3D CAD design tools are essential to product development in today’s competitive marketplace, substantially reducing the duration and cost of traditional product development methods. An idea can be quickly modelled in 3 dimensions allowing key stakeholders visualise the concept and quickly make changes on the run before any costly prototypes have been manufactured. We have experience using SolidWorks, Inventor & Unigraphics 3D CAD packages.
A few other key benefits are listed below,
Stress analysis – FEA (Finite Element Analysis) can be used to refine the strength of the design
Parts lists – BOM (Bill of Materials) are automatically created from the 3D model removing the human error from ordering material
Drawings automatically update – When the 3D CAD model changes the drawing geometry & dimensions update automatically
Animate mechanisms – Mechanical systems can be animated & clearance checks can be made
Generate sheet metal flat patterns – When modelling a sheet metal part the flat pattern for profile cutting is automatically generated
Rendered images – Images for marketing purposes can be made straight from the 3D model within SolidWorks before any prototypes have been made
Automatic weight & centre of gravity – When components & assemblies are modelled in 3D weight & centre of gravity are automatically generated.
Supplier components can be added to design – Most major component suppliers can provide 3D models of their hardware to enable the designer to accurately integrate it into the design minimising the chance of issues in production
Sharing of data – Remote collaboration is now easy with various tools available to send 3D files for review, so working remotely now a viable option.
Revision control – Whether using SolidWorks PDM (Product Data Management) to control the CAD files or not, keeping previous versions is a simple task.
If you would like a demonstration of the possibilities with SolidWorks 3D CAD or would just like to ask a few questions please give us a call, and we can have a no obligations free chat.