Claydon Drills design, develop and manufacture seed drills for the Agricultural market, selling into 26 countries around the world. The unique features are the two stage patent market-leading processes: Digging time followed by a seeding time – Digging time cultivates the soil and allows the water to drain away followed by the seeding time – placing the seed directly behind in the ideal environment for it to grow.
The original rough prototype was produced without any drawings and was a “sleeves rolled up” fabrication and welding session in the workshop. A small amount of modification later and the first production machine was ready for action.
Ten years ago, the sales revenue for Claydon Drills was £150,000-£200,000 Per Annum. Today it’s £6 million and SOLIDWORKS has played a significant part in that growth.
The challenges for the design of seed drills are the extremes of weather the machines will be used in. Claydon’s Drills have to be able to withstand temperatures from +50 degree heat to -20 degrees below freezing. They need to be able to handle all types of terrain and obstacles too, such as heavy clay, dealing with massive stones, sand and areas without top soil – the machines just have to work.
The arming background helps to understand how complex machinery will work, but translating ideas into 3D Models with advanced visualisation proves to be hugely beneficial in getting the right machine into marketplace in the shortest possible time.
The versatile functionality from SOLIDWORKS allows Claydon Drills to use Simulation, to test if the product will break under certain load conditions – and use new functionality in SOLIDWORKS 2015 (‘Treehouse’) to create a visual view of the assembly structure to produce the same kit and part numbers for the ERP System.
See how Claydon Drills have used SOLIDWORKS to grow their business in the video below:
