Digital Transformation – LEAP Australia

Digitalisation of product development and the advent of Industry 4.0 is transforming the way engineers and designers create a new generation of smart, connected products – with impacts seen across the entire product lifecycle: from product conception and detailed design through to sourcing and servicing.

LEAP Australia is the leading engineering software solutions provider in Australia and New Zealand, for over 20 years we have assisted thousands of companies with their design and engineering problems.

LEAP’s support team has unrivaled expertise with PTC software, covering Computer Aided Design (CAD)Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)Application Lifecycle Management (ALM)Service Lifecycle Management (SLM), Augmented Reality (AR) and Internet of Things (IoT). Our expertise enables process transformation and delivers closed-loop lifecycle management for smart, connected products and operations across your entire enterprise: from engineering to manufacturing, sales through to service.

Creo 10 Highlights

As a PTC Platinum Partner for almost 20 years, we can confirm that Creo 10 is the best Creo release yet - with brand new composite design and analysis tools and enhancements to design for electrification, MBD, ergonomics design, simulation-driven design, advanced manufacturing and more. Earlier this year, LEAP team took Creo 10 on the...

Creo Composite Design & Manufacturing (CDM) extension

The Creo Composite Design & Manufacturing (CDM) extension provides a fully-integrated Composite Design environment in Creo to design and manufacture parts built using composite layups. This article summarises our recent webinar that provided a detailed look at Creo’s new composite design capabilities and a live demonstration of the extension in action. Read on and watch clips of the recording to learn more.

New Manufacturing Technology on display at Australian Manufacturing Week

The Manufacturing Tech Australia podcast visited LEAP’s stand at this year’s Australian Manufacturing Week to interact with some of the new technologies that were on display. Here is a record of their conversation captured on their podcast with Paul O’Shaughnessy, PTC Business Manager at LEAP Australia (plus some photos and videos from our booth display with Monash Smart Manufacturing Hub and Monash Nova Rover!)

How Codebeamer ALM helps simplify complex product and software engineering at scale

Innovation in modern products is increasingly being defined by software. Learn how product development teams are using Codebeamer Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) to manage their software development processes, helping programmers to collaborate more effectively using unique digital workflows that promote Agile development and ensure regulatory compliance.

Boost Innovation with Creo Simulation

The final installment of the Innovate with Creo series covers the latest in Creo’s simulation capabilities including a demonstration of Creo Simulation Live, which provides instantaneous simulation capabilities to study the structural stresses, fluid dynamics and heat transfer effects for your model inside Creo.

Q&A with Dr. Ben Simpson, NTU – Quantifying the benefits of Augmented Reality in engineering education

A conversation with Dr. Ben Simpson who is running a study to quantify the pedagogical benefits of incorporating AR into the engineering curriculum, starting with a range of year 1 teaching laboratories in mechanical engineering at NTU.

Boost innovation with Creo for Modern Manufacturing

This article recaps a recent LEAP webinar that provides an overview of the powerful manufacturing tools available within Creo and demonstrates them in action – with specific tools related to both additive manufacturing and subtractive manufacturing such as CNC machining.

Behind the scenes look – How we created an AR experience for a Sydney Icon

A How-To guide to creating an impressive Augmented Reality experience on our LEGO Opera House using Vuforia Studio. Our expert team shares what we needed to make this happen, and how we created the digital overlays and user interface and leveraged Vuforia’s superior tracking to help the AR lock on to the physical model.

Boost innovation with Creo Generative Design

In this, the first installment of our Innovate with Creo series, we take a look at the generative design tools within Creo, demonstrate them in action and explain how they can radically improve your designs.

Guest Blog by Monash HPR: Design and construction of high-powered rockets with Creo and Windchill

Joe Zadnik from Monash High Powered Rocketry (HPR) explains how Creo & Windchill have been a pivotal part of the team’s recent product development phases and also discusses their recent success at the 2022 Spaceport America Cup.

Creo 9 Release Highlights

Highlights from LEAP’s Creo 9 launch, including our recent webinar that was held for customers unable to join us at the live events. The webinar recording includes key highlights of new features and enhancements in Creo 9 along with a live demonstration.

An Introduction to Requirements Management with PTC Windchill RV&S

See how PTC Windchill RV&S is used to manage the requirements of multi-disciplinary systems with a modern web interface and client application designed for multiuser collaboration and end-to-end traceability.

Risk and Reliability Management with PTC Windchill

Highlights from LEAP’s recent webinar on Windchill’s Risk & Reliability suite – the industry strandard software for analysing product performance, reliability, and safety data as well as maintaining best practices within a collaborative industry environment.

