SMW Autoblok gets grip on streamlined product design with SolidWorks 3D CAD software
0 Comments Published by innovasys on Wednesday, 18 June 2008 at 15:34.
Before you can machine a gear, a drive shaft, a downhole drill bit, or anything else, you have to hold it. SMW Autoblok uses SolidWorks 3D CAD software to design the industrial-strength chucks and other workholding components used by auto plants, pipeline equipment manufacturers, and virtually any other company around the world that machines parts. For more than 60 years, the Autoblok brand has been synonymous with precision workholding, clamping, and tooling solutions for a variety of industries. With plants in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia, SMW AutoBlok has standardized on SolidWorks software for new product design in most of its plants.
“Nobody stocks anything anymore. So our lead times have been cut in half,” said Mike Dempsey, managing director of SMW Autoblok’s U.K. plant. “We have as little as 10 days to develop a concept, design it to within five to 10 microns of spec, and troubleshoot any problems. SolidWorks makes that possible by letting us reuse parts and identify and fix problems before cutting begins. I have faith that if I can get the model in during the proposal stage, I’ll get the work.”
Right first timeMuch of what Dempsey and his team design involves chucks that rotate at high speeds while holding a part (such as an oil pipe that needs a groove) to be machined. The slightest imbalance throws the process off and requires two days of on-site work to fix. SolidWorks’ physical simulation, part interference, and mass properties coupled with COSMOSXpress™ load analysis have helped engineers eliminate delays, saving about $1,200 for each instance, according to Dempsey.
He also credits SolidWorks and eDrawings e-mail-enabled design communication tool with boosting sales. “Many prospects and customers don’t understand CAD, and therefore the detail that goes into our designs,” said Dempsey. “We couldn’t easily share Autodesk Inventor designs, so we couldn’t really communicate with suppliers, customers, and prospects. SolidWorks and eDrawings give us that communication in models that everyone can understand.”
SMW Autoblok will soon be able to securely vault, share, and collaborate on designs with PDM Workgroup product data management software. Companies can accelerate product design using PDM Workgroup, which enables engineers to work concurrently on product designs without introducing errors. SMW Autoblok has already saved money, time, and headaches by using detailed design process documentation from PDMWork Group to achieve ISO 9001 certification.“In a market where lead time is increasingly scarce, SMW Autoblok has distinguished itself by having the agility to deliver right-first-time designs before its competitors,” said SolidWorks Country Manager for U.K. and Ireland Chris McManus. “That is job number one in succeeding in a crowded market. Job number two is to design better products.”
SMW Autoblok has received knowledgeable and experienced guidance and support from SolidWorks reseller Innova Systems to optimize productivity gains.
“Nobody stocks anything anymore. So our lead times have been cut in half,” said Mike Dempsey, managing director of SMW Autoblok’s U.K. plant. “We have as little as 10 days to develop a concept, design it to within five to 10 microns of spec, and troubleshoot any problems. SolidWorks makes that possible by letting us reuse parts and identify and fix problems before cutting begins. I have faith that if I can get the model in during the proposal stage, I’ll get the work.”
Right first timeMuch of what Dempsey and his team design involves chucks that rotate at high speeds while holding a part (such as an oil pipe that needs a groove) to be machined. The slightest imbalance throws the process off and requires two days of on-site work to fix. SolidWorks’ physical simulation, part interference, and mass properties coupled with COSMOSXpress™ load analysis have helped engineers eliminate delays, saving about $1,200 for each instance, according to Dempsey.
He also credits SolidWorks and eDrawings e-mail-enabled design communication tool with boosting sales. “Many prospects and customers don’t understand CAD, and therefore the detail that goes into our designs,” said Dempsey. “We couldn’t easily share Autodesk Inventor designs, so we couldn’t really communicate with suppliers, customers, and prospects. SolidWorks and eDrawings give us that communication in models that everyone can understand.”
SMW Autoblok will soon be able to securely vault, share, and collaborate on designs with PDM Workgroup product data management software. Companies can accelerate product design using PDM Workgroup, which enables engineers to work concurrently on product designs without introducing errors. SMW Autoblok has already saved money, time, and headaches by using detailed design process documentation from PDMWork Group to achieve ISO 9001 certification.“In a market where lead time is increasingly scarce, SMW Autoblok has distinguished itself by having the agility to deliver right-first-time designs before its competitors,” said SolidWorks Country Manager for U.K. and Ireland Chris McManus. “That is job number one in succeeding in a crowded market. Job number two is to design better products.”
