PLMagazine in english

Success stories

PLM without blood, sweat and tears Dear reader,

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ordic companies have achieved significant benefits with IT, specifically with the IT implementation in the administrative functions. The potential for gaining significant benefits from IT are far from being fully exploited. Engineering and manufacturing companies often neglect the vast potential to become more innovative and efficient using Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions in an intelligent way.

It’s all about ownership. Implementing PLM is a business decision that requires a holistic approach, but unfortunately we all too often see that PLM-applications are perceived by top management as costly and slightly nerdy tools. The responsibility for PLM applications is being placed in the engineering department. The truth is quite far from this perception.

Introducing PLM in a company is a strategic decision, making it necessary that top management commits to the project by identifying the benefits and the value the company can achieve through PLM such as interdisciplinary collaboration with partners.

In a number of PLM projects, only part of the potential has been realized. Companies have successfully structured and systematized their internal use of product-related data, but still need to give their subcontractors and other external parties’ access to the data that can make collaboration seamless and fluent. The reason often is that the PLM implementations have ended up as complex IT projects requiring costly investment in hardware and secure network technology.

Recently, the cloud hosting wave has hit the IT world. It offers unprecedented opportunities to harvest the benefits from PLM, being easier, more cost effective and not least safer.

At PLM Group, we have extensive experience in establishing host-based solutions. A number of companies are already using our HostPLM solution. We are now expanding the solution with a range of tools that break down the boundaries between companies and their partners. This presents a whole new way to involve external stakeholders in the company’s products and product development.

Our solution is named PortalPLM. Via a small box, the company can establish a secure and structured connection to the cloud, which provides partners with access to relevant product-related data. PortalPLM contains a number of portal solutions such as a customer portal, a project portal and a spare parts portal, but it’s just the first dishes in our host-based PLM menu that will be regularly expanded.

The PortalPLM solution is subscription based and flexible, without need for major initial investments in internal IT resources.

Enjoy reading!

Jess G. Frandsen, CEO of PLM Group

Content Lahden Autokori Oy

Planning of the new buses moves to the fast lane with HostPLM / Finland

Defour Oy

HostPLM forms the backbone in ambitious growth strategy / Finland

ASA Lift A/S

Simulation provides both stronger and lighter vegetable harvesters / Denmark

Citec Oy AB

SolidWorks Composer reduces documentation time by two thirds for Citec / Finland

TYLĂ– AB

SolidWorks Enterprise PDM ensures international integration / Sweden

Rocla Oy

New forklift trucks are developed on record time with SolidWorks / Finland

Modulpac AB

Shorter lead times, higher quality and the accurate pricing with SolidWorks Plastics / Sweden

PolymerDon AB

Faster and safer development of tools for plastic injection molding / Sweden

AnyBody Technology A/S

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Man and machine are aligned with SolidWorks and Anybody / Denmark

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Prestigious design award goes to enlightening idea / Denmark

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Reelight ApS

TIME Danmark A/S

Lift producer achieves 50 percent faster development / Denmark

SP Maskiner AB

Spare parts catalogs and manuals in half the time / Sweden

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Lahden Autokori Oy Rami Saario, Controller: “After the introduction of HostPLM, I have sleept much better at night because we now have a much more efficient, secure, flexible, stable and more cost efficient product planning solution.”

“I am surrounded by happy faces, because our engineers no longer have to wait for minutes or even hours before the system responds to their queries. Their IT-tools now work exactly as they are supposed to. We save about 40 hours every week on unnecessary waiting.

This time we can now spend on solving the actual planning tasks.”

“When we are with customers, we can discuss directly based on what we show them on the screen. It makes the development process much more efficient. Our customers get a better understanding of the products early in the development process, and that makes it easier to apply the changes they wish for at an early stage. This means that we avoid a lot of the much more costly changes which could occur later in the production phase.”

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ounded in 1945, Lahden Autokori is based in the Finnish town of Lahti with 200 employees and two factories. They develop and manufacture automotive bodies for coaches as well as performing maintenance on them. The company collaborates with Swedish Scania and annually delivers 300 buses for customers worldwide. All development and production is based on sales orders and customers can choose between 300-400 different design options when a new bus is to be developed.

Challenges: • Outdated IT installation for PDM • Problems with response times from the existing PDM system

• Optimization of product planning Solution: • Selection of Private Cloud-based PDM solution Introduction of HostPLM

•

Results: • 10-15 percent more efficient planning • More effective communication with customers • Savings on investment in new servers • More flexible, secure, stable and cost effective PDM solution

• Ability to use PDM data anywhere www.lahdenautokori.fi

Planning of new buses moves to the fast lane with HostPLM With HostPLM, Lahden Autokori has achieved significant time savings and financial gains.

Planning time is reduced by 10-15 percent while the dialogue with customers has become more efficient.

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he Finnish company Lahden Autokori develops, manufactures and services bodies for tourist coaches. To replace its existing SolidWorks Enterprise PDM system, the company has chosen HostPLM from PLM Group to streamline the key process of planning the production of new buses based on customer orders.

Previously, Lahden Autokori’s planners were facing major daily problems with response times from the PDM system with the reason being that the company’s servers lacked sufficient physical memory and in general were outdated. The company already had decided to outsource the operation of SolidWorks Enterprise PDM when it was introduced to HostPLM: “We were very impressed by the system and instantly decided to go for it. HostPLM and the system HostPLM Box, which is placed with us, provide both fast and secure encrypted communication and the problems of latency have completely disappeared,” says Saario, adding: “I am surrounded by happy faces, because our planners no longer have to wait for minutes or even hours before the

system responds to their queries. Their IT-tools now work exactly as they are supposed to. We save about 40 hours every week on unnecessary waiting. This time we can now spend on solving the actual planning tasks.”

Rami Saario also stresses the fact that HostPLM is independent of geographical location and works on all kinds of different hardware platforms such as mobile devices. This has helped to streamline communications with customers on development projects: “When we are with customers, we can discuss directly based on what we show them on the screen. It makes the development process much more efficient. Our customers get a better understanding of the products early in the development process and that makes it easier to apply the changes they wish for at an early stage. This means that we avoid a lot of the much more costly changes which could occur later in the production phase.”

The independence of geography and hardware platform also means better opportunities for Lahden Autokori’s employees to use the system to work from home and the traveling sales staff always have access to the right information at the

right time and place, Saario explains.

HostPLM is used to support after-sales tasks such as management of spare parts, service and repairs.

Lahden Autokori also plans to provide partners such as external planners and designers with access to certain kinds of information in the system.

