Category: IPC

Welcome to our Frequently Asked Questions – if your question doesn’t feature contact us and we are happy to advise.

Autodesk  – Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Inventor cost?

Autodesk Inventor can be a very cost-effective option for many businesses but it will also depend upon whether you are looking for networked licenses and whether you want it as part of the bigger Autodesk Collections Software. Contact Quadra Solutions for more information.

Is AutoCAD only available as subscription?

Autodesk has now moved to a subscription model, done on a yearly or 3 yearly basis. For more information on this contact your local reseller.

How much does AutoCAD cost?

AutoCAD can be a very cost-effective option for many businesses but it will also depend upon whether you are looking for networked licenses and whether you want it as part of the bigger Autodesk Collections Software. Contact Quadra Solutions for more information.

How much does Fusion 360 cost?

Fusion 360 can cost as little as £56 monthly. For more information contact your local Autodesk Reseller.

PCB – Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to Manufacture a PCB?

Pricing is dependent on the number of layers and technology the board will require. make sure when you get a quote it includes all elements of the design and manufacturing process and that re-work, changes are included in the price.

Which PCB file/Program formats can you accept ?

We can accept designs in standard Gerber (RS274-X) format from any program or standard output from the following programs,

• Altium
• Mentor Graphics^®
• Cadence^™
• Zuken^™
• Altium Designer^®
• Allegro^®
• ORCAD^®
• CADSTAR^®
• Visula^®
• PADS^®

What PCB services can you offer?

 We can offer the following services

• Data Preparation
• Library Creation
• Circuit Board Design
• PCB Layout Service
• PCB Assembly and Manufacture
• PCB Reverse Engineering
• Reverse engineering
• High-Speed PCB Design
• Post PCB Layout
• ECAD / MCAD Integration

Training – Frequently Asked Questions

Do you need IPC CID to do IPC CID+?

It required that you have completed IPC CID before embarking on CID+ due to the complexity of knowledge required to complete the CID+

eCADSTAR/ CADSTAR – Frequently Asked Questions

How much does CADSTAR/ eCADSTAR cost?

eCADSTAR ranges in price dependant upon the package and bundles you choose and whether they are individual licenses or networked licenses. Contact Quadra Solutions for more information about pricing.

I came across this piece of research whilst looking for how resilient the manufacturing industry will be during Coronavirus and even though it was written back in 2013, it raises some interesting points. I thought I would summarise them.

Here are some of the interesting takeaways from this research;

• Manufacturing retains a distinctively valuable and important role for the UK in economic, political, cultural, technological and cultural terms.
• A central concern for manufacturing in the UK is its productivity, relative competitiveness and growth potential into the future to 2020-50.

A robust manufacturing sector contributes towards

• Output: Producing gross domestic product (GDP)
• Employment: Creating direct and indirect employment and incomes
• Productivity: Producing value-added and providing the highest potential for productivity growth
• Innovation, research and development: High levels of expenditure on applied research and innovation generating wider diffusion and spill-over effects to the broader economy
• Trade: Generating export earnings from overseas sales and maintaining positive trade balances
• Supply chains: Purchasing goods and services generating direct and indirect multipliers for investment, growth and employment within the wider economy
• Manufacturing-service linkages: Creating demand for high value-added and specialised services such as accountancy, advertising, legal, marketing and research
• Training and skills development: Developing a highly skilled workforce and creating training opportunities for new labour market entrants
• Tax revenue: As a sizeable and productive economic activity producing output and employing people, manufacturing is a substantial contributor to national tax revenue.

Need Support during the Pandemic with working from home or with software? Please contact us.

Manufacturing’s role in Economic Resilience

As a result of its pivotal role as a vibrant sector of economic activity, manufacturing makes the following vital contributions to resilience:

• Recovering lost output, employment and productivity: In the wake of disruptive change, manufacturing can contribute to generating GDP, jobs and value-added as part of regaining previous growth trajectories both directly and indirectly through its wider supply chains for goods and services
• Generating new and replacement employment: Manufacturing can create new kinds of job opportunities in new and growing activities to replace those lost, for example in recession and economic downturn
• Innovating for growth: Periods of disruptive change can stimulate what Joseph Schumpeter called ‘creative destruction’ with manufacturing demonstrating high innovation potential for product and process advances
• Motor of recovery especially in export-led sectors: As UK economic growth has stuttered and fallen into a double-dip recession, the export orientation of manufacturing has meant it has outperformed the national economy in making a positive contribution to economic recovery
• Upgrading the workforce: The role and position of manufacturing in training and skills development is vital in upgrading the existing workforce for example in learning new skills as well as producing portable transferable skills of use in different activities, enhancing the flexibility of the labour market in response to shocks
• Focus of sectoral rebalancing: As part of the UK government’s policy of ‘rebalancing’ the sectoral and spatial structure of the UK economy it aims to grow manufacturing rather than reduce the size and contribution of the services sector, especially financial services. This policy suggests a future role for manufacturing and its contribution to UK resilience.

