Process Group or Functional Area | Changes |
|---|---|
General Enhancements (across Process Groups) | • aPriori 2019 R2 provides a new approach for managing and updating the Labor Rate data which is used to calculate Labor Costs for all process cost models. This enhancement enables VPE Administrators to update labor rates much more quickly and easily than was possible in previous releases and provides end users more insight into the assumptions which drive labor rates. • Material Cost calculations have been updated for several process groups to account for savings which can be achieved by selling scrap material and/or scrapped parts at a fraction of the original raw material cost. These updates were made to processes in the Bar & Tube Fab, Forging, Sheet Metal, Sheet Metal – Hydroforming, Sheet Metal – Stretch Forming, Sheet Metal – Transfer Die, and Stock Machining and 2 Model Machining process groups. • Tooling cost calculations for many processes were enhanced to determine tool life and the number of tools required to manufacture the specified production volume. Tooling Costs now will include the cost of multiple tools if needed. Process setup options were added to allow users to specify tool material and tool coating material, both of which impact tool life. Also, a wider choice of tool materials and tool coatings were made available in the 2019-10 aPriori RDLs, as well as updated unit costs. |
Bar and Tube Fab/ Extrusions | • A new cost model now is available for estimating the cost of parts made from custom Aluminum extrusion profiles. Licensed separately from the basic Bar & Tube Fab cost model for commodity stock forms. |
Composites | • A new cost model now is available for estimating the cost of composite laminate parts made via Hand Layup, Automated Tape Layup (ATL) and Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) processes. |
Plastic Molding and Assembly Molding | • aPriori 2019 R2 includes several enhancements to the plastic material data available in the aPriori Regional Data Libraries. Several material compositions were added, material property values were updated, and a new methodology for determining Thermal Diffusivity was introduced in order to make it easier for customers to add additional compositions to their own VPEs. |
Assembly | • aPriori 2019 R2 contains a change to how assembly costs are calculated initially. Assembly subcomponents that have not yet been initialized (costed) will display a value of 0 in the Finish Mass field of the Assembly Details tab. Previously, the mass was estimated, assuming the material density of a common steel material, in order to estimate pick-and-place assembling costs for the component. Therefore, assembly pick and place costs no longer will be estimated for assembly components which have not yet been costed. |
Machining | • A new External AxiGroove Broaching operation is available. This operation represents the linear broaching of a rotationally-symmetric pattern of slots, such as the fir-tree or dovetail root joint features commonly found on turbine and compressor disks. • In aPriori 2019 R2, the Machining cost model was re-architected to make the code easier to maintain and configure. This does not affect cost results but should be noted by individuals who plan to configure aspects of the machining cost model. |
Casting | • The Gravity Die Casting routing now accounts for the time and cost for Refractory Coating of mold cores. |
Sheet Metal, Sheet Metal – Transfer Die | • For Progressive Die and Transfer Die processes, press cycle time now is computed using a new machine property Strokes per Minute, which is readily available from press specifications. • A new process setup option is available to indicate that a “cluster punching” technique is used in Progressive Die and Transfer Die processes. With cluster punching, stamping operations are slightly staggered, reducing the required press force and enabling a smaller machine to be used than if stamped simultaneously. |
Surface Treatment | • A new Manual Paint process is available and represents one or more operators manually preparing and painting the part in a paint booth facility. It is included automatically when costing Composite parts, but also is available for manual inclusion in other process group routings. The Manual Paint process is more mechanistic and has more options than the Painting process, which also still is available. |
Other Secondary Process | • Two new non-destructive inspection processes Ultrasonic C-Scan and Ultrasonic A-Scan now are available. Ultrasonic C-Scan is included automatically in Composites routings. |
Usability Enhancements | • aPriori now recognizes and costs thread features modeled using the “Symbolic Thread” feature in the Siemens NX CAD system. • The Validation tab was updated to show the total count of tolerances applied to the part, instead of the number of GCDs with tolerances as in previous releases. • The Design to Cost view for thickness violations was updated so that violations are indicated by highlighting exterior surfaces of the part, making it easier to identify where on the part the violations are occurring. This change was made in the Plastic Molding, Casting – Die and Casting – Sand process groups. |
Regional Data Libraries | • The 2019-10 Regional Data Libraries are available and contain updates to Material Rates, Labor Rates, Overhead Rates, Toolshop Rates, and Currency Exchange Rates for all regions supported by aPriori. |
VPE Management and Configuration | • aPriori 2019 R2 provides a new approach for managing and updating the Labor Rate data which is used to calculate Labor Costs for all process cost models. This enhancement enables VPE Administrators to update labor rates much more quickly and easily than was possible in previous releases and provides end users more insight into the assumptions which drive labor rates. • The Search CSL feature within the Cost Model Workbench was enhanced to allow searches of file names (CSL module names) as well as file contents. • The Search CSL feature now enables users to open a file returned as a search result directly into the CSL Editor. • New configuration options are supported for Process Setup Options and Zero-Or-More routing nodes. • Several new built-in CSL functions were implemented, and several existing functions were updated to be null-safe. |
Administrative Enhancements | • It now is possible to provide more granular levels of administrative access to all the different tools available within the aPriori VPE Toolset (VPE Manager, Cost Model Workbench, Process Group Site Variables, Deployment Data, and BOM Loader) and the aPriori System Admin Toolset. • A new Installer is available for aPriori Professional 2019 R2 which enables various settings to be specified during the installation process and preserved when upgrading to a newer version of aPriori. |
Reporting Enhancements | • Access control rules now apply to Cost Insight (CI) Report If a user is restricted from viewing a scenario in the aPriori Professional and aPriori CI Design applications, the scenario also will not be displayed to that user in CI Report. This access control extension applies both to out-of-the-box reports and the ad-hoc reporting environment. • New Upgrade Comparison and Upgrade Part Comparison reports are available in Cost Insight Report. These reports assist customers in identifying significant changes in manufacturing and cost estimates after upgrading to a new release of aPriori. |
Platform Updates | • New versions of select CAD Systems, Database Servers, and Operating systems are supported. See details at Platform and CAD Support Updates. |