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High-Powered Processing: Choosing the Right Workstations for Manufacturing

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The automotive manufacturing industry has seen some incredible advances over the past few decades, driven in part by the advent of computer-aided design (CAD) software. While CAD was originally limited to basic geometric structures and model configuration, modern CAD software facilitates every aspect of automotive product design, from drafting to engineering to delivery.

CAD software, like SolidWorks and AutoCAD, and 3D modeling have revolutionized automotive. However, powerful computing solutions for design and manufacturing require high-powered workstations that can handle resource-intensive displays.

Computing power may not seem like a big concern in a technological era, but the COVID-19 pandemic permanently shifted global workforces into new paradigms. Today, businesses of all types are learning to function in a digital-first landscape.

Hybrid Work is the New Norm

With the shift to remote and hybrid work environments, companies must provide employees with the tools and technology needed to maintain productivity while working from any location. For businesses in the automotive sector, this means equipping engineers and designers with workstations that can handle intense workloads.

The types of workflows required in automotive manufacturing can be demanding. Laptops and mobile devices used for CAD and product design must have the CPU and GPU processing power to accelerate complex graphical displays, manage big datasets, and achieve stable, reliable performance across tasks.

A typical consumer-grade laptop can’t handle engineering and design tasks. That’s , HP created dedicated product lines of workstations that provide professionals with the computing power they need to stay productive—even when they’re out of the office, traveling to a work site, or working remotely. These tools enable seamless connections to a primary computing hub for any number of remote workstations and provide the perfect solution to remote automotive design work.

The Benefits of HP’s Z Workstations for Manufacturing

Any automotive manufacturer trying to manage a remote workforce must have the right tools to make effortless mobile work possible.

Essential features in CAD software, like simulation integration, strain the capabilities of the average workstation. As designs grow and become more complex, CAD programs can crash CPUs and corrupt valuable data. This is why OEMs must find high-performance workstations and tools that provide reliable, secure processes.

At Novastar, we’re proud to offer HP’s premier line of workstations, optimized for the agility and creativity that manufacturing requires. In fact, many Zbooks outperform typical desktops due to their advanced performance, software interoperability, and built-in security.

Z Series Workstation Family: ZBook 17 G3, ZBook 15 G3, Z240 SFF, Z240 Tower, Z440 Z23n Display, Z1 G2 Touch AiO, Z32x DreamColor Display, Z640, Z840, ZBook Studio 15, ZBook 15u G3 Touch.

The line includes workstations suited to any professional’s needs:

  • ZBook Firefly G8: Quality performance meets maximum mobility
  • ZBook Power G8: Upgraded performance for light rendering & simulation
  • ZBook Studio G8: Powerful performance for heavy 3D workflows
  • ZBook Fury G8: Top-of-the-line performance suited to intensive 3D workflows and rendering

From data analysis to real-time rendering to 3D visualization, Z Workstations are ideal for rugged manufacturing design and production workflows. They’re built on decades of innovation from HP and hundreds of thousands of hours of testing to ensure that each workstation offers powerful performance across visualizations, ray tracing, and real-time data analysis.

Graphic Representation

Z by HP features high-end graphics that allow users to render and animate in real-time with NVIDIA RTX™ professional, NVIDIA GeForce RTC™ or AMD Radeon™ Pro graphics. The processors provide detail, speed, and application-specific features to enable complex design modeling, dataset management, and visual effects.

Processing Power

Each workstation boasts high-frequency performance with the latest generation Intel® Zeon® and Intel® Core™, including K-Series and vPro® processors that effortlessly run demanding applications like Adobe Premier Pro, SOLIDWORKS, and Autodesk. No matter the application, Z by HP offers an easy way for operators to run continuous manufacturing and design processes.

Internal Memory

These tools allow users to run their largest applications simultaneously and save time with up to 128GB RAM on Z laptops and up to 1.5TB of RAM on Z desktops.

Additionally, Z Workstations can coordinate and connect with HP ZCentral Remote Boost collaboration software. These allow users to access Z Workstation power through any remote endpoint or workstation in the field.

Novastar’s Solutions for Automotive Design Efficiency

HP solutions provide manufacturing teams with the tools they need to deliver building information modeling, 3D modeling, and CAD projects quickly and reliably. Of course, hardware and software selection are only the first step in a strong asset management program. Manufacturers may need additional support to deploy and maintain new hardware over each device’s lifecycle, a time-intensive process that nevertheless plays a significant role in hardware ROI over time.

Novastar provides comprehensive support across HP hardware selection, acquisition, IT asset management, and asset tracking. Our team will help you select the perfect HP Workstation for your business needs, and also help uninstall old equipment, refurbish old parts, redeploy new solutions, and ensure every workstation is configured correctly. All of this creates an efficient, reliable system where disparate teams of employees can maximize their productivity. 

