Pump maker slashes times on 3D

"There’s definitely opportunities to be more innovative now," says Chris Magor, engineering director at UK-based pump manufacturer Watson-Marlow Bredel. "With 3D collaborative software we have the ability to design-for-manufacture from an early stage of new design projects." And Magor insists that implementing design software vendor CoCreate’s OneSpace Designer 3D modelling, engineering data management (EDM) and finite element analysis (FEA) software has helped reduce production and assembly cycle times. “It’s proving far easier to create new products as we have production input from the concept stage. We can ensure products are easy to assemble with less fixings. Our earlier problems with reworking have been eliminated and wastage in our design process has been reduced.” But there’s more. Magor says assembly time for a drive unit for one of the firm’s pump heads has been cut from 1 hour to 20 minutes since introducing OneSpace Designer. And assembly documentation has also improved, as designers are now able to eliminate old-style general assembly drawings. Even production now uses 3D diagrams and ‘photographic’ rendered images. The company designs and manufactures a range of peristaltic pumps for the ceramics, water and waste industries. There are three manufacturing sites: the UK, Netherlands and Sweden. The pumps are designed to handle fluids at rates from a few microlitres per second to 80 cubic metres an hour - quite a range. In the mid-90s, the UK site decided to move from 2D drafting software to 3D modelling to try to improve the product development process from initial concept design to manufacturing. Magor explains: “We wanted to move our design on from being virtually ‘etch-a-sketch’ in 2D, to a more interactive 3D design process, involving the marketing and production engineers in the decision-making process at a much earlier stage.” The designers were using AutoCAD for 2D drafting but found the experience limiting. “Nobody outside the engineers could visualise the design using this approach. Whereas 3D visualisation of new designs are easily understood by all parties in the development process,” adds Magor. “Our prime aim was the need to take risk out of new projects by bringing production and marketing earlier into the design process.” The prime driver for 3D was the desire to get designs for new pumps “right first time”. Magor says the firm’s designers have been faced with a need to define ever more complex pump shapes and styles over the last 10 years and clients are demanding higher quality products too. “This means ironing out problems in the early design stages. And if you use 3D design effectively, it’s possible to improve designs while chipping away at your production costs.” But it’s not just been a matter of buying new software. It’s a familiar story really. The company had a very departmentalised approach to marketing, design and production. This meant frequent, time-consuming exchange and modification of design information. There’s now a more integrated, inter-departmental approach though. “We initiated a complete process change in the design culture,” he continues. “We now feel we’re a team working towards a common goal.” Tooling and production are benefiting in other ways. 3D means better clash detection and is helping to eliminate problems with tolerance build-up. Magor explains that the firm had been experiencing communication problems with toolmakers that often misinterpreted 2D drawings of complex pump-head arrangements. “Lead times into production have been reduced due to the elimination of fully dimensioned drawings. Now only critical dimensions are required. As a result, the traditional draughtsperson has been almost entirely eliminated,” he says. After careful consideration of several 3D design systems, Magor says the team selected OneSpace Designer based on Solid Designer for 3D, then CoCreate’s FEA package and more recently CoCreate’s EDM solution based on Work Manager technology for model documentation, supplied by CoCreate software distributor Definitive Applications, based in Newbury. Initially the firm installed two seats of OneSpace Designer but now has six. The CAD system originally ran on H-P dedicated workstations but now operates on high-end PCs. The designers started with a couple of ME10 licences to look after legacy drawings but now use the 2D toolkit within SolidDesigner. And CoCreate’s finite element analysis package was ‘bolted on’ later to test prototype models. More recently CoCreate’s EDM Solution based on Work Manager-technology for model documentation has also been introduced. Less risk in toolmaking Back to the benefits though. Toolmaking is now more accurate using models generated by OneSpace Designer. CAD models are translated using IGES, or occasionally shown via video conferencing, for Far East toolmakers who handle casting and plastic injection mouldings. Magor maintains, “OneSpace Designer has taken the risk out of our communications with toolmakers. We now know that when we send them a 3D model, what we get is what we asked for. There’s no interpretation left in the process.” He adds that the software is relatively easy to learn. “We can get a new engineer up, running and useful with the CAD system within four or five weeks, including the company’s induction process.” FEA has helped accelerate the design process. Engineers who used to spend weeks producing prototype pumps that had to undergo considerable test programmes, can now be modelled on-screen. For example, FEA is used to test the performance of the load arm on the firm’s rotor assembly, modelling a variety of material properties, different loadings and the impact of extensive stress on the part. Magor: “Now we can test a new part model on-screen in a day and move on. Previously we spent two weeks creating a prototype and a couple more weeks testing it.” And introducing the EDM Work Manager software for model documentation has simplified the sharing of design data. “Once you get input from a few designers using OneSpace, Work Manager becomes essential. We use it as a PDM tool to ensure parts can’t be modified without others knowing what’s going on. It avoids having multiple versions going round the system.” Though all new 3D work now uses Work Manager, the firm is currently backtracking to get earlier 3D models onto the database. Eventually, that technology will organise and control all the legacy information, including the original AutoCAD data, plus test and assembly instructions. Although Magor says the use of OneSpace Designer hasn’t actually reduced the number of prototypes developed by the design team, it has improved how the product is represented. “We can now generate rapid prototypes of complex 3D designs relatively easily, as people like to see how prototype pumps will look, feel and operate. But we still spend a lot of money on prototyping to minimise the risk of errors, before getting into final production.” OneSpace Designer has helped reduce the evaluation time from design to manufacture. “We’ve taken a few iterations out of the cycles between design and production. It’s difficult to assess specific time savings as the designs have got more complicated. We probably do as much prototyping as before but more effectively now.” As for ROI, Magor elaborates further, “Our decision to acquire CoCreate’s EDM solution was dictated by the need for better risk management rather than any specific ROI. There was a distinct fear that 3D drawings could become out of control as they went through several iterations at the same time.” Looking ahead, Magor says the firm is eager to improve the design process further. “We don’t expect anything as significant as the change to 3D solid modelling from 2D but as the department grows we expect to take on more seats.” There are also plans to share product data via the web with its sister companies in Sweden and Holland, using EDM software. “Our aim is to use the Internet to ensure they have correct information for supporting and servicing the product range. “One of our medium-term goals is to start sharing drawings externally over the web. We want designers to publish 3D models direct to a web server so that relevant parties can access it through their browsers.”