Take PLM With You - Cinemagraphs

With the convenience of the cloud, you can use Autodesk PLM 360 when you’re on location and outside of the office. Never again let an off-site visit prevent you from doing your job. Keep your projects on track with easy approvals and don’t let your timelines suffer.


Whether you design and manufacture bespoke components (JWA Tooling, Roulunds Braking), create inspiring buildings (David Miller Architects), produce products for the motorsport Industry, (Titan Motorsports), design custom yacht interiors (SMI group), create t-shirts (Maison Twenty) or sunglasses (Marcello Martino), count votes at elections (DRS), supply digital media signage, websites, or mobile apps (Beaver Group) you can now discover how PLM could be right for you. 

Use our Discovery Tool today to see what Autodesk PLM 360 can do for you and your company.Thank you for stopping by and enjoying our cinemagraph series. We hoped that you enjoyed the fun new way to tell the Autodesk PLM 360 story. To stay updated on the latest Autodesk PLM 360 news and updates, subscribe to our social media channels.

Thanks for reading...Mike

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PLM To-Go - Cinemagraphs

Keeping up with our transportation theme, you can use Autodesk PLM 360 on a train, boat or plane. When your data is in the cloud, you can work almost anywhere with easy access to your data stored in your PLM.

From the beaches of Ibiza ! to being stuck at the airport waiting for a connecting flight, you don’t have to miss a beat when you have Autodesk PLM 360.

SMI Group replies on the fact that they can access their PLM data anywhere, anytime and on any device. With their super yachts located miles from the office they don't have to worry about bringing all the data with them, with PLM360 they have access on the move. 

Use our Discovery Tool today to see what Autodesk PLM 360 can do for you and your company.

Don’t forget to come back on Friday for our final cinemagraph. 

Thanks for reading....Mike

Something New With PLM - Cinemagraphs

Since Autodesk PLM 360 is all about doing things differently, we decided to do something new. We decided to develop a series of cinemagraphs as a fun new way to tell the Autodesk product lifecycle management story. 

Cinemagraphs are still photographs where a subtle animation occurs. For this week we have 3 to share with you, I will reveal a new cinemagraph on Wednesday and Friday.

Autodesk PLM 360 is accessible from planes, trains and anywhere there is an Internet connection from any device including mobile phones, tablets to laptops. For example, Beaver Group one of our customers, uses Autodesk PLM 360 to streamline their processes in order to manage design, project management and installation process of their digital menus and signs. Being able to access their PLM while on the move is a big benefit to Beaver Group.

Autodesk PLM 360 is also a perfect fit, not only is it accessible on the move, but it allows them to configure the software to fit with the ever changing demands and requirements from their customers while on site. Beaver group intends to capture and manage the entire design process from the initial sketches done on site at the customer, all the way through the compliance checking once the installation is complete. 

The great thing about cinemagraphs is that they are meant to be shared so feel free to embed on your blog or pass along to your colleagues. 

Follow my blog for the next one on Wednesday

Thanks for reading...Mike

David Miller Architects combines BIM and Autodesk PLM 360

This week I visited David Miller (Director & Principal Architect) and Fiona Clark (Practice Director) from David Miller Architects, based in London and new users of Autodesk PLM360.

Mike: Hi David, Hi Fiona, thanks for meeting me today and sharing your thoughts on the Autodesk PLM 360 experience! Can you tell me about DMA and the company’s background?

Fiona: The practice was set up in 2000 by David shortly after he completed the Media Centre at Lord’s Cricket Ground when he was the Project Architect for this Stirling Prize winning building at Future Systems. The structure was the world’s first monocoque aluminium building and the knowledge that David gained from this experience, along with his work on earlier projects with the Spanish architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava, helped develop his expertise in complex three dimensional problem solving. This has been a major influence on our practice’s approach where we combine 3D skills with new technology to enhance the design of everyday buildings. The office is now a thriving team of fourteen and we are based in the heart of London’s West End which is a great place to be.

David Miller offices in London, UK

Lord’s Media Centre

Mike: Can you tell me a little bit about your products and what you specialise in?

