HP Announces HP PE/ME10 7.0 with New Dimension Advisor Capabilities

PALO ALTO, Calif., May 15, 1995 -- Hewlett-Packard Company today announced Version 7.0 of its market-leading HP PE/ME10 2-D design, drafting and documentation software for mechanical-design engineers. Version 7.0 introduces Dimension Advisor capabilities, a new set of functionality that further optimizes the product-design process by significantly reducing the time for annotating a technical drawing.

"2-D CAD buyers increasingly are looking for software that meets precise, well-defined needs," said Uli Mahle, 2-D CAD business manager of HP's Mechanical Design Division. "They want to optimize their core product-design processes so that they can improve time to market. HP PE/ME10 combines exceptional ease of use with a strong focus on mechanical product design; it also incorporates advisory components that make intelligent contributions toward reducing process time.

"The introduction of Dimension Advisor capabilities in HP PE/ME10 7.0 further substantiates ME10's status as a high-value CAD tool for optimizing mechanical product design. These capabilities are more comprehensive than the dimensioning capabilities of any competitive product."

Minimizing Dimensioning Time

Applying annotation data can be one of the most time-consuming aspects of developing a technical drawing. Typically, it accounts for 40 percent of the overall time needed to create such a drawing. With HP PE(ME10 7.0, this time can be shortened -- regardless of whether the drawing was created as a 2-D technical drawing within HP PE(ME10 or derived as a 2-D, layout from a 3-D model in HP's solid-modeling system, HP PE/SolidDesigner.

"HP PE/ME10 7.0's Dimension Advisor capabilities represent the most innovative and complete approach to date for minimizing dimensioning time during the design process," said Mahle. "Internal tests have shown the time it takes to apply annotation data to a drawing can be reduced by one-quarter, an average time savings of 10 percent in the overall development of a technical drawing. Depending on the customer's individual processes, even higher time savings are possible."

Dimension Advisor Capabilities

The Dimension Advisor capabilities of HP PE/ME10 7.0 comprise four principal aspects:

• Automatic dimensioning
  Dimensions automatically can be created and placed with a single keystroke. User control for dimension placement can be applied (rubberbanding feedback). Potential interference of dimensions with other objects is recognized and appropriate islands are created automatically in the dimension pattern.
  
  
• Preconfigured dimension styles
  For compliance with national and international drafting standards (ISO, DIN, JIS, ANSI), preset dimension styles are provided. Dimension styles are defined in ASCII format and can be edited individually.
  
  
• Dimension-style database
  In addition to using preconfigured dimension styles, the user also can define and store any individual dimension style to comply, for example, with company specifications. A dimension preview window assists during style definition. Once dimensions have been applied to a design according to any preset or newly defined standard, they can be converted to any other style. This can be important for international corporations and worldwide subcontracting relationships.
  
  
• Feature-based dimensioning
  Frequently used geometric features (for example, shaft end, screw, bolt, threadhole) can be stored together with the most appropriate dimension patterns. Once stored, topological matches of design geometry with stored features can be recognized, allowing the appropriate dimension pattern to be selected with a single mouse click.

HP PE/ME10 7.0

HP PE/ME10 7.0 is fully compatible with HP's Precision Engineering CAD software family, including HP PE/SolidDesigner and HP/PE WorkManager. It is fully supported on UNIX(R) system-based platforms from HP, Sun Microsystems and Silicon Graphics, and on IBM-compatible PCs running Windows 3.x and Windows NT.

U.S. Prices and Delivery

HP PE/ME10 7.0 is expected to ship by midsummer '95, with workstation versions starting at $5,600 and a Windows version starting at $3,600.

Mechanical Design Division

HP's Mechanical Design Division develops 2-D and 3-D mechanical computer-aided design software, the Precision Engineering Systems, known for quality, ease of use, customization capability and support of industry standards. These products are installed on more than 55,000 systems in design, engineering and manufacturing organizations worldwide and are localized in 10 languages. The software includes HP PE'SolidDesigner for product-modeling design; HP PE'ME10 for 2-D design, drafting and documentation; HP PE'ME30 for 3-D modeling, design and drafting; HP PE'SheetAdvisor for sheet-metal design; HP PE'DDS-C for electromechanical design; and HP'PE WorkManger for product-data and workflow management.

HP is the second-largest computer supplier in the United States, with computer-related revenue of $19.6 billion in its 1994 fiscal year.

Hewlett-Packard Company is a leading global manufacturer of computing, communications and measurement products and services recognized for excellence in quality and support. HP has 98,200 employees and had revenue of $25 billion in its 1994 fiscal year.

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