To the end of the idea

Donjon of Matsue castle in Japan (1611) Presentation (NEC Robotics

Engineering LTD)
at the TopSolid user seminar
in Japan (Yokohama 2001)

Neuschwanstein Castle Judel/Vrolijk & Co in Bremerhaven,

in Bavaria (1880) design of race yachts
with TopSolid

La Silla observatory in Chile (1966) Design and manufacturing of food

packaging with TopSolid by
Wenco (Santiago de Chile)
 TopSolid:
extraordinary
integration
CAD / CAM solutions
THE INCREASE OF PRODUCTIVITY IS VITAL
need to support indus- Ineed
n order to be competitive in
today's international market, you
to draft, design and manufac-
ture products quickly-without making
any compromises in terms of quality.
try-specific tasks and
Manufacturers must be familiar with a
variety of CAD and CAM programs as
well as ERP systems because their use is
enhance functional inte- frequently required in the complex
processes of manufacturing. However,
the potential for development in this field
gration within an enter- is by no means exploited.
prise (management,
The reasons for this are obvious:
• There are very few single-source soft-
ware solutions that can be used effec-
tively to meet all design, production
and company-specific production con-
trol requirements at the same time.
• When product data is transferred
between various software structures,
the external structure of an object may
be transferred correctly, however,
essential information is lost, e.g.
design history, features, tolerance val-
ues, bills of material, general technical
data, etc. This data needs to be re-
entered several times until the product
is complete.

AN OVERALL SOLUTION: MANAGEMENT INTEGRATION

design, manufacturing).
T echnical data (bills of material, calcu-
lation notes, order of manufacturing,
etc.) are equally important as geometry
and part assembly data. They need to be
easily and safely transferred between
different departments (sales, design,
production planning, manufacturing,
etc.).
• Shared database access (CAD / CAM,
PDM, ERP)
• Uniform user interface
• Industry-specific functions (plastic,
sheet metal, metal, tool and mold
making, calculation, manufacturing, 3
etc.)
• Libraries with standard components.

TopSolid, TopSolid/PDM and Direct advantages:

Draft, design, industrialize, manufac-
ture, manage: In the face of lack of com-
patibility of the solutions used, this puzzle is
highly complicated to put together.
TopManufacturing offer an integrated • Trouble-free data exchange between
solution for design, management sales, design and production
and manufacturing. • Productivity enhancements.
Ease of implementation, simple objec-
tives of application as well as industry-
specific adaptation assure a rapid ROI.

TopSolid provides a homogeneous and
integrated family of solutions to ensure
compatibility of all numerical data throughout
the entire process.
AN OVERALL SOLUTION:
INDUSTRY-SPECIFIC INTEGRATION
T opSolid is a powerful CAD / CAM solu-
tion for modelling and simulation
(geometry, assemblies, structural calcu-
• For each industry, TopSolid provides all
necessary functions, components,
and techniques.
lation, dynamics, etc.). These horizon- • TopSolid is the most powerful solution
tal functions, however, are only a on the market for developing enter-
means to meet industry-specific prise standards that can (almost)
requirements: general mechanical automatically be updated and generat-
design, plastics processing, casting, ed by simply changing a table of val-
screw-cutting, mold-making, sheet- ues.
metal processing, cutting, wood
processing, etc.
 TopSolid:
real pleasure
in design Vintage machine (Grégoire company). Developed by Central Pack design in
Nantes, France.

T opSolid integrates and uses native state-of-the-art informa-

tion technology, thus respecting ergonomic stan-
dards and ensuring maximum power for mod-
elling and drawing functions. Kinematics, structural
calculation, sheet metal processing and mechanical
components form an integral part of the software
4 and improve efficiency in the design process.
Artema payment terminal of Thalès:
"Industry Janus 2002" for Richard Besson
(Thalès), Jean Pierre Cuvilly (design) and Jean
Louis Carriou (mechanical design).

HIGHLY INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY

• Windows native: multi-document
interface, copy / paste functions, OLE
link creation, icons and context
menus, etc.
• Parasolid-native: current CAD mod-
elling standard.
• Multi-application integration:
Various applications for specific design
areas are made available as documents in
a single environment.
• Parametrics: TopSolid provides
unique parametric functions for view-
ing parts or assemblies with different
geometric properties or functional
requirements.
• Macro programming language,
TopADS software environment:
LIP, Visual Basic and the TopADS envi-
ronment enable individual functions to
be programmed in TopSolid on several
levels.