With a data volume of about 800 GB the PDM system by far is the largest IT system at Lahden Autokori. The system has 10-12 full time users and 8-10 part-time users. Earlier, an IT employee had worked full time to solve system problems. Instead he is now taking care of development tasks around the company’s ERP system.

The introduction of HostPLM has also meant significant savings on IT development and hardware investments. Rami Saario descibes the introduction of HostPLM as a “payback party”. “It has been really good for the wallet,” he says, and furthermore points to the fact that HostPLM was implemented in a week and the implementation of the system ran smoothly without any noteworthy problems.

“I sleep much better at night because we now have a much more efficient, secure, flexible, stable and more cost efficient product planning solution,” says Lahden Autokori’s controller Rami Saario.

www.plmgroup.eu

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Defour Oy Petri Perälä, CEO: “The online connection with HostPLM has both increased the speed in our design processes and enabled our designers to utilize back office support. Data is now safely available everywhere, online and fully updated.”

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efour Oy was founded in 2009 as a solution provider in product development. The company specializes in the development of products for the pharmaceutical and healthcare areas, devices for safety and security as well as various professional equipment in other areas.

Challenges: • Need for the system that could facilitate easy file sharing with the clients

• Need to manage the engineering data that was generated during the complex development project

Solution: • Implementation of SolidWorks 3D CAD and •

HostPLM for fully updated and secure data sharing with clients Use of SolidWorks Composer for the preparation of technical documentation

Results: • Ability to access data from any geographic location on any kind of device

• Easy to use PDM interface combined with a Hosted Infrastructure solution

• HostPLM has become the backbone of an ambitious plan for company growth

• HostPLM has both increased the speed in design processes and enabled our designers to utilize back office support

www.defour.fi

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HostPLM forms the backbone in ambitious growth strategy Finnish product development company Defour Oy utilizes HostPLM for a key role in the company’s strategy for growth and networking

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n only three years, the Turku based company Defour Oy, has doubled its number of employees from three to six. The company expects to double the present workforce to about 12 employees during the next couple of years with the assistance of SolidWorks, HostPLM and SolidWorks Composer from PLM Group.

PLM licenses and one license for SolidWorks (3DVIA) Composer. “We have chosen SolidWorks as our CAD platform because of the very favorable balance between price and performance while fully covering our needs,” explains Petri Perälä.

Defour Oy has very strong expertise in the product development field: “Together, we represent over 150 man years of experience in product development, in particular within the telecom and healthcare sectors,” says CEO Petri Perälä.

In 2011, Defour needed to implement a PDM­system when the company was part of a complex development project. It was necessary to introduce a system that could facilitate easy file sharing with the client and manage the engineering data that was generated during the project. “We started to develop our own PDM system, but it turned out to be a never ending story and the system did not cover all our needs. We instead decided to focus on a commercial system. We examined five different systems, but were reluctant to invest in hardware to run the systems.

When we were introduced to HostPLM from PLM Group, we were really pleased to see an easy to use PDM interface combined with a Hosted Infrastructure solution,” says Petri Perälä.

Since its inception, the company has been using SolidWorks as its CAD system. Recently the 3D CAD system has been supplemented with the addition of HostPLM from PLM Group as well as SolidWorks (3DVIA) Composer for the preparation of technical documentation. Defour has a portfolio of four SolidWorks licenses, six Host-

HostPLM has become the backbone of an ambitious plan for growth. Petri Perälä stresses that the growth strategy calls for applying a PDM system: “When more people work tightly together on projects, the need arises for a single system that can keep track of all the information that is generated. This applies not only to 3D CAD files

Defour Oy was founded in 2009 as a solution provider in product development. The company specializes in the development of products for the pharmaceutical and healthcare areas, devices for safety and security as well as various professional equipment in other areas. Defour’s strategy is to be a highly networked company that works in close cooperation with partners and customers.

www.plmgroup.eu

and other engineering data generated during the development process, but also to the company Management System.”

One of the major benefits of using HostPLM according to Petri Perälä is the ability to access data from any geographic location on any kind of device. Defour has used the system via smartphones with a 3G connection: “We are sometimes doing design workshops with our customers. The online connection with HostPLM has both increased the speed in our design processes and enabled our designers to utilize back office support. Data is now safely available everywhere, online and fully updated,” he says.

Defour will also use HostPLM to provide their clients direct access to the data generated in connection with development projects as well as the cornerstone for quality management.

Like HostPLM, SolidWorks Composer plays a crucial role in the growth strategy. The system has so far been used mainly for the production of technical documentation, but Petri Perälä suggests that the next step will be to create assembly instructions, user manuals and other forms of more advanced 3D documentation: “We see a great need to produce vast amounts of various forms of documentation based directly on 3D files from SolidWorks,” he explains.

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ASA Lift A/S

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SA-LIFT is a leading international company developing, producing and distributing vegetable harvesters. Since the foundation in 1936, ASA-LIFT has always enjoyed a reputation for quality, innovation and good craftsmanship. Production started mainly to serve the needs of local farmers.

Then during the 1950’s the production run of machines was manufactured and in the 1960’s ASA-LIFT produced the World’s very first hydraulic harvester. At the same time interest came from export markets and the first contacts were made.

Many of those first contacts are still ASA-LIFT customers. These days ASA-LIFT machines have been sold all over the world.

Challenges: • To keep weight down while retaining the robustness of the machines

• To streamline the product development process • Short time to develop and produce the machine

Solution: • Implementation of SolidWorks Simulation to be able to construct new machines that are as light as possible, while not compromising on their strength CAD models are used to generate production drawings and for creating sales materials and technical documentation

•

Results: • Product development time has been cut by 50 percent

• Vegetable harvesters are bigger, stronger and lighter

• Flawless data exchange with suppliers

www.asa-lift.com

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Niels Bendsen, Design Manager: “A development project which earlier would go on for a week is now done in two to three days.

Without tools like SolidWorks and Simulation this would not have been possible. Among other things, the CAD system allows us to reuse parts from existing 3D models of machines in new constructions, which keeps overall construction time down,” says Design Manager Niels Bendsen of ASA-LIFT.

The company’s machines are used under very varying conditions around the world. For example, thesoil conditions in vegetable fields can be extremely different from Europe to the United States. This results in vastly different demands on the strength of the machines’ individual parts.

Simulation provides both stronger and lighter vegetables harvesters Using software solutions from SolidWorks, ASA-LIFT has cut development time by half for its new vegetable harvesters, while allowing for much larger, stronger and lighter equipment.

