Cisco Consumer Business Group

Business Group calls the connected life , a life that 9s more personal, more social, and more visual than ever.<br><br> Constant network connectivity is a cornerstone, and the focus is on the content 3 music, video, photo, and Internet content coursing through the home. As these devices further infiltrate the home, they become more central to our lives, moving from the ccomputer room d to the living room. Like a stainless steel refrigerator, electronics must be aesthetically pleasing with sleeker, less boxy lines while increasing connectivity, reliability, and intuitive operation.<br><br> Thus, making functional objects both simple and beautiful is the challenge Cisco engineers face every day. P a r t n e r C a s e s t u d y C0sc5 C54s;3,r B;s04,ss Gr5;p CiSCo SeTS neW ConSumeR eleCTRoniCS DeSiGn STAnDARD WiTh SuPPoRT fRom DASSAulT SySTèmeS SoliDWoRkS CoRP. AnD Z CoRPoRATion 3D TeChnoloGieS Ch 2ll 5 cg 5: uphol 4i cg ! f 2 4i!io c 2l 4 5 ig c ! 2 c 4 2 f 4 i c !h 5 f 2 !-g fowi cg co c "m 5 f 5l 5c! fo cic wo fl 4 Since design excellence is paramount for the Consumer Business Group, it has established design centers in Europe (Copenhagen, Denmark) and in North America (Irvine, Calif.).<br><br> Drawing on the Danish influence of Scandinavian design, the company emphasizes functionality, minimalism, and affordability without com- prising design aesthetics. Executing on these principles requires design tools that are as intuitive as pencil, paper, hammer, and chisel but harness the power of today 9s powerful computers. For Cisco, that 9s SolidWorks ® 3D CAD software.<br><br> cWe love using SolidWorks, d says Sandro Klein, Senior Manager, Industrial Design, for the Cisco Consumer Business Group, based in the United States. cIt has a robust, user-friendly interface and enhanced surfacing features. We no longer have to turn to other software for complex surfaces.<br><br> SolidWorks handles it elegantly and is becoming a top choice for industrial designers. d Another key design principle, which also happens to be a Scandinavian ideal, is that the designer must hold a prototype of his or her creation in their hands, sense the proportions, heed what the object has to tell them, and ensure that the form ultimately follows the function. The designer may then modify the design, create another prototype, and examine the new design just like the first. The problem is that traditional handcrafted prototypes are time-consuming and expensive to create.<br><br> Most automated rapid prototyping technologies are just as costly, and the prototypes must be outsourced, adding time and inconvenience to the process. And though many designers rely on screen images alone, they are simply insufficient to create the quality the Consumer Business Group demands. The challenge, then, is upholding the highest aesthetic standards while meeting deadlines in the highly competitive consumer electronics business, where time to market is critical.<br><br> s! f 2! 5g%: I cv 5 !i cg i c 3d p fi c!i cg ! 5ch colog% f fom Z Co fpo f 2!io c Cisco 9s solution was to invest in an office-friendly 3D printer from Z Corporation that would enable designers to create their own physical prototypes. This technol- ogy helps Cisco quickly and inexpensively create the physical models it needs, creating tangible objects from SolidWorks 3D data much as a 2D printer creates documents from word-processing text. The Consumer Business Group can apply its exacting design standards in a manner that keeps the development cycle hum- ming, helping products get to market on schedule.<br><br> ZPrinting pumps out prototypes in hours instead of weeks and for one-fifth the cost. cProportions and ergonomics are paramount, yet too many designers rely on computer screens alone as their design medium, d says Eskild Hansen, head of Cisco 9s European Design Centre in Denmark. cFor our strategic design approach, we depend on physical prototypes and the ZPrinter ® 450 for each design review, both locally and globally in concert with our design partners in the UnitedStates.