• Associativity: All documents are • Solver: TopSolid easily solves over-or

associative. A design change in a doc- underconstrained sketches, kinematics
ument automatically leads to corre- and dynamics.
sponding changes in the drawings and
calculation tables.

TOTAL FREEDOM IN MODELLING AND DESIGN

T opSolid has no limits in terms of mod-
elling and creates the most complex
surface and solid models. Using the
• Powerful functions for surface mod-
design tree and the model-
ling features, parts or
assemblies can be modified
very easily.
• All geometry types:
wireframe, surface, and a
variety of solid models
elling: ruled surfaces, sweep surfaces,
dome surfaces, filled surfaces, con-
stant and variable rounds, surface
trimming and extension, joining of dif-
ferent surfaces using the repair func-
tion, etc. All surfaces are designed
using boundary curves. A model can
be edited quickly by varying the limit-
ing curves and can be analyzed pre-
cisely by displaying all curves in colour.

• Design features: constant and variable

chamfers, drafts on surfaces and curves,
Design, development and realization of tools for holes, pockets, bosses, grooves, notches,
mufflers with surface processing and adaptation profiles, etc.
(Barczycki from Homburg, Germany).
DRAFTING AND PRE-DIMENSIONING
AS EASY AS CHILD'S PLAY
E ach design, especially when a
lot of creativity is involved,
begins with rough lines and
Kinematic
analyses:
and dynamic

links of all types (pivots, guide

shapes that have to be dimen-
sioned in advance taking into
account all loads.
TopSolid provides many tools
that are very useful for this
purpose:
rails, ball joints, etc.), kinematics
for wireframe or solid models,
monitoring of collisions, forces,
torques, important trajectories,
etc.
Structural analyses:
TopSolid/Castor is a module inte-
grated in TopSolid that enables
structural analyses using finite
elements. Thanks to the associa-
tivity between geometry and
dimensions, design changes are
updated immediately. The loads
resulting from the dynamics are
retrieved.
TopSolid/Castor enables the analysis of beam and shell elements
using finite elements for a pressure vessel.
• Volume, shell and beam ele-
ments
• Inclusion of non-manifold
geometry for easier calculation
• Load cases resulting from
dynamics
• Developed in cooperation with
CETIM, technical center for the
French mechanical engineering
industry.

Kinematic inversion of joint coordinates of a

robot along a slope surface.

ASSEMBLIES WITH THOUSANDS OF PARTS

A mechanical assembly consisting of
several thousand parts is very dif-
ferent from a sub-assembly consisting
• In-situ design: This method is
of less than a dozen parts. In the
same way, a plastic part behaves dif-
ferently from a sheet-metal part.
• Parametric design: For a design
TopSolid offers a suitable solution for
every project as well as for all process-
es and materials involved.
• Team design: Designing large
assemblies inevitably involves team-
work. Multiple groups work sepa-
rately on sub-projects and subse-
quently merge their assemblies to
form a virtual model.
ideal for creating drafts or for pro-
cessing sub-assemblies and enables
a number of parts to be created in
the same file.
that is clearly split up into different
part families and variants (cylinders,
pumps, etc.) it can be advantageous
to use a design mode controlled by
numeric or geometric parameters.
These parameters can be kept in
catalogs.
• Free design: Free design is appro-
priate when parameterization and
associativity of objects in the parts
are not yet known. Thus, the parts
can be freely moved in the design
space. This method is recommend-
ed when the design requires several
analyses and if no empirical values
are available.
• 2D design: The TopDraft module is
a 2D design tool offered by 5
TopSolid. It is ideal for performing
simple design work.

