Mr. Manish Vats
Senior Manager,
Alpha Maier Private Limited
Alpha Maier Pvt. Ltd., an India-based company, were using 2D design software and 3D design software with basic capabilities as a design platform. It requires a sophisticated and advanced 3D design platform to handle the product design and product development for its wide range of products and bring together its design engineers in one place to collaborate effectively, innovate and validate the design for manufacturing. The company is involved predominantly in manufacturing plastic automobile parts and accessories which includes hub caps, glove boxes, fuel filler, etc. By using solutions with basic 3D design capabilities, the design engineers of Alpha Maier were facing certain challenges related plastic parts design and surface design and reusing of best features in a project related to design of fuel filler. This resulted into increased design time, less flexibility in 3D design which was also affecting the productivity of their design team. The company was looking for exclusive 3D design software with advanced surface design and plastic design capabilities which could play a significant role in re-use of best design practices in their regular design work.
Solution:
The company is using Dassault Systemes CATIA V5 design solutions to design and manufacture their products, create a virtual experience, and connect their engineers together on a single platform. CATIA design solution includes specialized workbench for advanced surface design and real time rendering. HD2 solution has advanced sweep options which enables the design engineers to design intricate and complex parts. It provides an extensive set of tools for creating and modifying mechanical surfaces used in the design of complex surfaces and hybrid parts. Its real time rendering features enables the designers to leverage technological material specifications to produce realistic rendering of their models. Knowledge Expert capability of CATIA V5 enables the designers to import and use knowledge stored in rule bases using Knowledge Expert 2 (KWE). These rules automate processes such as best practices, application processes and design validation.
With the CATIA V5 Engineering Excellence CATMSE – Mechanical and Shape Engineering Excellence package, there is a specialized workbench for advanced surface design and design for plastic components. This workbench includes operation tools such as Functional molded parts, Curve Analysis, and Repair, Adaptive Sweep, Laws, Mechanical Shape Optimization, Swept & Blend Surfaces, Free Style shape design, etc.
CATIA V5 Design solutions provides its users with some outstanding advanced surface design capabilities along real time rendering and Knowledge Expert workbenches which allows its users not only to design with advanced tools but also allow them to automate and reuse some design practices and application processes and design validation and corrections. The reports generated provide better identification of standards of violations and help to implement necessary corrections. The advanced capabilities CATIA part design enables the users to design with Boolean operations which keeps the part body in the design tree in layers and able to link the parts in a way so that so that the modifications and updates in cad model becomes easy. The use of certain knowledge templates commands like Power Copy enables the designer to reuse the best practices and commonly user commands without repeating the same activities. This indeed increases the productivity of the team and reduces time with CATIA Design. “Using the power copy, it’s easy to create & copy the feature & helps us to reduce the design time” says Mr. Manish Vats, Senior Manager at Alpha Maier. He also added that “It makes possible to CATIA Part design makes it possible to link CATIA Parts in a way, so that modifications & updates in cad becomes easy”.
CATIA V5 Engineering Excellence platform benefits from an extended set of commands along with Functional Molded parts workbench and advanced surface design capabilities present in the CATIA V5 software, the design time has been reduced significantly and the communication with the manufacturing team is seamless. CATIA Mechanical and Shape Engineer Excellence (CATMSE) This bundle is a sophisticated and advanced mechanical & shape design package. These complement the product definition and the high-quality surface operation process. The CATMSE bundle includes the following:
CAT3DX: CATIA V5 PLM Express
MPE: Molded Product Creation
FPE: Fabricated Product Creation
JTE: Jigs & Tooling Creation
FTX: 3D Master
TRE: Technological Specifications
PRX: Animated Product Review
HCX: Mechanical Shape Optimization
FSX: Freestyle Shape Design
CATIA – Generative Shape Design (GSD) helps to design advanced shapes based on a combination of wireframe and extensive multiple surface features, with full specification capture. It provides an extensive set of tools for creating and modifying mechanical surfaces used in the design of complex shapes or hybrid parts. Its feature-based approach offers a productive and intuitive design environment to capture and reuse design methodologies & specifications.
Drastically Reduce Lead-time
Reduce design time with true concurrent engineering on complex parts and assemblies. Check the validity and improve the geometry of your objects thanks to “Healing Assistant”. Take the manufacturing process and associated constraints into account in all phases of design with process-oriented features such as sheet metal and functional molded parts.
Reuse and Improve Existing Components
With a rich variety of standard and user-defined templates & components including embed drilling and manufacturing information, the engineer can design faster than ever and focus on added-value tasks. Mr. Vats also added that “By using the CATIA V5 design solutions in design of fuel filler, it helps us to reduce the design time & increased the productivity.”
Create, validate any type of surfaces.
With Freestyle Shape Design capability incorporated in CATIA V5, styled surfaces can be created from scratch to achieve better perceived quality. Validate surface quality thanks to high level diagnosis.
Modify any type of surface
Modify existing design to match higher aesthetical quality criteria and perform global/ local deformation on complex shapes without altering your model’s quality.
About Alpha Maier
Alpha Maier Private Limited – incorporated in Nov, 2011 as a Joint venture Company with Maier S.Coop. to engage in the business of manufacturing and sale of the various kinds of plastic automobile parts and accessories including but not limited to wheel covers, hub caps, glove boxes, IP parts, emblems, logos, grills, garnishes, side protectors, fuel filler caps, air inlet grill, other interior and exterior decorative and functional part.
Publication Date : March, 2023
About Altem Technologies Pvt. Ltd
Altem Technologies is a well-established 3D digital experience company that has been actively contributing to the industry for nearly 15 years. Initially rooted in PLM software and 3D Printing (representing Dassault Systemes India Pvt Ltd and Stratasys India respectively), Altem has successfully transformed into a prominent provider of comprehensive 3D digital solutions. Altem’s 3D Innovation platform offers an extensive array of products catering to various applications, including design, reverse engineering process, asset digitization, prototype manufacturing, life science, healthcare, culture and heritage, and consultancy services, among others. Altem with a diverse clientele spanning automotive, aerospace, manufacturing, healthcare, research academia, and more, Altem adeptly addresses the unique requirements of each industry through a combination of expertise and innovation. Our team comprises skilled professionals, including Scientists, Application Engineers, Designers, domain experts, and software specialists, all working collectively to deliver exceptional solutions to our valued customers.
Altem Technologies Pvt Ltd, besides being a major provider of 3D Scanning services in India, is also a leading provider of 3D Printing Services in India with 3D Printing technologies like FDM, Polyjet, DLP, Metal, etc. Altem offers a complete solution around 3D Digitization and Innovation and has emerged as a one-stop-shop for all 3D Printing, 3D Scanning, CAE, PLM, and Life Science needs, offering a wide spectrum of products for engineering and life sciences companies in India.