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SA-LIFT is among the world’s leading manufacturers of vegetables harvesters and has had to develop ever larger and more powerful machines while decreasing the development time. Factors such as keeping weight down while retaining the robustness of the machines and streamlining the development process represent increasing challenges for the Danish company. To meet these challenges ASA-LIFT implemented SolidWorks Simulation to be able to construct new machines that are as light as possible, while not compromising on their strength.

Since 1936 the company with 60 employees headquartered in the Danish city of Sorø has made harvesting machines for vegetables such as carrots, leeks, cabbage, onions and potatoes. ASA-LIFT is manufacturing to order and the product range consists of lift mounted

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harvesters for mounting directly on tractors, tractor­drawn harvesters and self­propelled harvesters. 80 percent of the company’s products are exported. Since 1999, ASALIFT has been using SolidWorks and currently employs six licenses for the 3D CAD system. ”When we receive an order we have incredibly short time to develop and produce the machine.

Compared to just a few years ago we have reduced the development time by almost 50 percent. A development project which earlier would go on for a week is now done in two to three days. Without tools like SolidWorks and Simulation this would not have been possible.

Among other things, the CAD system allows us to reuse parts from existing 3D models of machines in new constructions, which keeps overall construction time down,” says Design Manager Niels Bendsen of ASA-LIFT.

”Our machines are gradually becoming larger and to avoid that they at the same time become much heavier, we use SolidWorks Simulation to reduce weight and ensure their necessary robustness. By performing strength calculations, we can get a clear picture of how the strength of the machines compares to real life situations,” explains Niels Bendsen and adds: “Using simulation, we can very quickly make the strength calculations necessary to achieve the optimum ratio between strength and lowest possible weight of the machines.”

The main force behind their purchase of SolidWorks Simulation was a newly finished development project. In the project ASA-LIFT has created an entirely new and unique self­propelled multi­function machine. It is a very broad so­ called ‘wide span’ machine that can operate at a distance of nine meters between the fixed tracks the machine follows while driven in the field.

Furthermore it has a tight turning radius. The machine is used for seeding, harrowing, spraying and finally harvesting.

According to Niels Bendsen, the concept of the machine represents a whole new way of thinking in relation to the way the machine is following prefixed tracks while working in the fields.

SolidWorks Simulation has been used to simulate the strength of different structural elements of the big machine.

Overall, CAD based design with SolidWorks plays an increasing role in ASA-LIFT’s development of new machines: “Instead of drawings, we are receiving an increasing amount of 3D part files fromour suppliers. The files are simply dragged and dropped into CAD models. SolidWorks is also a great tool for viewing large assembly designs to assess and evaluate them and furthermore to flawlessly exchange data with our suppliers,” emphasizes Niels Bendsen. He explains that the CAD models are also used to generate production drawings and for creating sales materials and technical documentation. “We are very pleased with both SolidWorks and SolidWorks Simulation, which have become indispensable tools in our development of new products,” says Niels Bendsen.

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Citec Oy AB Juha Rintala, Teamleader for Visualization Team: “We can do the same tasks in one third of the time we previously used. With SolidWorks Composer, the total time spent on the visualization tasks has been reduced by up to 60 percent for both ourselves and our customers.”

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itec Oy AB was established in 1984.

Citec provides multi -discipline engineering and information management services to the Energy and Power industry, and other technologydependent industries. The number of Citec employees currently amounts to approximately 1100 and the turnover for 2012 about 66 million EUR. Citec is headquartered in Vaasa, Finland, and has offices in Finland, Sweden, the UK, France, Germany, Russia and India.

Challenges: • Too many conversions to prepare 3D CAD models to create technical documentation To eliminate the possible loss of data in the conversion process To eliminate repetitive work

• •

Solution: • Use of SolidWorks Composer to be able directly reuse 3D models when creating technical documentation Implementation of SolidWorks Compser has made it possible for specialists in the engineering and visualization teams to work together on the same tasks

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Results: • preparation of technical documentation and manuals has been reduced 60 percent

• The effectiveness of the system has created a potential new business for the company solving more documentation tasks for its clients Keep the cost per page for technical documentation as low as possible We have become very competitive on the production of technical documentation for our customers

• •

www.citec.com

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SolidWorks Composer reduces documentation time by two-thirds for Citec With the introduction of SolidWorks Composer, Citec Oy Ab has reduced the preparation time for technical documentation and manuals by up to 60 percent.

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sing SolidWorks Composer Finnish engineering and information management company Citec Oy Ab has achieved significant time and cost savings in its production of technical documentation and manuals.

The effectiveness of the system has created a potential new business for the company solving more documentation tasks for its clients.

Citec is headquartered in the Finnish city of Vaasa with an additional five offices in Finland as well as a large branch office in India. The company is a multi-disciplinary engineering company with around 1000 employees. The company’s speciality is to provide designing and information management services for clients in several sectors such as energy and power, process industry and manufacturing and healthcare. Citec’s customers are often very large companies using a variety of the most widely used 3D CAD systems. Citec uses SolidWorks and a number of other 3D CAD systems. ”We provide designs for our customers, but also technical documentation and management of project information. Our ambition is to be a one stop shop that can offer both the best tools and best practices,” explains Juha Rintala, teamleader for Citecs visualization team.

www.plmgroup.eu

Citec has chosen to use SolidWorks Composer from PLM Group, because the system makes it possible for the company to directly reuse 3D models from the customers’ various CAD systems to create many different types of technical documentation, explains Juha Rintala: ”With SolidWorks Composer, we have been able to streamline the processes producing for instance manuals for assembly and maintenance, training materials and spareparts catalogs. We seek to keep the cost per page for technical documentation as low as possible and the efficiency we have achieved with SolidWorks Composer means that we have become very competitive on the production of technical documentation for our customers.”

Juha Rintala explains that earlier it would take two to three conversions to prepare 3D CAD models for the systems that were used to create technical documentation. Now the CAD models are used directly to quickly create the desired 3D mock-up and at the same time the possible loss of data in the conversion process has been eliminated. ”The system also automatically ensures that we are constantly working with updated 3D CAD models, which means that we do not have to start all over again when a model is updated. This has eliminated much tedious repetitive work.

Previously, both we and our customers spent a lot of time to do check ups and send emails back and forth. This is past tense now,” he says.

Juha Rintala underlines that the streamlined workflow has caused huge time savings: “We can do the same tasks in one third of the time we previously were using. With SolidWorks Composer the total time spent on the visualization tasks has been reduced even by up to 60 percent for both ourselves and our customers,” he explains.