Understanding Key Differences in PDM vs PLM

Product Data Management (PDM) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) are terms that are sometimes used interchangeably, but there are actually significant differences between them – in reality PDM is too narrow to describe the full breadth of capabilities that a true PLM system offers. LEAP’s recent webinar on this topic is summarised here to clear up any misconceptions about PDM and PLM for manufacturing organisations.

Easy Access to PLM information with ThingWorx Navigate

LEAP recently ran a webinar entitled Easy access to PLM information with ThingWorx Navigate which looked at how engineering teams can extend the capabilities of their PLM system to make important product data available and easily accessible to various stakeholders across the organisation with ThingWorx Navigate. Here we have summarised the webinar and made the recording...

Getting the most out of Creo (Part 2)

Part 2 – How can Creo users increase the value of their CAD models by using more advanced functionality – recordings are here on-demand and cover the use of Augmented Reality for design reviews, creation of high-quality technical illustrations and service documentation, plus generating engaging customer marketing collateral directly from your CAD model.

Cloud-based Solutions to the challenges of Product Data Management

When it comes to collaboration amongst your design team, you have likely experienced how a file-based CAD stand-alone data architecture can severely limit teams from working together efficiently and effectively.  Rapid and clear communication is key within a team that is aiming to design a new product. When working in a file-based CAD system, users...

Getting the most out of Creo (Part 1)

How can Creo users increase the value of their CAD models by using more advanced functionality – Part 1 recordings now available on-demand and covering the best-practice use of Simulation / Design Validation, Mould Design & Analysis, and optimising for Modern Manufacturing techniques.

Reduce Costs by Improving Parts Re-use with Windchill Parts Classification

Throughout the product development process how much time would you estimate is wasted by design teams searching for existing parts? And when one can’t be found, how often is a duplicate part created, and at what cost? Chances are, too much engineering time is being spent on these non-value adding tasks. With parts classification, you...

Why has Onshape become the #1 Fastest-Growing CAD Software in the World?

According to engineering.com, Onshape is now the fastest-growing CAD system in the world, with users topping 2 million and a rapid growth rate of 7x the average of other CAD systems. At the end of a challenging year, we reflect on the factors that have led to this rapid uptake of Onshape across Australia, New Zealand & the world!

Advanced Assembly Design with Creo

Any time a team works with complex assemblies, they risk miscommunications, gaps, and overlap. The result? Errors and rework. That’s why Creo develops powerful capabilities for managing all of your most complex assemblies. Recently Taju Joseph, Application Engineer at LEAP Australia presented a webinar looking at the advanced assembly design capabilities within Creo and how they can help improve the quality of your models. This post provides a summary and includes video clips of the live demonstrations presented in this webinar.

Creo Multibody Design

Every seat of Creo now includes multibody design capabilities which can dramatically simplify part design and improve modelling efficiency. We recently presented a webinar looking at the surprising ways Multibody Design can help you develop higher quality products faster which we have summarised in this article including video clips of the presentation. Read on to learn how you can start working smarter with Creo Multibody Design today.

Kickstarting Factory IoT with ThingWorx Applications

Pressure on manufacturers to maximise production performance has never been higher, yet many companies still face significant challenges in acquiring, managing, sharing and acting upon the production data that will help them to achieve their goals. The adoption of the ThingWorx IoT platform and in particular implementing Thingworx Applications for use cases such as real-time asset monitoring, allows manufacturers to quickly resolve these production data management issues, lowering operating costs and increasing asset efficiency.

Reworking Your Workflow for Better Product Design with Creo Simulation

Creo Simulation tools provide guidance on the thousands of decisions you make throughout the development process, improving quality, reducing time to market, and saving you money. LEAP recently ran a webinar entitled Reworking Your Workflow for Better Product Design with Creo Simulation Live where we looked more closely at how the adoption of simulation early...

Managing the complete MCAD & ECAD BOM in Windchill PLM

Modern products are becoming increasingly smart, complex and connected and often require a multi-disciplined approach to design and engineering. As such a single, accurate and complete BOM structure, along with the associated content that defines the product, is increasingly important for companies to manage this complexity. LEAP recently ran a webinar discussing how Windchill PLM...

Improving Training, Maintenance & Instructions through Augmented Reality

Let's take a closer look at how different tools within the PTC Vuforia suite help you leverage Augmented Reality (AR) in your workplace and rapidly capture your process knowledge today for future use in training, maintenance and instructions. Here we have used highlights from our recent webinar to showcase how different AR tools & apps...

