Cambridge, U.K.—July 11, 2014—Granta Design announced the release of the GRANTA MI:Product Intelligence Package, a new suite of software and data that help engineering enterprises to optimize products while minimizing environmental, regulatory and supply chain risks. MI:Product Intelligence provides fast, easy-to-use tools that draw on comprehensive, authoritative materials and environmental data in order to provide interactive, integrated feedback on this full range of risks within the computer-aided design (CAD) environment or, alternatively, via a new web browser application. This risk assessment focuses design efforts and supports compliance reporting, while avoiding the need for time-consuming data research—for example, in gathering information from suppliers.
The MI:Product Intelligence Package runs on the GRANTA MI platform, a system for materials information management. MaterialUniverse, one of many data modules available within GRANTA MI, provides property profiles for a full range of engineering materials and associated processes; thousands of records cover metals, plastics, composites and more. This is augmented with regularly updated data on restricted substances and the regulations that impact them (such as the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical Substances or REACH regulation), and on materials supply risks (e.g., due to obsolescence, price volatility or use of conflict minerals). MI:Product Intelligence tools enable users to search and browse this unique data resource, apply it to parts within the CAD model or bill of materials (BoM) that represents their product, and then run reporting calculations that apply the data to predict environmental impacts, and flag potential regulatory or supply problems.
Innovations that enabled this release include:
- A new integrated dashboard providing a single view of product performance against risk factors, including restricted substance content, lifecycle energy usage and CO2 footprint, and supply chain risks.
- MI:Materials Gateway 2.0, the second-generation integration technology, enabling materials applications to be embedded within CAD systems (Autodesk Inventor, CATIA, NX, Creo and Pro/ENGINEER). CAD users can apply the new product intelligence tools to help optimize designs.
- MI:BoM Analyzer, a new easy-to-use web browser application that enables users to import and edit existing bills of materials, build new BoMs from scratch, assign materials and processes within those BoMs, and run reporting calculations. Design teams can use this application to test design concepts pre-CAD. Product stewardship teams can use it for fast analysis of in-production or legacy BoMs, enabling them to identify and report on risks in their product portfolio.
In addition to providing product intelligence, MI:BoM Analyzer is the first software tool developed using a new web client framework capability in the GRANTA MI platform. This allows the rapid development of quality, task-focused, yet fast and easy-to-install applications that take advantage of both the full GRANTA MI infrastructure and the latest best practice in user interface design. Granta can apply this technology to quickly add new capabilities to the GRANTA MI toolset in response to specific customer needs.
According to Dr. Patrick Coulter, chief operating officer of Granta Design, MI:Product Intelligence “helps our customers to apply the material intelligence developed through GRANTA MI to deliver better, greener, safer products. And, through our new BoM Analyzer, it demonstrated an enhanced capability to rapidly develop a new generation of GRANTA MI tools.”