He also emphasizes that the direct reuse of the original CAD models helps to create closer integration between Citec Oy Ab and its customers and makes cooperation easier and more dynamic: “It’s a perfect fit in our way of thinking in having a partnership with our customers.”

Likewise SolidWorks Composer has helped to make the internal cooperation closer and more flexible, because the system has made it possible for specialists in the engineering and visualization team to work together on the same tasks,” says Juha Rintala.

Citec is now working on an even broader use of SolidWorks Composer for the production of for instance sales and marketing materials.

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TYLÖ AB

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ylö AB headquartered in the Swedish town of Halmstad with 130 employees is a part of the TyloHelo Group who is the world’s largest manufacturer of sauna, steam bath and shower environments. TyloHelo Group has production in Sweden, Finland, USA and Germany.

Challenges: • To coordinate and speed up product development

• To make communication across borders more effective and minimize costly errors • To integrate the production of technical documentation with 3D CAD models

Solution: • Implementation of SolidWorks CAD and SolidWorks Enterprise PDM • Use of SolidWorks Enterprise PDM common platform for exchange and control of product data • Use of SolidWorks Composer for production of manuals

Result: • Faster, safer and coherent product development

Fredrik Larzenius, Design Engineer:

across borders • Fast and secure communication and management of product data • Full integration between 3D CAD models and technical documentation

www.tylo.com

“Since the introduction of SolidWorks Enterprise PDM as a common product data management platform across our geographic locations we work with much more agility when developing our new products and at the same time we have minimized the possibilities for making costly errors.”

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SolidWorks Enterprise PDM ensures international integration Tylö AB integrates its international development with SolidWorks Enterprise PDM to save time and avoid costly errors.

“Since the introduction of SolidWorks Enterprise PDM as a common product data management platform across our geographic locations, we are working with much more agility when developing our new products and at the same time we have minimized the possibilities for making costly errors.” So says development engineer Fredrik Larzenius of Tylö AB. The past two years the company has been using the PDM system to tie its development work in Sweden together with the development department in the sister company Helo in Finland.

Tylö AB in Halmstad is part of the TyloHelo Group, the world’s largest manufacturer of sauna, steam bath and shower environments. Three years ago after a very thorough examination of all the CAD software in the marketplace, the TyloHelo Group chose to replace its two different 3D CAD systems in Sweden and Finland with SolidWorks. Two years ago, the group furthermore implemented SolidWorks Enterprise PDM to integrate the development work across its geographical locations.

According to Fredrik Larzenius the implementation of both SolidWorks and SolidWorks Enterprise PDM throughout the TyloHelo Group took place without any complications and the systems have resulted in a number of significant benefits.

“It is a really smart way to tie things together and that has helped us a lot. The system acts as a com-

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mon database that makes it unnecessary for our development people to exchange 3D models back and forth by email. We have very heavy files and lots of revisions applied to both locations, and using the PDM system we have gained total control of them,” explains Larzenius.

He also stresses that managing the different versions of files with SolidWorks Enterprise PDM has resulted in fewer errors in development work and made it faster, simpler and more secure: ”The system ensures that it is always the correct versions we use across our different geographic locations and today we see the PDM system as a necessity for us to be able to exchange files in a safe way ensuring it is always the current versions being used.”

Fredrik Larzenius points out that one of the big advantages using SolidWorks combined with Solid-

Works Enterprise PDM is the user friendliness of the software: ”We are saving lots of time, both because the systems are very easy to learn to use, and because they are not cumbersome to work with in daily work,” he says.

Recently Tylö AB has introduced SolidWorks Composer for the production of manuals and other technical documentation. The system is currently being used for the preparation of manuals in connection with a development project of a new steam bath environment: “I see it as a huge step forward for us that SolidWorks Composer ensures the correlation between our CAD models and manuals. The direct integration between SolidWorks and SolidWorks Composer means that our technical documentation in 3D is constantly updated with the changes applied to our CAD models,” explains Fredrik Larzenius.

“I see it as a huge step forward for us that SolidWorks Composer ensures the correlation between our CAD models and manuals. The direct integration between SolidWorks and SolidWorks Composer means that our technical documentation in 3D is constantly updated with the changes applied to our CAD models,” explains Fredrik Larzenius.

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Rocla Oy

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ocla Oy is headquartered in the Finnish town of Järvenpää with around 530 employees. Since 1946, Rocla has been developing, manufacturing and marketing material handling equipment. Since 1967 the company has developed electric trucks. Rocla began offering automation solutions to clients back in 1983. Rocla is owned by Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift Europe B.V. and is part of Mitsubishi Nichiyu Forklift group.

Challenges: • Make perfect designs for new products very quickly

• Communicate effectively with subcontractors • Quickly make new employees in development productive

Solution: • Highly structured use of SolidWorks CAD, SolidWorks Simulation, PDM and ERP to the modular design based on generic 3D models CAD models and drawings used as a means of communication with subcontractors Applying a user-friendly and easy to use 3D CAD software

• •

Results: • A very quick, efficient and accurate product development process

• Closer cooperation with sub-suppliers • New employees are able to do their jobs effectively faster

Mika Särkkä, CAD Administrator:

www.rocla.com

“SolidWorks and PDM enable us to design production-ready products very fast. Our development process is short and highly structured and the intelligent combination of 3D CAD and PDM ensures very high quality in our new designs.”

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New forklift trucks are developed in record time with SolidWorks Advanced use of SolidWorks and PDM ensures fast and accurate development of a new generation of forklift trucks and a new production line at Rocla Oy.

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olidWorks, SolidWorks Simulation and PDM play a key role in the development of new forklifts and automatic guided vehicles at the Finnish Company Rocla. The innovative company is currently engaged in a project where it develops a new counterbalance truck that is able to operate both indoors and outdoors. Among other differences, the new truck has larger wheels than Rocla’s previous trucks for indoor use. “The project means big changes to our existing production; production volume has become larger and we have built a completely new assembly line,” explains Rocla’s CAD administrator Mika Särkkä.

Rocla has a very high level of design and has received several prestigious design awards such as last year’s red dot award.

“As developers, our largest challenge is to create perfect designs for new products at a rapid pace. With our sophisticated use of SolidWorks and PDM, that has become possible,” says Mika Särkkä.

“SolidWorks and PDM enable us to design products very quickly in a way that they are ready for production. Our development process is short and highly structured. The intelligent combination of 3D CAD and PDM integrated with BOMs in our ERP system ensures high quality in our new designs. In this way, we can simulate a wide range of properties, saving physical prototypes.”