Guest Blog: How RMIT University uses Augmented Reality & Digital Twin technology for NextGen aircraft sustainment

See how researchers at RMIT University are using emerging technologies such as Digital Twin and Augmented Reality (AR), created using Vuforia & ThingWorx, to support NexGen aircraft sustainment – with demonstrations on a full scale PC-9/A aircraft.

LEAP achieves PTC Advanced Partner Status for PLM and AR

Learn more about the PTC Advanced Partner Program (APP) which provides a key point of difference for PTC partners such as LEAP – demonstrating proven competence in particular technologies (such as PLM & AR).

Novel Uses of Augmented Reality (AR) in Aviation / Transport Safety education

Learn how the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) & RMIT University used Augmented Reality to deliver a world-leading Transport Safety Investigation course for remote students during 2020, despite the challenges of COVID-19 disruptions.

Black Lab Design: How Onshape helped our shift to a fully integrated design and manufacturing facility

Learn how Black Lab switched from Solidworks to Onshape, driven by a need for greater flexibility with their CAD system and the challenges of documentation management and working with remote design teams – which have been uniquely satisfied by Onshape’s cloud-based solution.

Exploring Creo 8 – New Features & Enhancements

Explore the raft of new improvements in Creo 8 – designed to help you create better products, faster than ever – from LEAP’s live Creo 8 web launch. We explore the enhancements to usability and productivity in Creo 8, including new tools for model-based definition (MBD) and additive and subtractive manufacturing; plus new simulation and generative design capabilities.

Improving Internal and External Collaboration with Windchill

In the final installment of our 6-part Windchill PLM webinar series, we discuss how Windchill’s core content management capabilities and the ability of organisations to utilise them as a ‘single source of truth’ facilitates collaboration across departments outside of engineering and beyond.

Closed Loop Quality with Windchill

In the 5th installment of our 6-part Windchill PLM webinar series, we discuss the importance of quality management, the implications of problems with quality occurring and how Windchill can be utilised as the foundation for closed loop quality.

How to Manage your BOMs in Windchill

In the 4th installment of our 6-part Windchill PLM webinar series, we explore how BOM management works within Windchill, how to configure various BOMs for both upstream and downstream use and how Windchill can integrate with other enterprise systems to share engineering data with the wider organisation.

Sharing Information Outside of Engineering with ThingWorx Navigate

In the 3rd installment of our 6-part Windchill PLM webinar series, we explore ThingWorx Navigate which allows non-expert PLM users to access Windchill data without having to deal with the complexities of using the fully fledged PLM system.

Windchill for Product Data Management

In the 2nd installment of our 6-part Windchill PLM webinar series, we take a deeper dive into Windchill’s object-based digital data model and how it manages product data and give a live demonstration of Windchill’s core PDM functionality including tracking down in which assemblies a particular part is used, connectivity between Windchill and your CAD system, workflows and tasks and much, much more.

Introduction to Windchill PLM and the Digital Thread

In the 1st part of our 6-part Windchill PLM webinar series, we recap highlights including Digital Transformation and the Digital Thread, PLM for Data and Process Management and How PLM is the backbone of the Digital Thread.

Guest Blog – Monash University: Using AR to improve learning outcomes in Wind Engineering

A guest post by Monash University summarising the outcomes of a Final Year Project combining Ansys CFD simulations with PTC’s Vuforia AR software – with the aim of using CFD simulation results conveyed in Augmented Reality to help improve student comprehension & learning outcomes in Wind Engineering classes.

Learn about Onshape – the complete cloud-native product development platform

Learn more about Onshape and whether it is the right fit for your CAD and product development needs. LEAP recently ran a series of webinars to help showcase how Onshape can be used to empower your team to collaborate more effectively, accelerate time to market, eliminate silos, and provide a product development process that better suits the nature of modern design teams.

Using AR to capture process knowledge & accelerate worker training in a post-COVID world

In the final session of LEAP’s 3-part IoT & AR webinar series, we present the highlights on “Using AR to capture process knowledge & accelerate worker training in a post-COVID world”. 

Guest Blog by Monash Motorsport – Benefits of 3D Rendering with Keyshot during COVID-19

Monash Motorsport talks about how they’ve used Keyshot for 3D Rendering during a challenging period where COVID-19 disrupted their design workflows and stopped all physical access to their workshop & facilities.

