Forming Technologies Releases FormingSuite 2018 - Driving Cost/Weight Awareness Upstream

By Niraj M Wanikar, Chief Editor, CNCTimes.com, 2018-01-02 14:28:00

Forming Technologies Inc. (FTI) the industry’s leading developer of solutions for design, simulation, planning and costing of sheet metal components, today announced the worldwide release of FormingSuite 2018. Designed for sheet metal cost estimators, design engineers, tooling designers, and advanced planning engineers in the Automotive, Aerospace, Consumer Product and Electronics industries, FormingSuite 2018 delivers new customer-driven features for costing/estimating parts, developing method plans, and formability simulation.

Customer demand for utilizing FTI expertise in quoting and estimating tooling has resulted in the complete integration of FASTBLANK, FASTFORM Advanced, nesting, ProcessPlanner (method planning software) and Sculptured Die Face. This forms the new premier solution called COSTOPTIMIZER Professional. Further, a new progressive die strip layout and quoting module called ProgDie Process is now available.

FTI’s software technologies, together with FTI’s industry training knowledge, have combined to become FTI’s RSES system. This cost and material utilization management solution brings vision, structure and methodologies to design, engineering, sourcing and advanced manufacturing professionals enabling identification and remedy to contain costs at early maturity stages in the Body in White development process. RSES drives cost awareness and strategies upstream to the earliest stages of new product development, when changes can deliver the biggest impact on material utilization, cost and weight reduction.

FTI’s world-renowned product, ProcessPlanner, creates strategies to “think globally” and “act locally”. ProcessPlanner now has the ability to define and compare costs from multiple different suppliers around the globe with full consideration for regional labor rates, tool construction methods, die standards and materials worldwide, and production capabilities.

Formability analysis capabilities have been enhanced to allow design engineers to assess formability and panel quality risks on their parts to accelerate product design maturity, even while the new vehicle design is still in clay in the Styling Studio. FASTIncremental (utilizing LS-DYNA® solver), has been enhanced to facilitate the simulation of more complex cam forming operations by providing more manual control of positioning and press stroke.

“FTI continues to be a critical player in the automotive market and it is our top priority to help our customers reduce material costs and manage formability risks for stamped components” adds Jessica Zheng, Vice President of Global Sales of Forming Technologies Inc. “FormingSuite 2018 is now easier to use than ever before thanks to a more intelligent and powerful wizard to guide users through the analysis steps, with expanded options within Geometry and Nesting workbenches as requested by the market. “

About Forming Technologies

Forming Technologies Incorporated, a division of Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence, is the world’s leading developer of computer aided engineering software for design and simulation of sheet metal components. Since 1989, FTI has provided OEMs and suppliers in the automotive, aerospace and appliance industries with innovative software and training solutions designed to reduce development time and material costs. FTI has trained over 12,000 engineers in Formability and Die Design and is considered the Best in Class around the world for their industry training programs.

For more information on Forming Technologies, please visit the company website at

www.forming.com.

For more information on Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence, please visit the company website at www.hexagonmi.com.

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