September 2nd, 2003  |  Imaginestics launches i-advisor

Purdue Research Park, West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S.A – Imaginestics, software developer of knowledge-based systems for the manufacturing and life sciences industry, is today announcing the launching of i-advisor, the next-generation product design advisor. i-advisor is the only knowledge-based system that can evaluate part geometry directly from CAD or accept user input of materials and design requirements. It can also advise on how each casting process measures against the given criteria. i-advisor uses a complex "weighted heuristic" to suggest or recommend the most optimal process using easy-to-understand graphs with scores assigned to each process.

Often, inappropriate casting processes are chosen by designers/engineers working in manufacturing companies due to their unfamiliarity with material selections; inexperience with manufacturing processes; limited knowledge of manufacturability based on shape complexity; or the unavailability of knowledge-based tools to select the optimal process. This often results in higher production costs, several expensive prototype iterations, lost opportunities, and delays in the production schedule.

"As design complexity increases, i-advisor is an ideal tool for selecting the appropriate casting process by matching its variety of materials and wide functional capability such as dimensional tolerances to the design needs," said Joe Santner, Director of Research, American Foundry Society.

"With i-advisor, we are changing the way designers/engineers build their designs. They can now have a manufacturing expert guiding them," said Nainesh Rathod, President/CEO of Imaginestics. "The versatility and ease-of-use of i-advisor even allows purchasing agents to use it in their metal casting procurement process."

About Imaginestics
Imaginestics is a privately-held software and services company founded in December 2002. It is emerging as the leader in knowledge-based systems for the manufacturing and life sciences industry. Imaginestics' mission is to unleash the power of existing engineering and manufacturing systems through an integrated product suite that taps companies' past and present knowledge and optimizes their future development. Imaginestics' product suite includes, i-compare, i-migrate, i-config, i-parts and i-advisor.