Automated machine for conducting

medical tests consisting of more than
10,000 parts. Design and realization by JLC
from Roissy en Brie (France) for i2a in
Montpellier (France).
 TopSolid:
real pleasure
in design

CAD TOOL FOR SHEET-METAL PROCESSING

A sheet-metal part consists of several adjacent surfaces with

different overlaps that are shaped and folded in different
thicknesses. TopSolid provides numerous functions
taking into account these characteristics, thus enabling
highly accurate unfolding of sheet-metal parts.
6
• Functions for adding sheet-metal • Miter cuts for welded steel parts
parts or holes on surfaces • Folding of unfolded parts in order to
• Basic set of deformation tools which redesign the 3D model
can be customized (slots, weld • Individual bending parameters for each
points, dimples, etc.) bend
• Various bend types • Customizable settings for bending
• Intelligent sheet-metal • For sketched parts:
components: punched rivet number of bend-
nuts ing edges for
unfolding
opera-
tions can
be freely
adjusted

Crepe stand designed and realized by Bourgeat (Les Cement mixer designed and realized by Guy Noël
Abrets, France) using TopSolid/Fold. (Ambérieux en Buget, France).

ABUNDANCE OF STANDARD COMPONENTS

80 % of a design involves the
reuse of standards available
commercially or within the enter-
• Integrated management of projects
and bills of material (TopSolid/PDM)
• Components and assembly procedures
prise. TopSolid proposes major are recognized by manufacturing mod-
enhancements: ules
• A rich library of standard mechanical
components
• Structuring by part families and indi-
vidual variants with standard catalogs
and/or company-specific catalogs
• Appropriate assembly procedures:
screws and associated holes, springs
and slots, sections and miter cuts, etc.
• Multiple representation options for sim-
plifying the models
• Wizards for dimensioning and selecting
components
Automated assembly with multiple components and stan-
dard parts realized by Process Industrie in Saint Lupicin
(France).
PROTOTYPING
O nce the preliminary design phase is completed, a prototype is built, and
the project must be presented to the marketing department for
approval.
Visualization: materials, tex- Rapid prototyping: rapid pro-
tures, lights, shadows, ray tracing totyping in STL format (stere-
and BMP, TIF, JPEG, GIF, VRML olithography, laser sintering, etc.)
and AVI output.
Direct prototype machining:
with TopSolid/Cam
Communities furniture OLERON for company
SMFrance, concept and design by Jean Pierre
Cuvilly (Vendières, France).

High-quality ring by Bouissière (Mazamet,

France).

Motorbike conceptual design

by Mr. Jupille (Auxonne, France).

DRAWING CREATION
P recise assembly drafts or pre-
liminary drawings containing
complete and exact information
and illustration are an important
means of communication.

All parts and assemblies are

transferred associatively to a
drawing, taking into account indi-
vidual views in different scales
and important dimensions for
controlling the design.
7
• Automatic creation of standard
views
• Control of drawing and model
size
• Scaled display
• Cuts, sections, broken views,
detailed views, etc. with scales
• Standard dimensions and tool-
dependent dimensions (tables,
special views, etc.)
• Tolerancing wizards
• Management of standard text
fields, formats, title blocks, and Drawings form an essential part of a quality design. With TopSolid drawing creation becomes a real pleasure. General mechan-
indexed BOM tables ical drawing (3CET in Ulis, France).

• Creation of BOMs and exploded

views linked directly to 3D (or
2D) models

DATA TRANSFER
T o ensure rapid implementation,
numeric data and design plans
must be passed on quickly and easily,
particularly over the Internet.
• Standard interfaces: IGES, DXF,
DWG, STEP, STL, Parasolid, VDA,
CATIA, etc.
• Support of different international
standards (AFNOR, DIN, ISO, ANSI,
• Free viewer for exchanging parts,
assemblies and kinematic elements
• www.topsolid.com
JIS, etc.)
• Multilingual installation
• Model transfer via the Internet
 Technical data man-
agement is essential
for developing
machines.
Sevop engineering office
in Vendôme, France:
printing machine for
chimneys.

TopSolid:
technical data
management with TopSolid
P roduct development is not an easy task. However, effi-
Design, manufacture,

management: perfectly cient data management from creating the first

draft until the manufacture of the product can save enterpris-
coherent with es a lot of money. If data management occurs independently
TopSolid/PDM and from the development and industrialization process, precious
time and productivity are lost. TopSolid offers a highly
8 TopManufacturing practical and completely integrated data
management function-TopSolid/PDM. This program is
also part of the TopManufacturing ERP solution.

PROFOUND INTEGRATION
T echnical product data is mostly
defined by the design department.
They must be able to retrieve and use all
components and materials available in
the database and comply with exactly
defined processes. This is a routine task
for CAD designers.