While it’s essential to select the right hardware, our partnership-based approach to IT is what drives long-term success. Automotive manufacturers will get the maximum ROI by working with a partner who understands the need for expertise in product design, software management, and engineering at every level of automotive development.

Contact us for expert guidance on HP Workstations.

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3D PRINT WORKFLOW DEMO DAY TUE SEPT 27

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Register for Demonstrations and Consultations for every step of the HP 3D Printing Process–from concept to ready-to-use parts and assemblies.

Tuesday, September 27, 2022 | 10:00am – 2:00pm
12901 Newburgh Rd. Livonia, MI 48150

Lunch will be provided.

Register Now

Event Highlights

Multiple vendors will be on site displaying technologies that support and enhance HP MJF 3D Printing and parts finishing for manufacturing.

Scan to CAD to Print by Forerunner 3D

The FARO laser ScanArm captures extreme measurement detail on complicated parts, providing the most precise 3D imaging and realization technologies for manufacturing.

Plastic Welding by Extol

Plastic staking is quick and inexpensive, eliminates fasteners, and can join dissimilar materials. This welding method uses a molded stud to mechanically retain a mating component.

Forerunner 3D

Cerakote is a polymer-ceramic composite coating that can be applied to 3D printed parts in a huge variety of colors and gloss levels. Cerakote boasts impressive chemical, thermal, and scratch resistance properties.

Materialise HP Bundle

The HP Materialise alliance optimizes the 3D printing workflow for HP Multi Jet Fusion Technology. Fix errors, hollow parts, perform advanced cuts and automatically add connector pins, check part dimensions and much more.

NovaTumble & NovaBlast by Novastar

NovaTumble and NovaBlast is an automated post-processing depowdering solution. Works on difficult geometries, thru-holes, and blind holes. Reduces labor 60 – 90%.

Join us and see for yourself how HP Jet Fusion 3D Print is transforming manufacturing.

Register Now
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Four Ways CAD/CAE is Advancing Wind Energy

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Despite the recent fall in oil prices, fulfilling long-term energy needs will likely still require developing alternate sources. The wind energy industry is one that continues to grow and holds significant promise. According to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), there are now over 53,000 turbines in the US, more than double the number from 2009. AWEA also says that over that same period of time, 41% of the new energy generating capacity in the US has come from wind power with over $140 billion invested in the last 10 years.

In 2016, The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) reported that wind power drives 486.8 gigawatts of energy across the global market which comprises more than 90 countries. The US Department of Energy estimates that 20% of US electricity could come from the existing wind industry infrastructure.

Clearly, wind power is here to stay, and the challenge is on to make it more efficient and cost effective. CAD (computer-aided design) and CAE (computer-aided engineering) are playing a big part in making that happen. Here are four areas where CAD design is helping to advance wind energy.

1. Improving Offshore Wind Energy with CAD & CAE

To get the most benefit, turbines need to be located where wind is most plentiful. In most cases, that happens to be in the ocean where the majority of wind farms are now being built. Harsh ocean conditions contain multiple challenges, many of which can be addressed in the design phase using CAD/CAE.

Securing turbine platforms to the ocean floor and building them to withstand the effects of tides, waves, currents and high winds can pose particular difficulties. Using advanced CAD/CAE software allows engineers to work out many of these problems before construction even begins. This streamlines the overall time line of the project and ensures the long-term viability of these structures even before the first equipment is sent out to the platform.

2. Maximizing Efficiency with Innovative CAD Design

First generation turbines featured standard blade designs as part of every installation. Thanks to CAD, turbines today are being designed to operate more efficiently. Innovative designs enable wind towers to reactively adjust to catch wind at appropriate angles to maximize power and to compensate for sudden shifts in wind patters. Integrating these improvements increases effectiveness and lowers overall costs – two crucial elements in moving the technology forward.

3. Combining Design and Simulation with CAD/CAE

As the technology develops, turbine designs need to be constantly improved to maximize utilization. With CAD, designers are now able to not only review various manufacturing configurations, but they are also able to simulate the results of their designs. This type of testing early in the process uncovers potential design errors, accelerates the project schedule, and reduces overall costs.

4. Improving Wind Energy Data Management

Big data is pervading every aspect of business and the wind energy industry is no exception. Today’s turbines are capable of collecting minute data, but parsing that into actionable information can sometimes be difficult. Integrating CAD and Product Data Management (PDM) software is helping to overcome this challenge. Incorporating the massive amount of data coming from large wind farms can be invaluable when making decisions about future design revisions.

CAD/CAE design will continue to have a major impact on the wind energy technology industry and will go a long way toward meeting the economic and engineering challenges of this rapidly growing manufacturing sector.

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How Tesla GPUs are Revolutionizing CAD Use

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Like organizations in most other industries, companies that rely on CAD technology face increasing pressure to reduce lead times, cut costs, and improve productivity. Balancing those needs while still maintaining a high level of quality is challenging. Advances in CAD processor technology, however, are proving to be a way for firms to meet that challenge.

