No one can break iron with hands, yet sometimes it is desired. At least, that's how it feels for entrepreneurs in the metalworking industry who are asked to make a prototype. TopSolid's CAD CAM software makes it possible to create new products or prototypes with the same ease as a repeat order.
The faster a company can respond to a request, the more likely it is that an order will follow. This is true in the metalworking industry, for example, for prototypes. "On this subject, I sometimes see companies struggling," says Michel Peters, sales manager at CAM, CAD and PDM supplier TopSolid. "A lot of companies are now looking for ways to make new products or prototypes as if it were a repeat order."
Entrepreneurs are regularly asked to deliver a new product or to make a prototype for it. They want to be able to do that faster, but at the same time they need to remain reliable by delivering quality and meeting delivery times. Peters: "These sound like logical wishes, but are they and how do you do this as a company?" With the latter, how to respond to contemporary desires and speed, Peters says entrepreneurs too often emphasize details. "Details are hugely important, but those who want to respond quickly to a customer demand should put more emphasis on the aspects of standardization and processes."
Suppose a customer puts down a request to create a new product, geometry is one of the few modifying variants in that process. "But anyone who thinks carefully will have to recognize that a lot of elements of the new product are familiar," Peters says. "A machine, tools, chucking equipment don't change, and the materials machining entrepreneurs typically remain the same as well. If the standard data are available in the software, then you can start producing pretty quickly. It comes down to sending the basic data to the workshop and activating the machine. Then the operator checks that production of the first specimen has succeeded."
Peters says that when a request is made for a prototype or new product with much of the same technology, the bulk of subcontractors can do pretty much the same thing they have done before. "The geometry may be different, but many products have tapped holes that are similar, for example. With TopSolid, you can very easily repeat what you did before and automatically assign tasks. All you have to do continuously is record your experience and knowledge in the system.
Thinking in standards and processes, while CAD CAM software provides the basis for working-
present prepared, Peters says, saves a lot of time. "A room may be somewhere else, but it's a similar room. That's what the software sees, which then organizes the data properly. Then, thanks in part to our shopfloor system, you can switch a machine around faster. Several of our customers have thus designed a reliable system that works on the basis of NC codes. If everyone does what's in the system, you create a reliable solution and also produce prototypes faster."
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