Rocla is creating a generic 3D master model for each new product family. Based on the model, developers can configure new versions of a product. “We make modular designs. There are many variations of the individual trucks, but a lot of their parts at the same time are very similar. From the generic model residing in the PDM system, we can easily configure variations of products while the PDM system makes it easy to find and reuse existing parts,” explains Mika Särkkä.

SolidWorks is also used extensively for the design of sheet metal parts. Särkkä emphasizes that the CAD system makes it easy both to design the sheet metal parts and understand if they can be produced in practice: “When you design in the Sheet Metal module you work with a highly realistic representation of the part,” he says.

Rocla is using a lot of subcontractors and 3D models and drawings from SolidWorks are a very important piece of the daily cooperation with them. Data from the CAD system is for instance used in cooperation with Rocla’s suppliers of tools and laser-cut items.

“Using 3D models and drawings from SolidWorks is much easier to communicate effectively with our suppliers and develop parts for our products in close cooperation with them. If needed, SolidWorks makes it easy and quick to make changes,” says Mika Särkkä.

He emphasizes that it is easy for new employees in the development department to get started with SolidWorks: “We often get new, young employees and the user friendliness of SolidWorks means that it is easy for them to get started quickly and be efficient and productive in a short time.”

“The project means big changes to our existing production; production volume has become larger and we have built a completely new assembly line,” explains Rocla’s CAD administrator Mika Särkkä.

www.plmgroup.eu

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Modulpac AB

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ince 1983 plastics company Modulpac with headquarters and two factories in the Swedish city of Lagan has developed, manufactured and marketed injection molded plastic closures such as screw caps. With about 30 employees, their customers include pharmaceutical companies, cosmetics manufacturers, as well as food and chemical industries.

Challenges:

Micael Svensson, Design Engineer: “We are developing a lot of new products.

Previously, we were forced to guess the cycle time of the injection molding process if we did not have a similar existing product. If we guessed wrong, we could lose business because we were too expensive or put the price too low, which would lead to a loss. With SolidWorks Plastics, we get an accurate calculation of the cycle time, so our sales department can offer our customers the right price.”

• Get an accurate assessment of cycle time in

the production of plastic parts

injection molds

• Develop new and increasingly sophisticated • Optimize material usage

Solution: • Accurate assessment of cycle time via

simulation with SolidWorks Plastics

of new injection molds

• Ability to test design alternatives virtually • Simulate alternative options for the design

Result: • Exact pricing based on facts about production • 10-15 percent faster time to market • Higher quality of increasingly sophisticated

injection molds

www.modulpac.se

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Shorter lead times, higher quality and accurate pricing with SolidWorks Plastics SolidWorks Plastics has enabled Modulpac to shorten time to market for new products by 10-15 percent while improving the overall quality of its production.

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horter lead times for new products, accurate bidding and higher quality production; these are some of the important results of the introduction of SolidWorks Plastics into the product development department at the Swedish plastics company Modulpac AB, which manufactures injection molded parts such as screw caps and other types of caps for bottles and cans.

Using SolidWorks Plastics, Modulpac can accurately assess the cycle time of the injection molding process. Precise information on cycle time is critical to the company’s business, says development engineer Micael Svensson, Modulpac: “We are developing a lot of new products. Previously, we were forced to guess cycle times, if we did not have a similar existing product. If we guessed wrong, we could lose business because we were too expensive or put the price too low, which would lead to a loss. With SolidWorks Plastics we get an accurate calculation of the cycle time, so our sales department can offer our customers the right price.”

He points out that the precise assessment of cycle time has contributed directly to an increase in Modulpac’s sales and earnings.

Another important benefit of using SolidWorks Plastics is that via simulations Modulpac can minimize material consumption.

“In our business, the trend IS towards using less and less material and the creation of ever thinner parts with the same durability. The more complex parts make it increasingly difficult to fill the mold tools correctly,” says Micael Svensson.

Svensson points out that the analysis tool is a great help to assess whether it will be easy or not to fill the mold tool and ensure an acceptable cooling time. Modulpac’s suppliers of molds do not typically use simulation and therefore it is a great advantage that the company can deliver this type of analysis to them. “We are much more confident in the quality of the injection molds. Previously we easily risked to get caught up by old habits. Now we have the opportunity to test multiple de-

sign options. We also managed to reduce the time to develop new tools, because we can test different injection methods and detect any air traps without having to go through actual physical tests of the tools,” says Micael Svensson.

He also explains that it has been possible to minimize the possibility of the emergence of running marks on parts where the design of the product is crucial. For instance, this applies to items produced with a metallic finish.

Modulpac has one license of SolidWorks Premium and one of SolidWorks Plastics. In addition to designing new products in SolidWorks, Micael Svensson is using SolidWorks Simulation to calculate the forces it takes to open child-resistant caps, as well as to predict if the cap can withstand the loads it is exposed to during the opening process. For example, simulating the flexible portions of the part that needs to be bendable but not break during the process.

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17

PolymerDon

P

olymerDon AB headquartered in the Swedish town of Eskilstuna was founded in 1988. The company today is a small plastics company with four employees.

PolymerDon AB develops and manufactures molds, produces rapid prototypes and are producing injection molded plastic parts for a wide range of customers in the plumbing, construction, locks, electronics, chemistry, defense and steel industries.

Challenges: • Develop new injection molding tools faster

with less possibility for design errors

workflow

• Streamlining and automating the daily design • Communicate effectively with customers

Solution: • Design with SolidWorks Professional enhanced

with custom software modules

• Step-by-step design process • 3D models as communications and sales tool

Result: • Greatly reduced development time • Fast, precise and secure development of new

injection molding tools

• Enhanced customer satisfaction

www.polymerdon.se

Mattias Ehrlund, Toolmaker:

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“SolidWorks combined with MoldWorks, ElectrodeWorks and SplitWorks has made our design work much faster, easier and safer. During the design process we have to follow a series of mandatory steps, which means that we cannot proceed to the next step before all errors are eliminated. We cannot just skip a step, so the chances of ending up with a faulty design are reduced.”

Faster and safer development of tools for plastic injection molding The Swedish plastics company PolymerDon AB has achieved significant benefits using SolidWorks combined with a number of specialized software modules in the design and manufacture of injection molding tools.

S

wedish plastics company PolymerDon AB recently achieved significantly faster, safer and more streamlined development process. This improved design of plastic injection molds was accomplished with a SolidWorks platform from PLM Group and the addition of special add-on software from the Israeli company R & B Mold & Die Design. At the same time, the construction work in 3D has made communication with customers on development projects considerably more effective and raised customer satisfaction, according to toolmaker Mattias Ehrlund of PolymerDon.

nation has made our design work much faster, easier and safer. During the design process we have to follow a series of mandatory steps, which means that we cannot proceed to the next step before all errors are eliminated. We cannot just skip a step, so the chances of ending up with a faulty design are reduced,” he explains, adding: “The programs automate the development of new tools and electrodes so we can shift our attention elsewhere. Moreover, it is easy to see what colleagues have been doing while using the software for better collaboration.”

The tools are manufactured using sink erosion machines and five-axis milling machines. For the design of the tools, PolymerDon is using SolidWorks Professional combined with the modules MoldWorks, ElectrodeWorks and SplitWorks.

MoldWorks adds a library with a number of basic 3D models of standard injection molding tools from Hasco to SolidWorks. The software also has a number of design and editing options so the standard tools can be modified into the special tools needed by PolymerDon and its customers.

With the three additional modules for SolidWorks, PolymerDon has created a structured and compressed step-by-step workflow in its design process, which helps to eliminate errors, explains Mattias Ehrlund: “this powerful combi

“It is easy to make changes in MoldWorks and development work goes significantly faster because we already have the basic 3D models. We are no longer forced to search in thick catalogs to find the base models we need,” explains Mattias Ehrlund.

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Using ElectrodeWorks, PolymerDon designs the electrodes used for machining with sink erosion.

“We manufacture many electrodes and we are using ElectrodeWorks a lot. The program gives us a good overview because we get an accurate graphical image in SolidWorks of the electrodes and their holders. In the software they look exactly like they do out of production, which is a great advantage for us,” says Mattias Ehrlund.

PolymerDon has recently invested in the SplitWorks software. This module is used to ensure that the dies are divided in the right way with a split line, so that ready parts can be removed from the molds. Mattias Ehrlund explains that the company has just started on the first project using SplitWorks developing a mold for the manufacture of a product with complex shaping.

“SplitWorks will make it easier for us to make split lines especially in connection with tools for making complex parts,” he says.

PolymerDon is also considering investing in SolidWorks Plastics for simulating the injection molding processes, “but we have not reached this step yet,” says Mattias Ehrlund.

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AnyBody Technology A/S

A

nyBody Technology A/S develops and markets the unique software the AnyBody Modeling System™ and offers consultancy, training and technical support to users. The AnyBody Modeling System™ is a breakthrough invention for simulating man-machine or other man-environment interaction and how it effects the human body. The key markets for the products and services of AnyBody Technology are the global orthopedic, automotive, and sports industries. Users of the AnyBody Modeling System™ are mainly involved in either university research, or R&D activities in the industries.

Challenges: • To create dynamic simulations in 3D of the

Michael Damsgaard, Development Manager: ”By combining its biomechanical modeling system The AnyBody Modelling System with SolidWorks, the company has reduced the time to model new machines and put them into its system from about a week to half an hour,” says Michael Damsgaard, Development manager at AnyBody Technology.

•

skeletal and muscular systems at work in a physical environment such as a training machine To develop a special plug-in for SolidWorks, which makes it possible to retrieve the models of the machines directly from the CAD system

Solution: • The use of SolidWorks provides AnyBody Technology with easier access to new customer groups

• The usability of The AnyBody Modeling System has been greatly improved using SolidWorks for machine modeling

Results: • Massive time savings and access to new customers • The time to model a new machines and put them into Anybody ś system is reduced from about a week to half an hour.

www.anybodytech.com

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Man and machine are aligned with SolidWorks and AnyBody Massive time savings and access to new customers is among the benefits AnyBody Technology has gained by integrating SolidWorks with its advanced system for body modeling.

A

nyBody Technology develops software to model how humans and machines interact with each other.

By combining its biomechanical modeling system The AnyBody Modelling System with SolidWorks, the company has reduced the time to model new machines and put them into its systemfrom about a week to half an hour.

AnyBody Technology was founded in 2002 and the company is based on a research project that started at Aalborg University in 1997 involving computer optimization of machines such as bicycles and fitness equipment. The company has developed a so-called musculoskeletal model that is a universal virtual model of a human skeleton with joints and muscles, which is used to to study how the body interacts with machines.

The system is used to create dynamic simulations in 3D of the skeletal and muscular systems at work in a physical environment such as a training machine and used to study the stresses on the body. At the same time, a series of precise measurements are created that can form the basis for detailed analyzes in order to optimize the machines.

So far it has been very complex and taken a long time to write the code necessary to create models of machines inside the modeling system. To combat this inefficiency, AnyBody Technology has developed a special plug-in for SolidWorks, which makes it possible to retrieve the models of the machines directly from the CAD system. This opens up a range

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of new opportunities for both the company and its customers, says Michael Damsgaard, who is the development manager at AnyBody Technology. ”Our idea using SolidWorks is that the machines typically already exists as CAD models, which contain virtually all the information we need. Instead of having to model the machines in our own system with the plug-in for SolidWorks we very easily can write the necessary code, press a button and then the model of the machine is ready in our system,“ explains Damsgaard.

He emphasizes that the use of SolidWorks provides AnyBody Technology with easier access to new customer groups, because the usability of The AnyBody Modeling System has been greatly improved using SolidWorks for machine modeling. At the same time, the integration of the design process with the simulation system has become much closer: ”SolidWorks has a good interface with other systems. This means that smaller companies will be able to use our software in the development of their products. Also, for some of our existing customers, their work has become easier. They can make changes more quickly and flawlessly.“ In addtion to the software development, AnyBody Technology also operates a consulting business. With the addtion of SolidWorks, it is now possible to receive CAD models from customers and import the models into the simulation system quickly and seamlessly.

”This means for us that we now have access to companies that previously would not have dreamed of using our technology because it has been too complex to handle,” says Michael Damsgaard. He add “Previously we used around a week to develop a model of a complex machine in our own system. Now it takes only half an hour, if the CAD model is well defined for movement. This means that a lot of repetitive work processes are no longer needed and instead we can spend more time on adding value. Our typical customers can use SolidWorks as an advanced modeling editor for the AnyBody Modeling System, and the CAD model can be used as an exchange format between product design and analysis engineers or a consulting firm like AnyBody Technology.

“Michael Damsgaard believes that the integration between 3D CAD and the AnyBody Modeling System will be much closer in the future: “We expect that our technology will be included directly in the CAD system. This will make it possible to link man and machine closer together, and to maketypical biomechanical analyzes more accessible to customers who are used to working with the CAD tool,“ he says.