SMW Autoblok has received knowledgeable and experienced guidance and support from SolidWorks reseller Innova Systems to optimize productivity gains.
AGAINST an unsettling backdrop of spiraling fuel costs, plummeting house prices and increasingly bleak predictions of economic woe, here is some good news: the UK manufacturing industry is growing. And while this growth — 0.1 per cent in April, says the Office for National Statistics and the manufacturing industry — is hardly a boom, it’s preferable to the wailing and gnashing of teeth emanating from the darker corners of the UK’s economy. The prime reason for this relative success is simple, and it’s laid bare on most pages of every issue of this magazine: unlike the money-men shuffling around notional amounts of money, and
the financial services companies pushing products that no-one wants or needs, engineers make things — tangible things that people both want and need. Perhaps the key word here is ‘need’. While few of us will shed tears at the thought of a few grotesquely remunerated bankers falling on harder times, the world cannot do without engineering. Without engineers the lights go off. The trains stop running. The hospitals shut down. The supermarket shelves lie empty. And ultimately, humans are deprived of the basic necessities required for survival. While this may sound melodramatic, as our interview with civil engineer and aid worker
Dr Robert Hodgson shows, it is frequently engineers who dominate the relief operations in disaster-struck areas of the world.
From ensuring drinking water is kept uncontaminated, to restoring communications and reopening the infrastructure required to get food to starving people, Hodgson’s compelling picture of the role of engineers in a crisis is a reminder of the relationship between engineering endeavor and human survival. Elsewhere in this issue, from a Swiss engineer’s efforts to bring low-cost solar power to the masses, to the growing promise of swarming robots for search and rescue and life-saving surgery, there are further examples of the part to be played by engineers in addressing some of the big questions facing society. Indeed, while politicians are concerned primarily with being re-elected and scientists present the facts but are often wary of taking responsibility, there is a good argument that engineers, who are typically adept at straddling disciplines, are better placed than anyone to get the job done. While it would be foolish and wrong to suggest that the sector is immune to the troughs of the global economic climate, it is certainly gratifying that a career that offers the chance to make the world a better place is for once looking more attractive than a job in the world of high finance. (From the Engineer – Jon Excell)
the financial services companies pushing products that no-one wants or needs, engineers make things — tangible things that people both want and need. Perhaps the key word here is ‘need’. While few of us will shed tears at the thought of a few grotesquely remunerated bankers falling on harder times, the world cannot do without engineering. Without engineers the lights go off. The trains stop running. The hospitals shut down. The supermarket shelves lie empty. And ultimately, humans are deprived of the basic necessities required for survival. While this may sound melodramatic, as our interview with civil engineer and aid worker
Dr Robert Hodgson shows, it is frequently engineers who dominate the relief operations in disaster-struck areas of the world.
From ensuring drinking water is kept uncontaminated, to restoring communications and reopening the infrastructure required to get food to starving people, Hodgson’s compelling picture of the role of engineers in a crisis is a reminder of the relationship between engineering endeavor and human survival. Elsewhere in this issue, from a Swiss engineer’s efforts to bring low-cost solar power to the masses, to the growing promise of swarming robots for search and rescue and life-saving surgery, there are further examples of the part to be played by engineers in addressing some of the big questions facing society. Indeed, while politicians are concerned primarily with being re-elected and scientists present the facts but are often wary of taking responsibility, there is a good argument that engineers, who are typically adept at straddling disciplines, are better placed than anyone to get the job done. While it would be foolish and wrong to suggest that the sector is immune to the troughs of the global economic climate, it is certainly gratifying that a career that offers the chance to make the world a better place is for once looking more attractive than a job in the world of high finance. (From the Engineer – Jon Excell)
Manufacturing output increased by 0.3 per cent in the three months to April 2008 compared with the three months to January 2008 according to the national statistics say sthe office for National Statistics. see http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nugget.asp?ID=198
Output increased in seven out of the 13 sub-sectors measured, decreased in five sub-sectors and remained unchanged in one sub-sector.In the latest three months there were no significant increases but the largest non-significant rise was in the machinery and equipment industries, where output increased by 1.5 per cent.