<br><br> ZPrinting is an easy and effective way to conduct a productive global design review. d Consumer electronics devices create a 8connected life. 9 8It 9s inspiring to see what can be done with something the world has always received as a basic black box. 9 es102d ha4s,4 h,ad 5- C0sc5 9s e;r5p,a4 D,s0g4 C,4tr, 04 D,43ar1 r 5 "l! : Lo! of mo 4 5l fo f p fo 4"c!iv 5 4 5 ig c f 5vi 5w The Consumer Business Group uses the ZPrinter 450 to create 10 models per week, on average, for design review.<br><br> Models are printed directly from SolidWorks files submitted by designers around the world. Designers, executives, and marketers in the team 9s North American office fre- quently join Hansen 9s team in Denmark in design reviews using the Cisco TelePresence teleconferencing solution on 50-inch plasma screens. As many as 14 colleagues at a time review the models, as well as 3D PDFs, interactive eDraw- ings, and photorealistic renderings, all created in SolidWorks.<br><br> Since TelePresence displays meeting counterparts at their actual size, not miniature versions, it 9s truly as though everyone were in the same room. cThe global design reviews around the SolidWorks artifacts and 3D printed models are important and fruitful, d says Klein. cWe leverage each other 9s strengths, as well as those of the JDM (joint development manufacturing) engineers in Taiwan.<br><br> Our goal is to define a global brand identity for Cisco that is synonymous with superior design, and galvanize our position as a leader in this market. d cDenmark is our window to Europe, much as we are their window into America, d adds his colleague, Senior Industrial Designer Eran Weinberg. Designers pass around the ZPrinted models, mark them up with pencil, revise designs in SolidWorks software, print out new models, and repeat the cycle as necessary. The hands-on step is an absolute must, according to Hansen.<br><br> cWe get prototypes quickly, we refine them quickly, we create new ones, and we derive our elite designs, d he says. Z Corporation is the only company that makes a 3D printer capable of simultane- ously printing in multiple colors. Color dramatically communicates the proposed look, feel and style of engineering product designs, architectural concepts, land- scapes, entertainment figures, and medical information.<br><br> Hansen selected Z Corporation 9s technology because of his confidence in the brand owing to his experience using it in other settings. The printer works seamlessly with SolidWorks software. cWe can easily save our SolidWorks 3D models as STL files for quick 3D printing on the Z Corporation 3D printer or any rapid prototyping device, d says Klein.<br><br> cWe do a lot of sketches and a lot of 3D concept prototypes, d says Weinberg. cIt 9s critical to get the design on the screen with SolidWorks and then off the screen in three tangible dimensions as a 3D printed model. d cIt 9s inspiring to see what can be done with something the world has always received as a basic black box, d says Hansen. cDesigns like these don 9t just emerge from a com- puter screen.<br><br> Because design is such an important element of our strategy, 3D design and printing capabilities are extremely valuable tools in our development cycle. d For more information&. www.cisco.com www.solidworks.com www.zcorp.com S520dW5r1s 0s a r,g0st,r,d trad,3ar1 5- Dassa;2t S?stC3,s S520dW5r1s C5rp5rat054 5r 0ts s;bs0d0ar0,s 04 t/, uS a4d/5r 5t/,r c5; 4tr0,s. A22 5t/,r c53pa4?<br><br> a4d pr5d;ct 4a3,s ar, trad,3ar1s 5r r,g0st,r,d trad,3ar1s 5- t/,0r r,sp,ct0v, 5w4,rs. ©2009 Dassa;2t S?stC3,s S520dW5r1s C5rp. A22 r0g/ts r,s,rv,d mkCiSCSenG0809 As many as 14 colleagues at a time can review ZPrinted models in global design conferences.<br><br> C0sc5 C54s;3,r B;s04,ss Gr5;p - e;r5p,a4 D,s0g4 C,4t,r S25ts3ar1,4 10 2970 h5rs/523 fr,d,r01sb5rg D,43ar1 www.cisco.com Dassa;2t S?stC3,s S520dW5r1s C5rp. 300 Ba1,r Av,4;, C54c5rd, mA 01742 uSA P/54,: 1 800 693 9000 o;ts0d, t/, uS: +1 978 371 5011 e3a02: 04-5@s520dw5r1s.c53 www.s520dw5r1s.c53

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