According to Damsgaard, SolidWorks was the logical choice of 3D CAD systems because it is a widely used and popular system that is easy to use and relatively inexpensive to acquire.

Additionally, access to the programming interface is open and easy to access, which is important for a software such as AnyBody.

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Reelight AS

R

eelight was founded in 2003 in a small apartment in the Danish town of Aarhus. The idea behind the company was to make magnetic bike lights without the use of batteries.

Since its foundation the company has grown to nine employees and has moved to larger premises. Today it is the world’s largest supplier of magnet-based bike lights.

Challenges: • To develop new and increasingly sophisticated

products at faster rates

with Chinese suppliers

assessment of design concepts

• To communicate effectively without errors • To easily create rapid prototypes for

Solution: • To design with SolidWorks and reuse design

components

SolidWorks

as a basis for 3D printing

• To produce technical documentation with • To use 3D files directly from the CAD system

Kenneth Linnebjerg, CEO:

Result:

with Chinese suppliers

“SolidWorks has helped to ensure that we can bring new and increasingly sophisticated products to market faster. This is a decisive competitive factor for us.”

models and 3D printing

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• Greatly reduced development time • Effective and virtually flawless communication • Efficient evaluation of design ideas from CAD

www.reelight.com

“The CAD software improves our efficiency in product development by automatically providing the files that are the basis of prototypes which are produced for us by prototyping agencies using 3D printing.”

Kenneth Linnebjerg, CEO

Prestigious design award goes to enlightening idea The Danish company Reelight has won the red dot “best of the best” award for its design of a bicycle lamp that turns on and off automatically using magnets.

G

ood design combined with smart environmentally friendly technology. That is a brief description of the basic idea behind the bicycle lights from the Danish company Reelight who has been using SolidWorks to develop all of its innovative products.

Recently Reelight became ten years old. The birthday was used to celebrate that the company in just a few years has become the world’s leading supplier of magnetic bike lights. More than one and a half million Reelights have been sold worldwide. In Denmark the lights are mounted on about 40 percent of all Danish bicycles.

The company has just won one of the most prestigious international design awards, the German reddot “best of the best” award for its newest product Reelight GO, created in collaboration with the Danish design agency KiBiSi.

For two years in a row, Reelight has won the Eurobike Award, which is awarded at the world’s largest bicycle trade show, Eurobike. The prizes were awarded for the products’ contribution to road safety, environmental friendliness and, not least, innovation.

Reelight’s products have up to now been based solely on a patented technology where custom magnets mounted on the wheel spokes and on the front or rear fork of the bike generates the electricity needed to power the lights using induction technology. With the GO Reelight, it has developed its first battery-powered product, but the magnets still play a crucial role, as they ensure that the lights turn on automatically when placed in the holders mounted on the bike, and is keeping the two light parts together when they are folded ready to be pocketed.

“We are very proud of the price and both our new product and the design award show that we have done the right thing by expanding our product range into battery-powered lights,” says CEO Kenneth Linnebjerg, Reelight.

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In the past seven years SolidWorks has played a key role in achieving Reelight’s goal of supremacy in innovative design of bicycle lights and new lighting technologies, explains Kenneth Linnebjerg: “Overall, SolidWorks helped to ensure that we can bring new and increasingly sophisticated products to market faster and it is a decisive competitive factor for us.”

Reelight’s Chinese manufacturers require good technical documentation in order to produce as effectively as possible. Reelight are both designing the products and generating the necessary technical documentation such as manufacturing drawings using SolidWorks. According to Kenneth Linnebjerg this means that the company avoids all the time consuming misunderstandings and mistakes that inadequate documentation could create in the ongoing communication with subcontractors.

Linnebjerg adds: “Furthermore, the CAD software improves our efficiency in product development by automatically providing the files that are the basis of prototypes which are produced for us by prototyping agencies using 3D printing.”

Kenneth Linnebjerg also stresses that SolidWorks has played a key part in Reelight’s efforts to streamline the design process at Reelight. The CAD software makes it possible to reuse components from existing products in new products, and also to make fairly accurate estimates of the cost of new products.

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TIME Danmark A/S

T

IME Denmark develops, manufactures and sells vehicle mounted lifts. The company is part of American lift manufacturer Versalift and is responsible for all sales of Versalift’s products outside ofNorth and South America. The company sells annually 1,200 lifts. The lifts are used primarily by electricity providers for tasks such as changing bulbs in street lights, but are also used for many other tasks in areas such as the building sector.

Challenges: • To maintain competitive advantage • To speed up the product development • To optimize weight and strength Solution: • SolidWorks Professional and Premium licenses tied together by the SolidWorks Enterprise PDM

• SolidWorks Simulation is used to simulate and

analyze the shear strain and fatigue of structures in order to optimize weight and strength A big part of the design work is done using SolidWorks’ Sheet Metal module

•

Results: • 50 percent faster product development time • Lighter and stronger structures with SolidWorks Simulation

• Parts always fit together • The number of prototypes have been reduced from typically three to only one

www.time-danmark.dk

Martin Adamsen, Head of the Technical Department: 24

“We use SolidWorks products on a large scale to make design, simulation analysis, production preparation, inventory and marketing materials. We are very structured in our development work.

Compared to earlier, we have been able to reduce development time by about 50 percent while at the same time developing increasingly complex designs.”

Lift producer achieves 50 percent faster development By using SolidWorks, Simulation and Enterprise PDM, Time Denmark has managed to decrease the development time for its vehicle mounted lifts dramatically.

I

n order to maintain competive advantage, Time Denmark needed to speed up the development of new and more advanced lifts for mounting on vehicles such as vans, pickups, cars and trucks. This required streamlining of the development process.

The challenge was met with an increasingly sophisticated use of software from SolidWorks, which has made it possible to cut development time by half while at the same time creating better and more advanced products.

The 85 employees at Time Denmark in the Northern Jutland town of Farsø, develops, manufactures, services and sells vehicle mounted lifts. The company is part of American lift manufacturer Versalift and is responsible for all sales of Versalift’s products outside of North and South America. The company sells annually 1,200 lifts with a working height of 12 to 15 meters. The lifts are used primarily by electricity providers for tasks such as changing bulbs in street lights, but are also used for many other tasks in areas such as the building sector.