There were no significant decreases in the latest three month period. Overall production output decreased by 0.1 per cent on a three-monthly basis. There was a decrease in output of 3.2 per cent in the mining and quarrying sector and a decrease of 0.4 per cent in the energy supply sector. Within the mining and quarrying sector there was a decrease in oil and gas extraction output in the latest three months, but an increase in coal extraction output with production problems of early months being resolved. Within the energy supply sector electricity supply output decreased by 1.9 per cent with a continued switch away from coal as the main fuel used in electricity generation. Offsetting this, there was an increase of 4.0 per cent in the gas supply industry with cooler average temperatures across the latest three months than during the same period last year, increasing demand for gas used for heating.
Between March and April manufacturing output increased by 0.1 per cent. Output increased in six of the 13 sub-sectors and decreased in seven sub-sectors in the latest month. There was a significant increase in the transport equipment industries, where output increased by 2.8 per cent. There were no significant decreases in the latest month. Total production output increased by 0.2 per cent between March and April. Mining and quarrying output decreased by 0.3 per cent but energy supply output increased by 1.6 per cent. Within the energy supply sector there were increases in output of 1.9 per cent in the electricity supply industry, 1.3 per cent in the gas supply industry and 1.2 per cent in the water supply industry.
Output increased in seven out of the 13 sub-sectors measured, decreased in five sub-sectors and remained unchanged in one sub-sector.In the latest three months there were no significant increases but the largest non-significant rise was in the machinery and equipment industries, where output increased by 1.5 per cent.
There were no significant decreases in the latest three month period. Overall production output decreased by 0.1 per cent on a three-monthly basis. There was a decrease in output of 3.2 per cent in the mining and quarrying sector and a decrease of 0.4 per cent in the energy supply sector. Within the mining and quarrying sector there was a decrease in oil and gas extraction output in the latest three months, but an increase in coal extraction output with production problems of early months being resolved. Within the energy supply sector electricity supply output decreased by 1.9 per cent with a continued switch away from coal as the main fuel used in electricity generation. Offsetting this, there was an increase of 4.0 per cent in the gas supply industry with cooler average temperatures across the latest three months than during the same period last year, increasing demand for gas used for heating.
Between March and April manufacturing output increased by 0.1 per cent. Output increased in six of the 13 sub-sectors and decreased in seven sub-sectors in the latest month. There was a significant increase in the transport equipment industries, where output increased by 2.8 per cent. There were no significant decreases in the latest month. Total production output increased by 0.2 per cent between March and April. Mining and quarrying output decreased by 0.3 per cent but energy supply output increased by 1.6 per cent. Within the energy supply sector there were increases in output of 1.9 per cent in the electricity supply industry, 1.3 per cent in the gas supply industry and 1.2 per cent in the water supply industry.
Labels: SolidWorks and Innova Systems
Solidworks 2009 Beta 1 is Now Available for Testing
0 Comments Published by innovasys on Friday, 13 June 2008 at 08:18.
The Solidworks 2009 Beta Release is now available for download through the Solidworks Customer Portal on the Solidworks website.
The Beta teasing is scheduled to be shorter this year than for the previous year because Solidworks noticed people lost interest over such a long duration of Beta testing. This year’s program will shrink down from a 15 week period to an 8 week program. The Solidworks 2009 Beta test program is set up so that Solidworks users across a variety of industries can help to make the final build of the Solidworks 2009 software as good as possible when it is finally released.
This year the Beta program will be available to everyone via the Solidworks Customer Portal on the Solidworks website instead of the special Solidworks Beta link. Some incentive for being part of the Solidworks 2009 beta test program is that Solidworks gives points for every glitch and bug found in their software. After, Solidworks gives away free stuff to people with a lot of points.
The Beta teasing is scheduled to be shorter this year than for the previous year because Solidworks noticed people lost interest over such a long duration of Beta testing. This year’s program will shrink down from a 15 week period to an 8 week program. The Solidworks 2009 Beta test program is set up so that Solidworks users across a variety of industries can help to make the final build of the Solidworks 2009 software as good as possible when it is finally released.
This year the Beta program will be available to everyone via the Solidworks Customer Portal on the Solidworks website instead of the special Solidworks Beta link. Some incentive for being part of the Solidworks 2009 beta test program is that Solidworks gives points for every glitch and bug found in their software. After, Solidworks gives away free stuff to people with a lot of points.