5 Ways Manufacturing can Contribute towards Economic Resilience

1 ‘Smart’ industrial strategy – proactively creating, shaping and nurturing business activity rather than leaving its development to purely market-led outcomes

2. Ensuring that investment is made into technology

3. Local, collaborative and supportive production networks

4. Manu-services – Where firms combine goods and services into packages.

5. Adaptive capacity – the ability to adapt and change in the face of disruptive change.

To read the full article click here

Remote working | Written by Quadra IT Manager – Steve Taylor

With many people currently remote working from home during the pandemic, many companies are using a VPN to access data stored on company servers and computers etc. But in today’s blog, Quadra’s IT Manager, Steve Taylor, suggests how not backing up your data could really get your “back-up.”

Back it up, Back it up and let me begin!

Backing up your data is always important.

However, during this Pandemic, this process may be overlooked if there is no-one left in your office to change backup devices or if data is being created locally on home computers. Remote working has it’s challenges.

If you haven’t done so already, I recommend discussing backups with your IT department or external IT company. They may be able to assure you that backups will continue to take place in the absence of onsite staff or alternative backup procedures may need to be set up. Either way, it gives you confidence that data can be restored from backup media should it be necessary.

Managing your own Back-ups?

For those without the luxury of a dedicated or outsourced IT team, then you or someone in your company needs to ensure backups continue to happen whilst everyone is working from home. Data stored locally on home computers can be copied to external USB hard drives. Some USB drives are self-encrypting and are ideal for sensitive data. An alternative is cloud storage – examples include Dropbox, Google Drive and Microsoft One-drive.

If you’re unsure whether you need to invest in backup procedures, think of how much your data is worth in terms of money. It may be only a few gigabytes in size but if you lose this data and have no backup, recreating it from scratch could be expensive.

I have rebuilt systems that have failed for various reasons but this would have been impossible without data backups. The companies in question were back to normal in a relatively short period of time. I dread to think what would have happened if their data hadn’t been recoverable. Please stay safe and remember…..

Backup, backup, backup

Contact our support for any queries about backing up your software

Quadra are also able to help you with hardware related queries – contact us for more information

Top tips on working from home for designers and engineers from our Head of Technical Support, Rob Hargreaves, who is currently self-isolating.

Working from Home

As you can imagine, we are receiving a large number of calls relating to working from home, so whilst I have been self-isolating I decided to outline a couple of options and tips below: – hope they are useful!

Remote Control

Remote control your workstation from your home PC using the free Chrome Remote Desktop tool. Follow the link below for instructions. Please note that with this option the graphics may lag a little and you won’t be able to use your Spacemouse but your machine will behave just as it does in the office (because it’s still in the office).

VPN

By configuring your workstation to connect to a secure VPN or Virtual Private Network you are able to take it home, connect it to the internet and work as if you are plugged into your network at the office. Your connection to Autodesk Vault and your drive mappings to company servers should work fine (if not a little slow). Remember though if you take your desktop or tower PC home they don’t usually have WiFi so you will need to set up close to your router or use Powerline Adapters*, just make sure you get the ones with Ethernet ports built-in (and take home a network cable).

If you are using network licenses you may need to increase the amount of time your application will wait before it gives up trying to get a license. This involves setting up a system variable on your workstation. See here for instructions. Click here

*Powerline adapters are filters which allow network signals to travel down your domestic power cables. See reviews below:-

tech radar reviews

Inventor Users

For you Inventor users, if none of the options above are suitable and you decide to copy your data to your workstation and take it home please consider the following:-

• Copy your Templates and Design Data folders too.
• You may need to create a new Project (.ipj) file to point to your local hard drive and templates.
• The files you are working on are not visible to other users so stay in touch when working on parts of a model which may influence other parts of the design.

Useful Resources for Designers and Engineers

Resourcefulness during Covid-19 is absolutely essential and we have been sharing these resources with our customers throughout the pandemic. Here are some of the most useful.

The Autodesk Resource Center

Guidelines for installing and using Autodesk software in a virtual environment

Best practices for optimizing your VPN

Best practices for accessing Autodesk software while working remotely

Guidelines and help for using Autodesk software at home

There’s also a Webinar Series on remote working and collaboration for Design and Manufacturing Professionals, and for Architects, Civil Engineers and BIM Managers

Top 6 Tips for Designers  and Engineers Working from Home

1. Set your dining table to its ‘Christmas dinner configuration’ to fit all of your equipment. I have even seen pasting tables dusted off and set up as home offices too.

• Dig out the headphones that came with your phone, they usually allow hands-free calls to customers and suppliers while you are operating your PC.

• Your TV will likely have a spare HDMI port so you are able to use it as a second monitor (don’t forget the extra HDMI cable).

• If things get a little quiet take the opportunity to learn about new areas of the application or Autodesk Collection. Or some of the great podcasts out there – A few ideas for you just here – BIM Podcasts, Product Design Podcasts

• You are working in close proximity to your fridge, avoid the temptation to eat all of the food you have just panic bought.

• Don’t forget why we are doing this

Please share your home working successes with us or email support@quadrasol.co.uk for further advice on using your design system at home…