Time Denmark is using seven SolidWorks licenses of which two are Premium licenses. In addition, the company has recently bought a SolidWorks Simulation Professional license and the complete system for product development is tied together by the SolidWorks Enterprise PDM. “We use SolidWorks products on a large scale to make design, simulation analysis, production preparation, inventory and marketing materials.

We are very structured in our development work. Compared to earlier, we have been able to reduce development time by about 50 percent while at the same time developing increasingly complex designs,” says Martin Adamsen, who is head of the technical department at Time Denmark.

The use of SolidWorks products has meant significant savings explains Martin Adamsen: “SolidWorks 3D design is much faster than 2D, which we used earlier. With 2D we needed more people in both development and other functions, so 3D has directly helped to save labor costs.”

Martin Adamsen also points out that by using SolidWorks, Time Denmark has been able to increase the reuse of portions of existing designs in the design of new lifts, which has reduced development time for new products.

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Lighter and stronger structures are crucial for Time Denmark. As the lifts are mounted on vehicles they can not be too heavy. SolidWorks Simulation is playing an important role in the creation of lighter and at the same time more robust structures: “We primarily use simulation to simulate and analyze the shear strain and fatigue of structures in order to optimize weight and strength,” says Martin Adamsen.

A big part of the design work is done using SolidWorks Sheet Metal module. The lifts consist of a large number of sheet metal parts, which are pinned together. According to Martin Adamsen, the use of the Sheet Metal module means that the parts always fit together, which means that the number of prototypes have therefore been reduced from typically three to only one: “With 2D design we lacked the possibility to be able to unfold sheet metal parts automatically, which meant more laborious work, more possibilities

for mistakes and the need for more prototypes.

Now the prototyping phase is much shorter.”

The PDM system is managing all information related to the construction work, but also plays a major role in the production preparation. The system automatically generates PDF documents with manufacturing drawings and DXF files used by subcontractors for the automatic laser cutting of sheet metal parts.

Furthermore, Time Denmark has developed its own version of SolidWorks built-in library with standard components. In addition to standard parts the library contains parts developed or purchased by the company. The parts are numbered using Time Denmark’s own part number system and are used for the creation of BOM’s and to generate picking lists for components in the warehouse.

25

SP Maskiner AB

S

P Maskiner is headquartered in the Swedish town of Ljungby with 35 employees and was founded in 1978.

The company is developing, manufacturing and marketing harvester heads for forestry machines with an annual turnover of around 11 million EUR. 70 percent of the products are exported. This includes highly specialized machines harvester heads for forestry of eucalyptus trees in Brazil.

Challenges: • Faster and more effective production of spare parts catalogs and user manuals • Less errors and higher quality of technical

documentation

different formats

• Offer customers a choice of documentation in Solution:

Benny Granath, Plant Manager: “We annually save one man-year by using the solution for the automatic generation of our aftermarket documentation and we bring more value to our customers. They receive flawless documentation, custom made for their unique machines in exactly the format they want, whether it is paper-based, on CD-ROM, online via our company web or any combination of the three.”

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• Integration of SolidWorks, SolidWorks

Enterprise PDM and Monitor ERP with SolidWorks Composer and CATALOGcreator Direct reuse of information from the PDM and ERP systems Generating documentation in PDF, CD/DVD or web format using CATALOGcreator

•

•

Result: • Yearly time-savings of one man-year • More value to customers with flawless high

quality documentation

documentation in different formats

• Possibility to offer a customers a choice of www.spmaskiner.se

Spare parts catalogs and manuals in half the time SP Maskiner creates customized parts catalogs and manuals for its tailor made forestry harvester heads in half the time using CATALOGcreator and SolidWorks Composer.

T

he Swedish producer of harvester heads for forestry machines SP Maskiner is now producing all its customized manuals that come with the company’s tailor made machines in half the time. At the same time, the quality of the manuals has become much higher. This is the result of a project in which SolidWorks, SolidWorks Enterprise PDM and ERP system have been integrated with SolidWorks Composer and the software package CATALOGcreator from PLM Group.

“Now one employee instead of two, can do the work, which means that we annually save one man-year by using the solution for the automatic generation of our aftermarket documentation and we bring more value to our customers. They get flawless documentation, custom made for their unique machines, in exactly the format they want, whether it is paper-based, on CD-ROM, online via our company web or any combination of the three,” says factory manager Benny Granath, SP Maskiner.

Since 2004 SP Maskiner has been using SolidWorks

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and SolidWorks Enterprise PDM from PLM Group.

Last year the company decided that it wanted to streamline the production of manuals and spare parts catalogs making it less labor intensive, involving fewer working hours. Furthermore, the goal was to enhance the quality of the documentation by eliminating possible sources of error in the preparation process.

CATALOGcreator gathers information from the SP Maskiner ERP system and combines them with 3D files and other technical information from SolidWorks Composer. The 3D files in SolidWorks Composer are generated in SolidWorks, controlled by SolidWorks Enterprise PDM and they are constantly updated when changes are made to the 3D models of the machines in SolidWorks. In CATALOGcreator, the user can choose the output format that the specific manual has to be published in.

The solution at SP machines was developed by SP Maskiner together with PLM Group in a pilot project where work routines and workflows in the production of manuals and parts catalogs were established in the software. ”It took a while before all the routines were in place but after the whole

workflow has been automated, there are a lot less potential sources of error, which results in much higher quality of our documentation. We are constantly doing follow up on the project identifying potential ways to become even more efficient,” says Benny Granath.

Next step for SP Maskiner is to use the information from the publishing solution to establish a web shop where customers can order parts for their machines: ”We reuse the same information that is used for their manuals. This ensures that the customer always order the correct spare parts. Furthermore, a shop order will be recorded directly in our ERP system, so it can be executed quickly and efficiently,” explains Benny Granath.

He also has high expectations that SolidWorks Composer will help to further streamline the production at SP Maskiner in the future: ”We already have big gains from using SolidWorks Composer and in the future we will use the system to make manuals for the production assembly of our machines based on the reuse of data that forms the basis of our aftermarket documentation.”

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PortalPLM – Smart and secure web service for SolidWorks Enterprise PDM PortalPLM is an easy to use ”Plug-and-Play” web service for SolidWorks Enterprise PDM. With PortalPLM companies can increase the reuse of and access to documents. This way collaboration both internally and externally can be taken to the next level.

PortalPLM users can access documents and information from any platform: Desktop, laptop, tablets or smartphone. Correct versions and revisions of Documents, can be accessed in a secure and smart way using any type of browser.

PortalPLM is a service build around a pre-configured Web Flavours.

Check it out plmgroup.eu/portalplm

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