Thermoteknix Celebrates 25 Years of Infrared Pioneering
0 Comments Published by innovasys on Tuesday, 10 June 2008 at 10:09.
Cambridge based company Thermoteknix http://www.thermoteknix.com/ has much to celebrate in its 25th Anniversary. Fresh from the Cambridge Evening News Business Excellence awards for Innovation, Thermoteknix has now received the highly prestigious Queens award for Enterprise in the Innovation Category. These awards are the latest in a series of accolades the company has received recently. In October 2007 Thermoteknix was named Innovative Company of the Year at the iDEA (Innovation and Design Excellence) Awards followed soon after by runner-up in the IET (Institution of Electrical Engineers and Technologists) Innovation in Engineering Awards.
SolidWorks has played a crucial part in the company’s success, being used to produce variants for its customers’ in aerospace, defence, surveillance and industrial applications. It could be matching different lens or electronics combinations or a more significant customisation to fit the customer’s metalwork. The result can then be sent to the customer in 3D format enabling a rapid visualisation and incorporation into the customers design.
“Getting our product from Concept through development and into production in the shortest time cycle has been critical for the development and growth of our business” Said Dr. Richard Salisbury, founder and Managing Director of Thermoteknix Systems Ltd
We are delighted to see the success of Thermoteknix said Mark Bradford, Managing Director of Innova Systems. Thermoteknix are proof that to be successful in rapidly changing face of manufacturing, you have to continue to design and develop new innovative products to maintain competitive advantage.
Last year, Innova Systems customer PCME also won the same award, so this is proof that Innova Systems and SolidWorks can help to develop better products.
Have you seen the new 3D Content Central lately. Its really neat, especially the Hyperview, which enables you to rotate, pan and Zoom your model without leaving the web page.
Free 3D CAD Models of User-Contributed and Supplier-Certified Parts & Assemblies, 2D Blocks, Library Features, Macros, and more
3D ContentCentral® is a free service for locating, configuring, downloading, and requesting 3D parts and assemblies, 2D blocks, library features, and macros. Join an active community of 411,627 CAD users who share and download user contributed and supplier-certified 3D parts & assemblies, 2D blocks, library features and macros.
See www.3dcontentcentral.com
Free 3D CAD Models of User-Contributed and Supplier-Certified Parts & Assemblies, 2D Blocks, Library Features, Macros, and more
3D ContentCentral® is a free service for locating, configuring, downloading, and requesting 3D parts and assemblies, 2D blocks, library features, and macros. Join an active community of 411,627 CAD users who share and download user contributed and supplier-certified 3D parts & assemblies, 2D blocks, library features and macros.
See www.3dcontentcentral.com
Free online DWG editor
Before, if you were travelling and sent a DWG file to review, you would require a computer with some kind of DWG viewer/editor. BluePrint Now relaxes this requirement, giving you the ability to load and proof from anywhere. We see it as one less thing to worry about when going through airport security.
Create DWG files from almost any computer
As long as your computer has an internet connection and is enhanced by Microsoft Silverlight, you can use it to create drafts of your ideas whenever you’re so inspired. Simply click on the Run button and find out if your computer is ready to launch BluePrint Now.
Shared Storage
In continuation of a concept we introduced with Drawings Now, BluePrint Now will give you space on a secure server to store your drawings. These drawings can be accessed at any time, and by anyone to whom you decide to e-mail a link. Your drawing’s recipients can then review or make changes (whichever you decide) in a web-based collaboration.
Before, if you were travelling and sent a DWG file to review, you would require a computer with some kind of DWG viewer/editor. BluePrint Now relaxes this requirement, giving you the ability to load and proof from anywhere. We see it as one less thing to worry about when going through airport security.
Create DWG files from almost any computer
As long as your computer has an internet connection and is enhanced by Microsoft Silverlight, you can use it to create drafts of your ideas whenever you’re so inspired. Simply click on the Run button and find out if your computer is ready to launch BluePrint Now.
Shared Storage
In continuation of a concept we introduced with Drawings Now, BluePrint Now will give you space on a secure server to store your drawings. These drawings can be accessed at any time, and by anyone to whom you decide to e-mail a link. Your drawing’s recipients can then review or make changes (whichever you decide) in a web-based collaboration.
Labels: SolidWorks and Innova Systems
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