David: At DMA we place equal value on design and delivery excellence and we have a strong track record of producing inspiring designs which has earned us high-profile repeat clients. We work on a range of building types and in the past few years we’ve enjoyed focusing on schools, housing, hotels and mixed-use projects. Having said that, we love applying our grey matter to a fresh challenge! To come up with the best design solution we work through a number of different options with our clients. In recent years we’ve made a big break through in making this whole process more efficient by being early adopters of BIM (Building Information Modelling) technology. This means that we design everything in 3D from the outset and build a virtual prototype of the building in the computer before it starts on site. Using Autodesk’s Revit and their suite of BIM tools, we are able to communicate our ideas much more easily to clients which gives them confidence to make decisions and they can see exactly how their finished building will look. Also by prototyping the building we are able to iron out all the potential problems which means the construction process runs smoothly and avoids costly delays. As a result we’re winning new business with existing and new clients because this approach brings tangible benefits to their projects.

George Eliot School – BIM of a new school in Westminster showing the structure and the architecture with classroom and furniture layouts

Mike: How do you think Autodesk PLM 360 will help you?

Fiona: As a relatively small architectural practice we’ve always believed that having robust systems and procedures has helped us punch above our weight. Essentially this means that our team can really focus on the design aspect of the job which is where we add value, whilst the strong infrastructure means that jobs run smoothly and there are no distractions. We think that Autodesk PLM 360 will fit in perfectly with this approach and really compliment our existing ISO9001 accredited Quality Management System. Also because we already use a lot of Autodesk products we know that they are user friendly and Autodesk PLM 360 is just as intuitive.

Design Team Meeting – reviewing the virtual building to resolve problems

Mike: Sounds great, can you tell me about some of the processes that you are going manage in Autodesk PLM 360?

Fiona: There are two angles that we are really keen to explore. Firstly the technical project development process where it should provide a well structured framework within which we can communicate and store information about the building as it evolves. Building design is a very collaborative process so having a system that allows us to share information easily, but in a structured manner with the other consultants, our client and the contractor is very appealing.  Secondly from a project administration point of view we think there could be some major benefits to us in developing and managing information to do with fee proposals and appointments and generally strengthening these processes. 

Project/Portfolio Management apps

Request for Information (RFI) app showing the workflow map

Elgin Estate – initial proposal to add new roof top extensions and community facilities to a large housing estate in Westminster

Mike: Do you think Autodesk PLM 360 is good for your industry and will it help you and your customers be more productive? 

David: Like most other sectors, it’s a tough trading environment in construction so we are constantly seeking new innovative ways through technology to find efficiencies in what we do and to make us a more competitive part of our customers’ supply chains. Adopting BIM has had this effect and we’ve seen the benefits of that. We think that adopting Autodesk PLM 360 is a natural progression and believe that it will help us to streamline our processes even further and potentially allow us to offer new project management services to our customers as well which will help them be more efficient too.

CityWest Homes Area Service Centre -  model shows the client services locations in the building to help with facilities management. 

Mike: Ok so tell me something random/interesting about DMA!!

Fiona: Not sure how much we should reveal here! Something which we are really excited about right now are Epson’s new see-through glasses (or X Ray Spex as we like to call them!). We work closely with the product design studio Keech Design discussing new product development and they have just given us a pair of the new Moverio glasses to trial. They allow you to enter a virtual world through vision and sound whilst still being able to interact normally in your real environment and we’re sure there must be a way that we can use them to advance how we work. As you can imagine we’re having a lot of fun playing with them and there seem to be plenty of non-work related ideas too – as a team we’re fond of a karaoke evening (yes we really are!) we can definitely see scope for Moverio there!

Great to meet you guys and I'll look forward to catching up with you in the next few months.

Thanks for reading...Mike

JWA Tooling selects Autodesk PLM 360

This week I visited JWA tooling, a company close to my heart, and one of our Autodesk PLM 360 customers. Prior to Autodesk, I spent 20 years working in the manufacturing and construction industries so to visit one of our true UK manufactures and long-time Autodesk Inventor users was great. Talking about apprenticeships, tools, shadow graphs and topless calendars…I could go on for hours! They have been around since 1985 and are a truly innovative company and manufacturing institution. They specialise in design and manufacture of special purpose ECM machines and tooling. Their CNC machines run 7 days a week and as you walk around the shop floor the sounds and smell of coolant let you know you are in a company that designs and manufactures products that really improve the way we do things.

