Symetri helps Ellis Furniture implement digital workflow
1 min read
Ellis Furniture is reporting reduced errors and accelerated time to market since going live with Autodesk CAD software integrated directly with its ERP system.
It's all about streamlining workflow. Director Tom Ellis says that Inventor CAD now feeds the 3D model, with all the data behind it, into the ERP system, which in turn creates work orders and segment values that drive CNC machinery.
Previously, the West Yorkshire-based company used design software such as Google SketchUp and 20-20 CAD (for kitchens and bathrooms), with BoM data held on Excel spreadsheets and fed into ERP manually.
Ellis explains that the integration of CAD and ERP systems is not that common, so the firm needed to find consultants who could demonstrate understanding of the issues.
"It was no good working with a reseller, who could only tell us to open the box," says Ellis. "We considered a number of Autodesk partners, but Symetri stood out. We wanted to optimise our investment and Symetri had the expertise."
In fact, Ellis went for a range of Autodesk software, including Inventor (with Inventor iLogic), Vault and 3ds Max. "We had a huge amount of information in our ERP system and effectively we have translated it over to iLogic. [This] is more flexible, and so enables us to write all the rules behind the 3D image and around the information we need to drive our CNC," explains Ellis.
He says that, apart from hugely improved workflow, other benefits include animation and simulation, with Inventor now helping designers to communicate ideas better with the shopfloor.
"I've always thought that having written instructions is like trying to do a jigsaw without a picture," comments Ellis. "Now our designers can explain how a drawer opens and closes, show hinges in detail and so on. They are not demonstrating a complex piece of engineering, but even simple, visual explanation helps get it right first time."
For Ellis, though, the success of this implementation is in large part down to Symetri. "Thousands of manufacturers use Inventor for straightforward product design, with no desire to push it any further," he asserts. "However, we came at it from a different angle, primarily to tie everything together.
"We'd made mistakes in the past, following the implementation of our ERP system, but this time, using Symetri we had their experience and knowledge to guide us through."