Using Augmented Reality for marketing, training & maintenance in a post-COVID world

In this blog we offer the highlights from our 2nd webinar in our 3-part series – this time focused on on “Using Augmented Reality for marketing, training & maintenance in a post-COVID world”.

US Navy chooses Windchill PLM for MBPS Digital Transformation initiative

The U.S. Navy has selected PTC’s Windchill Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) SaaS platform to form the backbone of their digital transformation initiatives. We review their selection criteria and discuss the key reasons why Windchill was selected as their preferred PLM platform, following an extensive evaluation process.

Using IoT for remote monitoring of assets & operations in a post-COVID world

In the 1st part of our 3-part IoT & AR webinar series, we recap the highlights from our recent webinar on Using IoT for remote monitoring of assets & operations in a post-COVID world.

Introduction to Windchill 12

Following the recent release of Windchill 12, LEAP Australia presented the following webinar outlining the latest updates and enhancements to Windchill. In addition to a deeper dive into functionality such as data management, visualisation, BOM management and traceability. Windchill users from both Russell Mineral Equipment and Ellume provided short presentations where each explained how Windchill...

Tips for working from home with PTC Software

In these unprecedented times, many businesses are encouraging workers to work from home to help ‘flatten the curve’ of new cases from the global COVID-19 pandemic.  Indeed, at LEAP Australia the majority of our staff are now working from home, but we are committed to providing our highest levels of customer support and high-quality software demonstrations to our valued customers throughout Australia and New Zealand using online tools.   PTC...

Auckland Hackathon sparks problem-solving with emerging IoT and AR technology

In September the University of Auckland was abuzz with a NZ-first – a hackathon focused on the emerging industrial applications for technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT) and Augmented Reality (AR). The Hackathon was held in collaboration between Callaghan Innovation, LEAP Australia, and the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Engineering and gave six multidisciplinary...

The State of IoT and AR/VR – what have we learnt travelling to recent events across ANZ?

Over the last month the team at LEAP has really clocked up the frequent flyer miles, travelling to a range of events across Australia and New Zealand, including a Hackathon in Auckland, government facilitated technology seminars across Queensland, an IoT conference/exhibition in Sydney and student showcase in Melbourne. September saw the LEAP PTC team head...

LiveWorx 2019: Harnessing New Technology for Industrial Innovation

LEAP had the pleasure of attending PTC’s LiveWorx 2019 held last month in Boston & bringing together over 6,500 attendees to learn about the latest advances in PTC’s Digital Transformation technology. PTC CEO Jim Heppelmann opened proceedings with help from senior representatives of Volvo, Rockwell Automation and Howden, providing high level insights into the digital...

AR on display at 2019 Avalon Airshow and Australian F1 Grand Prix

See examples of augmented reality (AR) helping to engage and educate at these two high profile events. In conjunction with RMIT University, in recent months LEAP has taken the opportunity at the 2019 Avalon Airshow and Australian Formula One Grand Prix to showcase the many benefits of Augmented Reality (AR). Many of our customers, students...

Guest Blog – Monash University – FYP brings together best-in-class technologies to create a functioning Digital Twin

Guest Post by Shikhar Gupta, final-year student in the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering at Monash University, Victoria, Australia. Shikhar was a full-time intern at LEAP Australia over the summer of 2017/18, then completed his Final Year Project using LEAP & PTC software during 2018. The result of Shikhar’s work was presented last...

Guest blog: Student perspective endorses valuable skills gained at RMIT IoT/AR Hackathon

At LEAP, we were very proud to play an important role in mentoring the student teams from RMIT to help them deliver their IoT/AR-based solutions to 10 real-world industry problems across 2 exciting days of the Hackathon.  It was certainly inspiring to us to see their creativity and ingenuity emerge using Vuforia Augmented Reality (AR)...

PTC’s IoT & PLM technology Leading the Pack – awarded “Leader” status across successive independent reports

Here at LEAP Australia, we already know how good the IoT and PLM tools from PTC are - Thingworx and Windchill - after all, we work with them every day! But how do they stack up when reviewed by completely independent third-party researchers such as Gartner, Forrester and ABI Research?   Well we’ve put together...

Industry problems confirmed – Countdown begins for RMIT IoT/AR Hackathon

RMIT University students are eagerly getting ready to tackle the 10 real-world industry problems submitted by companies from a diverse range of industries for the 2018 IoT/AR RMIT Hackathon, starting this Thurs Aug 30th and concluding Sat Sept 1st. RMIT, PTC & LEAP are excited to unleash the power of the leading Industry 4.0 technologies...