Workstations built with traditional CPU technology gave way to stations employing GPU processing resulting in a significant uptick in performance. However, an even bigger boost in processing power has come with the use of high end Physics processing cards – more commonly known as Tesla cards for the brand name of the leader in the industry. The use of Tesla cards for visualization and simulation has dramatically changed the mid and high end workstation spaces and is revolutionizing the cluster space. These cards eliminate some of the lineal gains you get from faster processors and make these workstations capable of producing far more analysis than previously possible. With lower prices and better drivers, these powerful tools are more accessible to CAD operators in companies of all sizes.

CPU vs. GPU vs. Tesla Card

Conventional CPU processing – a series of discrete actions performed sequentially one after the other – was limited and slow. To increase processing speeds, you had to purchase a new computer with a faster processor. The use of GPU cards – short for Graphics Processing Unit – to perform large-scale parallel problems allows certain tasks to be accomplished orders of magnitude faster. In a GPU workstation, resource intensive portions of an application that can be evaluated in parallel are handled by the GPU, leaving the CPU dedicated to run the user end of the application. The result is fast, reliable rendering presented the way CAD users require. Upgrading a GPU is straightforward, performed every few years by swapping out a PCI card on a workstation.

As effective as a GPU is, it pales next to the new generation of Tesla card processor technology. Tesla cards are designed to support specialized graphics engines that deliver the rasterizers and shaders required by professional CAD applications. They have taken the traditional GPU processor and added a supplementary chipset that specializes in the kind of high-end mathematics commonly used in the simulation CAD/CAM design employing finite element analysis.

These high powered cards can rapidly handle advanced simulations such as higher calculus, non-destructive impact testing, linear analysis of a spline bending and flexing, simulating what a part would look like as it bends, and what structural properties it has at various bend points. Performing this with a typical GPU is limited as their primary purpose is to display graphics. Tesla cards are solely dedicated to performing parallel problems rapidly, as they are optimized for calculations only.

Tesla Card Advantages

As an example, there could be a simulation that would take an hour to complete. With a Tesla card, it could be performed much more rapidly on the order of a few minutes. Increased processing speeds provide engineers with several advantages. They are better able to meet deadlines that improve end user services levels. In organizations that share workstations among several users, faster processing means stations will be more available, improving efficiency. Productivity is also improved with the added throughput.

The added memory of Tesla cards are better able to handle the larger scale problems engineers face. This increased computing power enables more rapid analysis. Running Tesla cards allows engineers to test and compare multiple design concepts before going to prototype at a much more rapid speed than typical GPUs. Users can also draw on larger data sets to develop more alternatives and more detailed solutions.

The growing adoption of Tesla cards promises to have a dramatic impact on the CAD world as users find more ways to leverage the advanced technology.

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Integrating LCA and CAD for Sustainable Product Design

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The concept of sustainability and being environmentally friendly continues to be a focus in the manufacturing industry. It is now commonly accepted that designing products with sustainability in mind is good for the environment, consumers, brands, and business.

While many businesses are striving to be environmentally friendly as a show of corporate responsibility, growing government regulation may make it required. The European Union has made certain product design decisions mandatory, and it will not be long before other countries follow suit. Accounting for these requirements and the negative environmental impact of products can be cumbersome and costly. It is more effective to build sustainability into the product design to prevent negative outcomes when they are already on the market.

To meet this demand, it is imperative that sustainability is built into the product design from the beginning. One way to implement this is through the use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) principles. LCA takes into account the entire life of a product into account, such as material selection, manufacturing processes, product use, energy consumption, transportation, and end of life issues. Reviewing product design at this level, LCA assists designers in assessing product development. Ultimately, this helps them make environmentally friendly decisions.

LCA Challenges
Despite being a powerful enabler in environmentally friendly design, integrating CAD/CAE with LCA presents challenges. The most serious challenge is the fact that there is a significant difference between the two. CAD/CAE is an iterative process, while LCA is an evaluation technique.

Product specifications and other factors continually evolve during the design phase; evaluating this moving target can be difficult. Therefore, LCA review is not as effective in the early stages of design. It is most effective as the design nears its final iteration. LCA is most beneficial when comparing options at a specific decision point. This is a key factor in achieving sustainability.

Integrating LCA Principles
Sustainable Brands is a learning, collaboration, and commerce community of over 348,000 sustainable business leaders from around the world. They list six requirements for integrating LCA principles into product design:

  • Initiate design with eco-design principles
  • Recognize iterative process of design
  • Allow designers to easily access and aggregate data about the impact of materials
  • Provide sufficient accuracy to make LCA information useful
  • Store collective design knowledge and make it universally available
  • Incorporate costs associated with alternate designs

Integrating LCA into the basic CAD/CAE design process is not easy, but striving to do so is critical if we hope to reduce the environmental footprint of products that are being created.

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