So I caught up with John and Pete Wood, owners of JWA tooling, to find out more and to learn how they’re using Autodesk PLM 360.

John Wood - As quoted by all the staff at JWA, “The Brains” of the organisation!

Pete Wood  -  Will be using Autodesk PLM360 to capture and share all of 'The Brains' knowledge with all of the staff at JWA Tooling.  

Mike: So, morning guys, great pleasure to meet you. We have chewed the fat enough about the old days, so tell me more about JWA Tooling.

Pete: JWA Tooling is a family business established in 1985 from the loft of MD John Wood, and specialises in the manufacture and development of EDM /ECM tooling and machinery and subcontract manufactures for emerging technologies in the alternative energy industry. Historically, we have worked on mission critical aerospace, automotive and military projects.

Capturing the detailed product knowledge in Autodesk PLM 360 will allow new starters and existing staff to innovate faster and work on any of the products that JWA produces

Mike: Tell me a little bit about your products.

John: The nature of our business gives us the opportunity to manufacture a vast array of products which are high in complexity yet small in quantity. They are typically produced by CNC milling, turning and wire EDM (electrical discharge machining) methods and many of the components we produce are used as tooling for producing air film cooling holes on jet engine blades. We also manufacture components for hydrogen fuel cell engines and equipment for producing stress free internal features on a range of advanced diesel fuel system components.

As long-time users of Autodesk Inventor, JWA has the ability to help their customers visualise the design in 3D, with great success. With tools like Autodesk Inventor and Autodesk Inventor Publisher they are exceeding their customers’ expectations.

Mike: Why do you need PLM? 

Using PLM360 via mobile tablet (ipad, android etc) to make sharing the data to the shop floor easy and accessible

John: Knowledge is the most valuable asset in any successful business and due to the alarming rate that manufacturing is declining in this country engineering knowledge is particularly valuable. Each time an engineer retires he/she takes away a lifetime of job knowledge which was previously accessible to everyone. Furthermore, with skill being a scarce commodity we need a way of recording job knowledge and process methods to create a resource to tap into whenever we need it. With Autodesk PLM 360, Autodesk has helped us create that much needed resource.    

Using the quality apps 'Out of the Cloud' powered by Autodesk PLM 360, JWA Tooling is able to keep track of inspection tools and machines.

Using the new product introduction app powered by PLM360, JWA Tooling is able to capture every detail of the design process, from design intent, material selection and assembly processes.

Mike: Can you tell me about your first steps?

Pete: We were lucky enough to get to work with Autodesk to develop an app to capture all of the information we needed to store regarding job knowledge. Once we had that in place we started to think in depth about the work we do and how we achieve certain tasks and as jobs popped up we recorded the methods we used ready for the next guy to pick up in the future.  The great thing about Autodesk PLM 360 is that we’re able pull together existing set up sheets, etc. and throw in additional images, video links to web resources, plus add notes about techniques used with 8500 products or so in our catalogue. For us, PLM is going to be work in progress for some time but it’s totally worth it.

Once of the many CNC machines in action

Mike: So How's it going?

Pete: Really well actually. Like all of the Autodesk products used here, we found PLM 360 really intuitive while creating customised data logs and accessing the info is really easy. Showing people how to use it and access what they need has been easily achievable too.

Mike: Ok. What’s next?

The vision is to give every CNC machine operator direct access to PLM360 on every machine station

Pete: Currently we use a very basic spreadsheet system to keep up to date with calibration records for our inspection kit and we also use a separate system to log job specific inspection procedures. We can clearly see that PLM 360 has some very powerful tools to manage this data for us and prod us when a piece of kit needs calibrating or taking out of circulation, etc. We hope to implement that element of PLM 360 in the coming months. In the long term, we anticipate that we can roll out a device for each user / machine to put the knowledge at everyone’s fingertips. This is something that we have been looking to do for a long time. PLM 360 will enable us to install a centralised database to do this and thus eliminates a maintenance hassle and training on multiple systems. Being cloud-based, PLM 360 removes restrictions in hardware needed and we can access our data from any device that can connect to the web running on any operating system. 

Thanks guys and catch up soon to see how your doing..

Thanks for reading, Mike