PTC CREO's Design Exploration Extensions allow essentially complete security and unlimited freedom to investigate design alternatives.

Have you ever longed for unlimited freedom to explore design ideas? Have you copied multiple versions into a series of folders and hoped to find your way back to a good idea when your design ran into a dead-end?

PTC created a tool for CREO engineers that allows investigating ideas and alternatives safely. PTC vice-president Brian Thompson says that it allows CREO users to create a design-space as deep and as wide as they like. Investigate as many design options as you like and review them with team members before deciding on an alternative. 

Some benefits the extension allows you to:

• Explore design changes without risking the original jumping-off point and without committing to any change.
• Develop ideas and alternatives in parallel and compare results side-by-side.
• Avoid manually copying, saving, and restoring design files.
• Review design options with peers before committing to a design.
• Easily switch between design options.
• Protect your work from potential problems from external top-down design updates.

When you begin a Design Exploration (DEX) session, CREO sets the first checkpoint. You can return to any and every checkpoint in your design space. As you develop ideas and have another "keeper", you set a checkpoint. From that point or from any other checkpoint, you can continue to develop design alternatives. 

Because CREO uses incremental design information from each checkpoint, it is a very light-weight tool. There is no need to save the entire design file at each checkpoint in your exploration session. 

And it gets better still. When you or the team make a final decision and move on, you do not need to lose the design exploration session. The entire contents of the DEX session can be packaged up and saved. You can always return to the session later and review why the team chose one option over another. 

DEX works equally well with any of the core CREO modeling tools, CREO Parametric, Freestyle, etc.  For a rapid, complete introduction, check out the video below from our partner, CADplace.

 See the new features of PTC CREO 3.0 presented by Brian Thompson. Skip to 24:57 to learn about the CREO Design Exploration Extensions.

The PW Perspective

Design is not a straight-line path to the goal. Developing the "best" design necessitates trial and error. The "best" design may consist of multiple alternatives. PTC CREO with the Design Exploration Extensions is a tool that makes that process simple and secure.