Cost for Lic. of CETOL Creo tol extension

[Lhann]

what is the cost for a license of Cetol extension from PTC?


Is this a software multiple users can be trained on or would it be better to earmark one or two experts?


thanks
Edited by: Lhann

 

[Zestje]

Hello,

I'm not using Cetol but have had a basic Cetol training a few years ago.
I strongly advise you to only have people using the Cetol extension who -really- know their way with tolerancing. I'm not talking about how to use the extension in ProE, but tolerancing in general. Else you will get faulty inputs and useless outputs.
I've seen several times, when people don't understand the principles behind tolerancing and make nice and elaborate but wrong calculations due to incorrect settings and assumptions...

Cetol itself is a complex tool with several (in my opinion) very serious bugs. I think it requires an 'expert' in tolerancing and Cetol to be able to correctly do tolerance calculations in Cetol. For such an 'expert', learning how to use the extension in ProE should not be too complicated.

So the bottom line is I advise having a few experts (but never just 1) rather than having many people without the specific knowledge using it...
You need 2 experts in case one gets sick or for other unforeseen situations and also because they can help eachother out with complex calculations and check eachothers settings and assumptions.







Edited by: Zestje

 

[Ray Ellender]

Dear Lhann


The cost of the PTC Tolerance Analysis Extension (TAX) is 1500 pounds in UK (so I guess $1500 in USA) from PTC or a reseller. However this can only do 1-D tolerancing. If this is sufficient, then although I agree with Zestje, that people need to understand the principles of tolerancing, including statistical tolerancing, this version is pretty simple to use, because it is only 1-D and you may want to consider training for most if not all users (I suggest tied in with general training analysis training).


Full CETol is a very powerful 3-D anlysis tool that is much more complex and if you need this, it is really a tool for the expert user, so once again I agree with Zestje that you should train 2 expert users. It is a 4 day training course I believe. Users with an analysis backround tend to do better, particularly a mechanisms analysis backround as it is kind of similar to a rigid-body dynamics programme in the way it works.


I am not sure about the bugs that Zestje mentioned. We used to sell CETol in the UK, (Version 7, it was about 11,500 pounds 4 years ago in the UK)and I would not say the problems were bugs, more a question of users understanding how to set it up correctly. This is an analysis program, not CAD and as with FEA or CFD it is very sensitive to setting up the boundary conditions 'correctly'. Sometimes it may take 2 or 3 analyses making different assumptions to get a full picture of what reality may be, plus there are some 'tricks' for analysing particularly difficult problems like gear-sets. It may be sensible to talk to Sigmetrix, whowrite it, rather than PTC, who only sell it.


Regards