Cad, Cam ... COM

There's some new tools for connectivity and commerce in the world of computer-aided design and manufacturing for packaging.

"WHAT'S NEW IN CAD/CAM?" I recently asked this question to Don Skenderian, the man in charge of the most widely used packaging CAD program in the universe. Expecting a more technically oriented, CAD-specific response, I was surprised to get an answer right out of our telecommuted, Internet-age lexicon. He said: "Connectivity."

Skenderian—and every other product development director I interviewed for this article—believes that the most important work going on in computer-assisted design and diemaking is collecting, collating, and communicating CAD data to other processes in the packaging arena. It's about digitizing diemaking, and closing an electronic loop around every last seam, tuck, and fold. And it's about extending and exploiting that loop for another big c-word: Commerce. CAD/CAM system developers are making the down-and-dirty construction work of packaging both sexy and sellable.

Mike Malcom, president and CEO of Atlanta-based Genline Systems Inc., is one of those developers. Genline, a division of Southeastern Die Co. until Malcom purchased it in 1991, sells productivity tools for packaging engineering and diemaking. According to Malcom, a recent audit of his business showed the company was making 30 percent of its revenues each from die shops, folding carton converters, and corrugated converters. The remaining ten percent come from rapidly expanding new segments like CPCs. "We've started selling into companies that want to use our products to increase their sales," he explains. "They're using our Impact software to show their customers 'dancing boxes.'"

Malcom says Impact CAD has a module to create animations that can be played in PowerPoint presentations. A typical animation might make a package go through a folding routine, have the product inserted into the package, close the package, and then present a simulated view through the front window of the package. "Then we can show how the package will actually look in the store. On the fly, we can take a digital picture of a Walmart aisle and put the package on the shelf next to a competitive product to see how it's going to stand out."

Productivity links

Genline is also focused on electronically linking the package designer, customer service representative, and sample maker. They do it by interfacing CAD programs to business software like HRMS, Amtech, and Advanced Software. In many cases, the interface is so automated that non-custom orders entered on the business system can be sent to the Genline system and processed entirely—from generating a factory spec card to producing a physical, labeled sample—without any operator intervention.

Today's CAD programs also send data in the other direction. For example, information on original designs can be sent to the business system for estimating, and data from Impact's Sample Assistant module can be used to create reports on the number of samples that were produced in a month and what percentage of the samples turned into orders. The company has also developed software to automatically generate rubber ejection strip patterns and nest the pattern pieces in preparation for cutting on new Waterjet machines. According to Malcom, Genline's latest R&D efforts have them working in close cooperation with Concord Business Systems to develop CAD/CAM productivity tools and business system interfaces specifically tailored to flexible packaging markets.

Kandu Software, a homegrown developer in Warm Springs, Va., is also helping to facilitate the exchange of CAD/CAM data. For the past 15 years, the company has been successfully selling software that allows different CAD systems to "talk" to each other by translating popular CAD file formats like DDES2, CFF2, DWG, DXF, etc.

Cadmover, Kandu's flagship product—which sells for less than $350—even allows non-CAD users to work with CAD data. For example, let's say a graphics design studio creates a pressure sensitive label for a new gourmet vinegar. The label outline follows the intricate shape of a cascade of raspberries. Cadmover can translate the Illustrator file into a CAD file that can be used by a job shop to create the die. Believing that big packages should come in small things, the company has developed a smoothing tool that converts Illustrator's bothersome splines and vector line segments into CAD arcs at a compression rate of up to 8:1. According to users like Andrew Lyon of T J Finishing, this functionality can cut the time die shops typically spend repairing Illustrator files from several hours down to several minutes.

Smart designs

In 1996, the SIRMA Group, a Bulgarian-Canadian artificial intelligence lab, initiated a research project to create a new, resizable-design CAD system. In 1998, after 80 man-years of development work, the SIRMA spin-off EngView Systems released its first version of EV Package Designer & Diemaker software. In 1999, EngView was awarded the prestigious European Information Technology Prize. Today, the Montreal-based company sells its software on four continents.

Breaking into the relatively small packaging CAD market—which EngView CEO Yavor Djonev estimates to be no more than $7 million per year, but admits no one really knows the exact size—has to be a challenge for any startup. EngView stays competitive by keeping the fire under its R&D efforts. Near the end of last year, the company released EV Synergy, a program for creating customized design libraries.

"[The industry standard] FEFCO and ECMA libraries are generally available from all CAD software vendors," says Djonev, "But we don't think these libraries are sufficient. Customized libraries are not very popular because they are very difficult to create, and it takes a great deal of time." According to Djonev, Synergy removes these barriers by allowing users to assemble a design by simply dragging and dropping parametric components. The user can pull the components from a supplied database, or create new ones as needed.

To keep costs down, Synergy is designed to work seamlessly as a compliment to most CAD systems—similar to the way PhotoShop and Illustrator work together. The designer opens a resizable package design from Synergy, enters the required parameter values to automatically resize it, then exports it in CFF2, DDES, DXF, or EPS format and continues the design process within his CAD system.

You have to see it to sell it

Another commerce-boosting CAD development is the ability to distribute design libraries via the Internet. Programs like Esko-Graphics' WebCenter allow online users to quickly browse thumbnails or locate a specific package in the library through a range of hierarchical characteristics, from size and structural attributes, to functionality, to common name designations.

The designs can be viewed as dimensional drawings or as assembled 3D models. When a design is selected, it can be easily downloaded to a local desktop, along with text details, in a variety of electronic formats. The system features a number of high security controls that can restrict or limit a user's access and download capabilities.

Companies like Smurfit-Stone are using WebCenter to improve the design sales process, said Scott MacFarlane, vice president and general manager of Smurfit-Stone's Consumer Packaging Division. "Together, a Smurfit-Stone representative and customer can do everything from redesigning a package's flaps to customizing an opening feature in a single sitting. The system dramatically shortens speed-to-market times."