Forming Technologies Announces FASTBLANK® for PTC® Pro/ENGINEER® Wildfire 4.0

Burlington, ON, CANADA — Forming Technologies Inc. (FTI) a developer of solutions for design, simulation, and costing of sheet metal components, announced today the release of FASTBLANK for Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 4.0. FASTBLANK for Pro/ENGINEER provides Pro/ENGINEER users with a fully integrated tool for developing optimal blank shapes for complex sheet metal components.

“FASTBLANK for Pro/ENGINEER was a reaction to a large number of Pro/ENGINEER users insisting that we provide FASTBLANK within their CAD environment,” said Dan Marinac, FTI’s Director of Business Development. “FormingSuite FASTBLANK is already the world’s most popular blank development tool in the industry. With the availability of this functionality tightly integrated inside the Pro/ENGINEER environment, we expect it to be a strategic part of penetration by Pro/ENGINEER into the tool & die industry.”

FASTBLANK for Pro/ENGINEER dramatically improves formability and product quality, and significantly reduces material costs and the number of stamping trials required in the tooling prove-out stage. In addition to blank development, FASTBLANK for Pro/ENGINEER also provides a color contour plot indicating the thickening and thinning that result from the forming process. It accounts for material stretch and deformation as well as bending, and can flatten any Pro/ENGINEER geometry. The tool can be used to assess the feasibility of a part for manufacturing. “We are pleased that PTC views this as a tool that is important to its customers, and we are delighted to have been included in the PartnerAdvantage™ Program,” stated Marinac.

Andy Barlow, PTC’s Senior Director of Business Development, stated, “With the addition of FTI to the PTC PartnerAdvantage Program, die designers, tooling engineers, and estimators will have a powerful solution and will benefit from a single-window interface that lets them quickly generate accurate blank shapes directly within the Pro/ENGINEER environment." He continued, “The partner program is comprised of software providers selected for their expertise. FTI demonstrated its expertise in blank development and formability analysis. The company is a great addition to the program.”