Motovated > News > Newsletter December 2007

Hello everyone,

Well Christmas is just around the corner, and so is 2008. In this issue we have some feedback on the Society of Manufacturing Engineers forum, some entertaining photos of hillbilly engineering, what's up with SolidWorks and Solid Edge, some mention of Motovated Events as well as our office hours over the holidays. Thanks very much to our clients for another successful year, and we look forward to more of the same next year!

Greg Morehouse
General Manager
Engineering Analyst

Society of Manufacturing Engineers Forum

Septembers' SME Event was an open forum on the Advantages, Disadvantages and Challenges from Offloading Manufacturing Offshore, especially China. Greg organised a panel from industry who had been there, done that, and who where glad to share their experiences. On the panel were some high flyers from Australasian industry, including:

Rodney Bolton Managing Director Arbitek Ltd	Peter Knotts Senior Design Engineer Scott Technologies Ltd
Mike Jacobs Manufacturing Manager D&D Technologies Pty Ltd	Tony Versluis Manufacturing Engineer T. L. Jones Ltd

After each panellist there was an opportunity for questions and floor discussion. Because of the broad range of services requested and offered by the panellists their experiences were varied, but some consistent themes came through. Feel free to contact Greg or any of the panellists if you or your firm are considering exporting some of your manufacturing overseas... And SME membership has some huge benefits including factory tours and forums like these. Please contact Greg or Peter Knotts if you have any questions about the New Zealand chapter of the SME.

http://chapters.sme.org/415/homepage.htm

Do-it-yourself holiday madness...

Here's an example of how NOT to build your own tow bar for a large caravan... I wouldn't want to be behind this guy on the road!  (Courtesy of Robin Parr of Victor Hydraulics)

He's hooked up and ready to fly!! It's amazing how the extra weight really smoothed out the ride in the truck. He did have to air up the rear tires a bit (to around 160 psi)

	He added some heavy-duty chain for extra support on the tailgate (note that he used the "Heavy-Duty 'S' hooks to attach the chain). He also paid-up for some BIG 5/16 sheet metal screws to attach the frame to the tailgate. Yeah, he knows it's overkill, but he didn't want the possibility of having an accident.
	Much of his time was spent on his front porch whittling down that MASSIVE 4x4 board to fit precisely into the ball mount receiver. Also note that he used a 14" piece of 1x4 to help distribute the load more evenly--"YOU CAN"T BE TOO SAFE, YOU KNOW!! It cost a little more, but you just can't be too safe when pulling a trailer of this magnitude !!"

Safe holiday travelling everyone!

Presenting as a COSMOS Expert at SolidWorks World 2007 User Forum

Motovated was invited to present "COSMOS Bundle Options and When to Use Them", which included Case Studies performed by Motovated for clients with various bundle functionalities. This was presented in a "Meet the Experts" forum during this years Solid Works World 2007 User Conference in Melbourne on the 10th of September. Greg presented following Varda Rajagopalan's presentation on "COSMOSWorks Design Verification Trends & the Development of COSMOS".

Heaps was learned by all, and the introduction of New Quick View / Selective Open assembly functionality, DimXpert, TolAnalyst, DFMXpress, MotionManager, DriveWorksXpress and COSMOSFLOWorksXpress into SW 2008 were the highlights for Greg.

Greg also got the opportunity to present the "COSMOS 2008 Updates" at InterCAD's SW2008 "What's New" seminar held in Christchurch. Please feel free to contact Ben at Intercad (ben.poulter@intercad.co.nz) for more information.

Solid Edge V20 Update Training

Mark Fort, from Edge Software, recently visited New Zealand to offer an Australian perspective on the newly released SE V20. Highlights included Auto Constrain for the importing of generic assemblies, the Group functions in assembly and parts, the Zones capability in Assembly and our favourite, goal seeking in complex sketches. Please contact Alan or Andrew of CADConsult (alan@cadconsult.co.nz or andrew@cadconsult.co.nz) for more information.

Motovated (try to) Go Sailing...

Typical, the day we want to set sail, it's a howling southerly! That didn't put off the team at Motovated though. Although the sailing was off the team wrapped up warm and Skipper Charlie Hulbert took us for a for a cruise on the MV Angitu around Lyttelton harbour settling in (the very sheltered) Purau bay for a spot of fishing and a barbeque. A wonderful way to wind down before the Christmas break. If you are interested in cruising or sailing in Lyttelton follow the links below, tell them Motovated sent you!

The Motovated team enjoying the open seas

Merry Christmas from the team at Motovated!

Instead of sending our clients a Christmas card this year, we have decided to donate the money that would have gone into the mailing effort to the New Zealand Family and Foster Care Federation. On a personal note, Greg and Sandi have been involved in fostering young children and understand the difficulties, dedication and joy that it brings both the children and the families involved. For more information about the charity, click on the link to the right. We would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and safe holiday season.

Summer work for students:

Motovated usually takes on a student over the summer months, so if you have any projects requiring some offload capability or someone working in-house over the summer please give us a call.

Office hours over Christmas and the New Year

Motovated will be officially closed from:

Friday 21st December 2007 through to Monday 7th January 2008

We hope you are enjoying the rundown to the new year. We have really enjoyed all the projects we have worked on with you, and look forward to what 2008 will bring. Enjoy your holidays!

Greg and the team at Motovated,