3D Die-Design Software Provides Competitive Edge
September 1, 2008Comments
Berkshire Manufactured Products, Inc., Newburyport, MA, a stamping, machining and fabricating company, serves aircraft-engine, aerospace, communications, medical and other markets. Berkshire has evolved its CAD capabilities over the years to achieve a competitive edge. It has made the leap to 3D die design courtesy of SolidWorks and add-ons 3DQuickPress and 3DQuickForm, distributed in the United States by Strategic Technology Solutions, Buffalo Grove, IL.
“Most of our work comes from aerospace and involves complex shapes,” says Peter Meymaris, senior tool designer at Berkshire. “For nearly 20 to 30 percent of what we work on we need to use 3DQuickForm, a companion product of 3DQuickPress, to unfold. I can find the blank contour and thinning within 5 min. More complex parts can take a few hours to unfold.
“I can directly apply the blank contour for the detail strip design,” he continues. “The integration of 3DQuickForm with 3DQuickPress makes it a pleasure to conduct the formability test right at every complex forming station. Before we implemented SolidWorks/3DQuickPress design systems, we had to do a lot of guess work—it was slow and incurred uncertainties. With SolidWorks/3DQuickPress technologies, we can visualize the design, and the problems. Our time is used to figure out the best layout strategy rather than wasting it on the laborious work of modeling and drafting.”The introduction of a deep-draw calculator to 3DQuickPress, which Meymaris sees as practical for modeling symmetric parts, gives him “the freedom to finish my job on time with accuracy,” he says.
Meymaris credits his record in achieving 290 designs in 230 days to a combination of experienced die design, good hardware, and the SolidWorks /3DQuickPress software.
See also: Strategic Technology Solutions
Technologies: Software
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