Without a close link between assembling

the parts and the databases containing
enterprise-specific materials and compo-
nents, technical data management has
no potential at all. For this reason,
TopSolid contains a native and highly
powerful PDM solution.

With TopSolid/PDM, technical project data can easily be visualized and transferred to any com-
puter.

USER-FRIENDLY AND POWERFUL

D ata management can be an ungrate-
ful task, requiring the user to fill in
numerous fields. Thanks to an ergonom-
•
•
•
Windows style
Native to Oracle or SQL/Server
OLE server and client
ic and intuitive user interface, users now • Drag and deposit projects and informa-
enter all necessary information com- tion
pletely and correctly. Most data is direct- • Viewer and filter for all documents
ly retrieved from the design and thus do • Tree charts
not need to be re-entered manually. • Interactive requests
 TopSolid/PDM
PRECISE PROJECT AND PROCESS CONTROL
W ith TopSolid/PDM
process and project
models can be defined and
developed, taking into account
individual user rights. These
models are either simple so as to
not inhibit design work or highly
complex in order to respond to
CLASSIFICATION, ORGANIZATION, BILLS OF MATERIAL
E ach enterprise needs to classi-
fy and organize its technical
data management. Framework
conditions can be flexibly adapted
to the company. However, all
important data created in the
design department are catego-
rized automatically. In
TopSolid/PDM, all data is directly
retrieved from the CAD database.
Bills of material-linchpin of effi-
COMPLETE TRACEABILITY, QUALITY ASSURANCE, SECURITY,
DATA DISTRIBUTION
S earching for information, iden-
tifying problem causes, distrib-
uting data easily, as well as
securing and updating data-all
these tasks are a must for each
company. In this context,
TopSolid/PDM is of great assis-
tance.
TopManufacturing
PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT
TopSolid/PDM is a module
belonging to the TopSolid CAD
solution. At the same time, it is
part of the TopManufacturing
PDM solution which enables
companies (manufacturers or
suppliers) to manage their sales
and production activities.
precise control requirements.
• Definition of workflow and
release cycles
• Project monitoring (progress,
availability, problems, etc.)
• Distribution list for all docu-
• Definition and assignment of ments linked to the project
users within projects (management of control and
• Creation of links between dif- release rights)
ferent projects (via shared doc-
uments)
cient categorization-are always
precise and coherent.
• BOMs with different views
• Search function for application
cases
• Management of changes, BOM
indices and notes
• Automatic or semi-automatic
impact of modifications
Efficient BOM management is indispensable for successful projects.
• Control of data input and out-
put in secure directories (data-
base, check-in, check-out)
• Tracing and automatic release
control
• Alerts and journal functions
• Standard and industry-specific
requests
• Easy-to-program individual
requests
• Distribution lists and media
(fax, e-mail, etc.) 9
• Commercial management
• Stock management
• Shop management
• Production control
• Costing
• Invoicing
TopManufacturing was developed on the basis of Missler's comprehensive experi-
ence in the area of ERP systems and permits an exceptional integration of
CAD, PDM and ERP.
 Cutting tool realized
with TopSolid by
Pockauer
Werkzeugbau Oertel
GmbH (Dresden,
Germany). It is vital
to design the

TopSolid:
entire tool or parts
of the tool directly
in the model.

up to
product industrialization
D esigns which cannot be manufactured do not make
sense. TopSolid offers powerful and industry-specific
tools for designing products and for producing tools to work
on the part. Enterprises using this digital process chain effi-
ciently both internally and in cooperation with subcontractors
have many advantages over their competitors.
10

TopSolid/Mold
FOR MOLD MAKERS
P owerful CAD functionality for fast and
easy mold design as well as for asso-
ciated drawings and tool paths.
• Parts lists with special classification
• Simulation of tool kinematics with inte-
grated recording of video presenta-
tions
• Retrieving and cleaning all 2D and 3D • Integrated with CAM and electrode
data design
• Powerful surface and volume modeler
for design processes
• Automatic calculation of mold parting
surfaces
• Automatic separation of cores and cav-
ities
• Simple generation of sliders
• Rich library of frames and standard
Mold tool (Perlet in Wissous, France).
components
• Support for the calculation of coolant
circuits
• Drawing and dimensioning especially
for mold makers
Mold tool realized with TopSolid/Mold by Promolde in
Portugal.