LiveWorx18 – Innovation Velocity

Watch the highlights from PTC President and CEO, Jim Heppelmann’s Keynote presentation at LiveWorx 2018 – Innovation Velocity: From A Place To A Pace, including announcements and discussion about strategic partnerships with ANSYS, Microsoft and Rockwell Automation and demonstrations of several exciting new AR based technologies. Jim Heppelmann announces the new partnership between ANSYS and...

Don’t miss LEAP’s session at MaD2018: Manufacturing and Design Conference in New Zealand

MaD2018: A Collaborative Future for NZ Manufacturing and Design (#MaD2018) – May 21- 22, 2018 The Second National Conference for Innovation in Manufacturing and Design Join us in Auckland, NZ, next week for MaD2018 & learn about exciting, new manufacturing and design research and be inspired by examples of positive collaborations between industry and researchers. What…

What is Industry 4.0 and what does it mean for us as engineers?

Initially devised as part of a German government-led strategy to promote digitalisation in manufacturing, the term Industrie 4.0 (aka the fourth industrial revolution) has arisen in recognition of the significant value that can be realised in transforming manufacturing from traditional techniques to a fully connected and digitally managed process, often known as cyber-physical systems. This...

Guest Blog by RMIT: “How to Train the Next Generation Workforce?”

In this guest post, Mark Raphael, Industry Engagement Manager at RMIT University, provides his insights from the AMTIL 2017 National Conference – “Manufacturing’s Future in a Digital Age”. On Tuesday 14 November I took part in a panel session at the AMTIL 2017 National Conference to respond to the question: “How to Train the Next…

Augmented Reality (AR) draws attention at MMS 2017 launch night

[Editorial Note: from June 2018, the AR app referred to in this blog is now known on all app stores as Vuforia View]: Thanks to Monash Motorsport (MMS) for the invitation to their 2017 Launch last week. The team at LEAP is proud to be a long-standing partner of the MMS team, and we were...

How will Augmented Reality (AR) change the way engineers in industry design the next generation of smart, connected products?

Augmented reality (AR) is generating much excitement amongst technology enthusiasts worldwide, but it is also worth considering how AR may disrupt the way companies do business by enabling engineers, technicians and consumers to experience their products in a completely new way. Historically, it has been challenging for manufacturers to develop and deploy AR if they...

Digitalisation Initiative establishes RMIT University as an educational leader in Industry 4.0 skills in Australia

RMIT Students to Gain Real-World Experience with Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Augmented Reality (AR) Technologies You may have already seen this week’s exciting announcement from PTC that RMIT University has expanded their partnership with LEAP Australia and selected the ThingWorx® IoT Platform, Windchill® software, and ThingWorx Studio technology from PTC to establish itself as an educational leader in the teaching...

LiveWorx 17: Physical Digital Convergence – The New Frontier of Innovation

The LiveWorx 17 Technology Conference is underway this week in Boston, USA and it kicked off with a bang as PTC President and CEO, Jim Heppelman, gave the opening keynote presentation in which he outlined and demonstrated PTC’s vision for ‘true’ Product Lifecycle Management in the IoT age. Jim provided a brief history of PTC’s…

National Manufacturing Week & EMEX 2016

LEAP Australia recently exhibited at the largest manufacturing trade shows in Australia and New Zealand; National Manufacturing Week (NMW) in Sydney and the Engineering, Machinery & Electronics Exhibition (EMEX) in Auckland. NMW 2016 Event Video from Omniscope on Vimeo. A live demonstration of PTC’s Internet of Things enabled ‘Digital Twin’ was a big hit on...

PTC LiveWorx 2016

PTC LiveWorx returned to Boston in 2016 and a major focus was the power and potential of the Internet of Things which was showcased through use cases, demonstrations and industry speakers. PTC announced a number of new connected service solutions at the four-day event including the PTC Remote Service which enables service and support technicians...

Introducing the 3DConnexion SpaceMouse Enterprise

3DConnexion recently unveiled the SpaceMouse Enterprise, their latest (and greatest) 3D motion controller offering to date. The SpaceMouse Enterprise boasts a built-in, high-resolution display that presents actual icons from your application, putting your preferred toolbar ribbon at your fingertips! These configurable on-screen buttons automatically update as you change applications or environments so you will always...

Introducing KeyShot 6

KeyShot is the fastest and easiest to use 3D CAD renderer available. With industry leading render speed, Keyshot is several times faster than most native render engines of CAD software and other 3D rendering software on the market. Unlike most other 3D renderers, Keyshot does not have a steep learning curve allowing CAD users to...