Years in the Making – PLM

By Christoph Fischer

Having worked exclusively with SAP customers over the last five years, this year marked my 5th consecutive SAPPHIRE NOW & ASUG, focusing on Discrete Manufacturing & PLM.

Each year I attend the event with more experience, knowledge, and eagerness to hear from “real-world” SAP customers. This also provides the opportunity to empower new and existing SAP customer’s with the industry best practice and future direction, leveraging SAP software.

Benefits of Implementing SAP for Multi-CAD Systems

By Thuc Nguyen

1. Advantages of the SAP Engineering Control Center Interfaces (ECTR)
   a) All CAD relevant data and object links are available at any time for downstream processes. This includes procurement, project system, production planning, production preparation, production, sales, services etc.
   b) Engineers can work comfortably in their own CAD environment Continuous SAP change management with a complete change history in one system
   c) Significant cost savings due to optimized CAD process integration in SAP and no cost for a separate PDM system or its interfaces.

How are Instagram Filters Related to Engineering?

By Madeleine Neisler

What is the significance of an Instagram filter? Instagram filters make an image more appealing and draw more attention to an image, thus resulting in more media traffic and followers. Instagram is certainly one of the top social media platforms for promoting your brand. But what about behind the scenes? The engineers that work around the clock supporting the app are so vital to its success. A lot of times we do not even think about the creators behind these apps, the engineers that support and maintain them, and the overall big picture of what it takes to make an app successful.

SAP GUI Navigation For Beginners – Part Two

By: Travis Stonebraker

Welcome to part two of the CIDEON quick guide to SAP GUI Navigation for beginners. In our last post we covered the basics of logging into SAP and working through the table of contents including any presets for favorites based on your role.

Acronyms…stop the Madness!

By: Doug Golomb

Good Morning everyone, I am Kim Doe; on behalf of your project team, I am here to provide you a status update on the HDF for GGP in PPD. My hope is that PPD will grant approval in conjunction with DFM in our up-coming release gate.

Ford Motor Company’s Revolution, Industry 4.0, and IoT

by Chris Fischer

In 1913, Henry Ford and his team at Highland Park assembly plant launched one of the world’s greatest contributions to manufacturing, business, and ultimately the consumer. This contribution and innovation – known as the world’s first mass production assembly line – revolutionized production and drastically dropped the assembly time of the automobile, enabling Ford Motor Company to pump out a fully assembled automobile every 24 seconds by 1927. As a result, employee wages increased, production cost decreased, product quality improved, and industries across the United States, and eventually the world, began to innovate and shape the products that we know and use every day.

Is Less More in PLM?

By Bill Svokos

Is less, more, or is more, more? This is a question that all people have pondered at one point or another. The context of the question varies, and thusly so does the conclusion. Today we want to narrow our focus to how this profound question applies to “product” lifecycle management, and save the discussion on “personal” life management for another day.

Legacy CAD Data Migration to SAP

By Matt Costello

When a business moves into the SAP world, they are simultaneously moving away from a legacy system, whether digital or analog. In addition to moving daily activities and processes into their new and shiny SAP instance, they will also need to move the data. Data migration is usually a large part of a company’s shift into any new system and can quickly become the thing of nightmares if the process is not managed appropriately from the start.

Celebrating National Puppy Day with Dogs in Engineering

By Madeleine Neisler

Happy National Puppy Day! How could anyone not love these impossibly adorable creatures? I know I do; but there is more than meets the eye to man’s best friend. In fact, puppies can be seen in many engineering related topics.

Pi Day: A History of Numbers

by Madeleine Neisler

Happy Pi Day everyone! What is Pi Day? Pi Day celebrates the number pi, approximately 3.14159, or in its shortened form, 3.14, since there are over one trillion digits past its decimal point. Pi Day is celebrated on March 14 as that is 3/14. The earliest known official celebration of Pi Day was in 1988, organized by Larry Shaw, a physicist at the San Francisco Exploratorium. They of course celebrated with actual pies, which has become a traditional for many Pi Day fans. Check out this great feature on Mental Floss for some awesome Pi Day pies.

CIDEON Academy: Educating SAP Users One Video at a Time

At the beginning of 2017, CIDEON America launched “CIDEON Academy”, a series of short, educational videos on engineering and enterprise product development topics, on our Youtube channel. Now we are into our third month, which means we have already posted three episodes. First, our Senior SAP PLM Consultant – Travis Stonebraker gave a short introduction about CIDEON Academy and who we are. Our primary goal is to help companies overcome challenges in product development processes from design, manufacturing, and downstream – all within SAP.

SOLIDWORKS World 2017

SOLIDWORKS World 2017 was a great opportunity for the community to meet friends, colleagues, and other SOLIDWORKS enthusiasts face to face, build relationships, and learn new things. During the event, we at CIDEON met so many people innovating and creating from all over the world.

Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day

Happy Girl Day! What is Girl Day? Girl Day is also known as Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day and it is celebrated in 2017 on February 23rd. This day is so important because of how vital it is to get girls involved in careers in the engineering field. There has been a huge surge of career openings for engineers in the last decade due to the ever growing developments and advancements in technology. By “introducing” a girl to engineering, you help further her interest and see what is possible should she continue to pursue engineering.

Neutral File Automation: Load Balancing for CIDEON Conversion Engine

Companies today have a need to distribute project and product related data in a neutral/exchange format. To accomplish this, native files such as Word, Power Point, CAD, and the like must be converted to a neutral/exchange format. No matter if the end format is PDF, TIF, JT, etc the CIDEON Conversion Engine (CCE) accomplishes this goal as an automatic, background process.

American Heart Association Advancements in Med Science and Engineering

As you may already know, February is American Heart Month. American Heart Month began in 1964 when President Lyndon B. Johnson declared the first American Heart Month due to an increasingly high number of deaths and illnesses related to cardiovascular incidents as President Johnson was a heart attack survivor himself.  Since then, February has been dedicated to cardiovascular health and awareness each year.