TopSolid/Progress
FOR CUTTING-TOOL MAKERS
• Retrieval and analysis of sheet-metal
parts
• Unfolding and taking into account
bend allowances
• Complete associativity of parts and
strip images
Cutting and formation tool for the automo-
tive industry (Ripoche/ARBJ in Lucé,
• Insertion, modification and/or suppres-
France). sion of stations on the strip
• Rich library of frames and standard
components
• Design with open and closed tools
• Calculation of punches and dies with
tolerances and clearances
• Simulation of tool kinematics
• Creation of specialized tool design
drawings
• Integrated with CAM and electrode
design
TopSolid/Cam
MILLING, TURNING, WIRE EDM
D esign can only be effective
when production is clearly
organized and cost-efficient.
TopSolid therefore integrates
software solutions for CAM which
have been developed by Missler
based on many years of experi-
ence. Based on functions for
topology recognition, TopCam
identifies individual shapes and
suggests the most appropriate
method for chip removal. The
software provides numerous
powerful functions which ensure
smooth and rapid production,
including automated raw part
updating during the machining
process, collision monitoring, and
recognition of TopSolid features.
Milling
• Raw part updating during
machining
• Creation and control of multi-
tool processes
• Collision monitoring between
TopSolid/PunchCut
PUNCHING, LASER CUTTING
Thanks to the associativity, part placements are
automatically recalculated when geometry is
changed.
T his software is permanently
integrated with the tool for
unfolding sheet-metal parts, thus
TopSolid/Control
PART GEOMETRY CONTROL
T opControl for computer-
assisted measuring gener-
ates inspection schedules in
offline mode and then transfers
these schedules to measuring
machines.
• High quality ensured (measure-
ment based on the module cre-
ated during design)
• Reduced control times due to a
shorter learning curve
part and environment
• Multi-axis control
• Program control for several
parts
• Simulation of trajectories, tools
and environment
• Tool management both inside
and outside of the magazine
• Connection to default setting
devices
Turning
• Control of raw parts during
machining
• Turning module integrated with
milling module Preparation of 5-axis-machining of a ship's propeller by UIGM (Le
• Control of revolving tools Creusot, France).
• Simultaneous tool display
• Simultaneous modification of
machining processes
• Recognition of company-specif-
ic standard molds
Wire EDM
• 2 and 4 axes
Superfinishing of a form part. TopSolid/Cam generates tool paths
which eliminate the need for final polishing.
taking into account all changes sheet-metal part
performed on the model. All tools • Control of the loading and
are automatically reassigned. unloading of sheet-metal parts
TopSolid/Punch/Cut controls the • Management of part clusters
movement of grippers as well as • Optimization of tools and tool
the repositioning and turning of paths
the parts. Realistic simulation 11
ensures error and loss-free pro- Laser cutting
gramming. • Automated grouping of homo-
geneous parts
Punching and nibbling • Nesting of complex forms
• Support for all punching and • Automatic ray calculation
combination machines • Optimization of material abra-
• Shape recognition sion
• Automatic tool assignment
• Turret control
• Control of combined tools for
punching and laser cutting
• Control of grippers turning the
• Retrieval of design models
• Generation of measuring
schedules based on the model
• Control of measuring sensor
distance
• Associativity of tolerances and
measurements
• Generation of measuring
schedules in DMIS
Offline programming of inspection schedules
• Interface for production man- with TopSolid/Control. The measuring machine is
agement always operational.
 ©2003 Missler Software. All Rights Reserved. Credit photos BG Concept Marketing Communication.
Missler Software
Industry-specific know-how and customer proximity
throughout the world

For more than 20 years, Missler software has been offering industry-specific solutions for

manufacturers and subcontractors of the mechanical manufacturing industry. These com-

plete solutions are distributed in France and worldwide along with high-quality services.

Manufacturers and suppliers as well as other companies of the mechanical manufacturing

industry can now benefit from all advantages of integrated design and manufacturing.

Thanks to its innovative technologies and state-of-the-art computer standards, Missler is

increasingly gaining ground on the CAD / CAM market. More than 8,000 companies world-

wide successfully utilize solutions of the TopSolid product line.

http://www.topsolid.com
Missler Software-7 rue du Bois Sauvage-91055 Evry, France
Tel.: +33 (0)1.60.87.20.20 - Fax: +33 (0)1.60.87.20.30
Email: info@topsolid.com