Designcenter NX | How to | Moving from drawing-based engineering to model-based definition

Designcenter NX™ software allows you to quickly and easily add product manufacturing information (PMI) to a CAD model for use in a model-based definition (MBD).

MBD enables a complete digital definition of a product, powering downstream manufacturing and product lifecycle management (PLM) processes with a single 3D model instead of multiple separate 2D technical drawings.

Moving from traditional drawing-based engineering to an MBD approach has a range of benefits, but how do you get started with MBD in Designcenter NX? Watch the video or keep reading below to find out.

Why model-based definition?

With MBD, the 3D CAD model becomes the single source of truth for product design, manufacturing, assembly, inspection, and other downstream activities. MBD data contains all the necessary PMI for these processes, such as dimensions, tolerances, surface finishes, annotations and material specifications.

It removes the need to create additional 2D drawings for your product as well as a 3D model, saving your team time and effort. Keeping all the PMI in one single source of truth also reduces the risk of mistakes and miscommunication, particularly as designs change during the product development phase and for products with multiple design variants.

MBD also helps you automate your manufacturing and inspection processes. The PMI data is directly consumable by CAM and CMM systems so you don’t need to manually interpret 2D drawings and input the data again.

How to convert drawings to PMI in Designcenter NX

If you already have traditional technical drawings associated with an NX Part file, Designcenter NX can automatically convert the contents into PMI with the Convert To PMI command. You can convert as much or as little as you want – choose all drawings, only specified sheets, only specified views, or only individually selected dimensions.

Open the MBD Navigator to see your new PMI in a variety of views. DesigncenterNX creates standard views such as back, front, bottom and isometric by default and you can add extra user-defined views as well.

Publishing a Technical Data Package with Designcenter NX

The next step to communicate your PMI with is to create a Technical Data Package which you can send to suppliers or customers. This package will include all your PMI as well as the 3D CAD model in an easy-to-use format accessible for non-Designcenter users. The Publish Technical Data Package command gives you the option of either 3D PDF or JT+PDF file formats.

Designcenter NX will follow your selected template when it publishes the data – customize your own templates to embed additional information or include different views.

The 3D PDF format is much more powerful than a traditional PDF. With 3D PDF, you can:

• Manipulate the 3D view to see the model from different angles
• Highlight selected dimensions and geometry features
• Quickly browse a carousel of different views instead of scrolling through multiple sheets of drawings

It’s like being able to use a Designcenter viewport to analyze a model, without needing Designcenter software!

More about PMI and MBD in Designcenter NX

This demonstration provides a introduction to using PMI and starting an MBD approach in Designcenter NX. But there’s much more to learn and plenty more resources to help you on your MBD journey.

As a next step, check out our PMI Tips & Tricks for some handy hints about automation and managing manufacturing tolerances.