In a previous PLM&ERP News article, Brian Thompson stated that some of the most important governing trends in the CAD area in 2025 are that engineering leaders today are looking at product development and CAD changes that can immediately impact business results. A variation on the theme of ”time to market”.
“How can I get more value out of my CAD system? Am I using available CAD techniques to gain a competitive advantage? How can my CAD system help me do more with less? How does CAD support my other digital transformation initiatives?”
These were the questions he believed were primary to ask in the turbulent nta geopolitical situation that today’s manufacturing companies are generally feeling.
Most of this is also answered in Creo, version 12, but what improvements and new features are PTC’s CAD manager’s favorites:
“One of my favorite components of Creo 12 is feature presets. They may sound simple – saving your most recently used settings – but they go far beyond that,” Thompson notes, explaining why he finds them so powerful in the following ways:
- You can catalog your favorite configurations right in Creo
- Apply full options with one click and move forward with confidence
- Teams can share presets among themselves to achieve consistent workflows
- This in turn creates workflow best practices in a simple way
One recommendation in this context is to view feature presets not just as a convenience tool, “but as a high-speed design reuse engine, allowing you to apply complex feature patterns quickly and consistently.”
A refined composite solution: Built for quality, engineered for speed
That said, there’s a lot more to be excited about and valuable in Creo 12. The solution includes enhancements to multibody capabilities, sheet metal design, surface coating, spot welding, and more, all classic CAD areas.
But perhaps the most significant step forward in design efficiency is what’s happening in the growing field of composites, says Brian Thompson.
There are several reasons for this: Composites have unique advantages in applications such as aerospace, automotive, and construction. These benefits include improved strength-to-weight ratios, resistance to environmental factors, and the ability to tailor properties to specific needs. Composite materials, such as carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP), offer this high strength-to-weight ratio compared to traditional materials such as steel or aluminum, making them ideal for applications where weight is critical, such as in aircraft, where lower weight reduces fuel consumption and increases efficiency. The automotive industry also achieves the same benefits with lightweight composite parts.
Another valuable aspect of composites is that they can be designed to meet specific performance requirements by adjusting the type of fibers, resin, and the orientation of the layers. This allows for tailored properties such as strength, stiffness, impact resistance, and even aesthetics. For example, composites can be engineered to have high tensile strength in one direction and high compressive strength in another. Another advantage is the material’s resistance to corrosion and the environment. There is more but it all boils down to the same conclusion: Composites appeal to flexibility, durability, environmentally friendly applications and good energy economy, which in turn helps engineers optimize designs for performance, durability and manufacturability.
A catalyst for sharper composite design
All of this makes Brian Thompson see Creo 12 as a catalyst for translating this into real product solutions and gives the software’s composite design capabilities top marks:
“That’s right,” he says. “We laid the foundation for composites in Creo 10. From the beginning, our goal was ambitious: to bring Creo’s high-quality geometry and associativity to composite design and manufacturing. With Creo 12, we are delivering on that promise. Engineers now have the ability to design advanced composite structures with precision. But today, that’s not enough. Composite design forces us to meet a new high. It’s not just about precision, it’s also about speed. With Creo 12, we are setting a new benchmark for how quickly teams can build and iterate on composite designs without compromising the quality that Creo users expect,” said PTC’s DVP and GM.
Incidentally, with Creo 12 solutions in the field, you can now not only generate solid geometry from composite layers with industry-leading composite tools, but also leverage AI-driven generative design for thermal optimization studies. As always when it comes to advanced simulation pieces, Ansys solutions are the answer here.
Electrification, Sustainability, and Model-Based Definition
Finally, some of Brian Thompson’s favorite improvements in Creo 12, as he describes them in a blog post on PTC’s website:
Electrification: Complex Systems, Simplified Design
“Efficiently managing digital information and electricity is a major challenge for our customers today. Cable networks—stretching for miles to transmit signals and power between dozens of endpoints—are critical components that require careful planning and execution. Creo 12 applies Creo’s strengths in assembly-based cable harness design. Cables are now assemblies in Creo, enabling teams to use the same collaborative flows that power Creo’s other assembly tools.”
Sustainability: Starting in Design
“Electrification supports a broader goal: reducing the carbon footprint throughout its life cycle. And that effort must start early in the design stage. To support that, the Creo and Windchill teams have worked together to allow Creo models to link material properties from a purpose-built engineering material object in Windchill.
But also to facilitate the integration of Bill of Materials (BOM) lists with Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tools to assess environmental impact. And more is on the way: Stay tuned for more from the Windchill team later this year!”
Model-Based Definition: One Model, One Source of Truth
“Effective product definition starts with the model itself. That’s where Model-Based Definition (MBD) plays a key role. Creo 12 makes it easier than ever to define and communicate critical design intent directly in the 3D model. With improved 3D PDF and STEP AP242 (Release 3) export, improved annotation reuse, and support for datum reference features and intent surfaces in GD&T Advisor, teams can trust that the model is the single source of truth.
Whether it’s internal teams or downstream manufacturing, Creo 12 helps ensure the right information gets to the right person at the right time.”
