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LEWCO, Inc. manufactures a varied line of pre-engineered material handling
equipment for material handling system integrators and end users. They receive
most of their orders via their conveyor catalog, which allows customers to
specify the length, width, height and other options on their conveyor orders.
LEWCO wanted to move their designs to a 3-D environment, and also obtain faster
quotations, next-day delivery, fewer design errors and lower manufacturing
costs. To meet these objectives, EDA developed an automated system based in
SolidWorks (a 3-D modeler) for over 80 models of conveyor frames listed in
LEWCO's catalog.
Conversion from 2-D to 3-D
LEWCO's engineering department was using over two thousand AutoCAD master
drawings, each of which contained design rules for that model's specific
lengths, widths, heights, sections, etc. As an initial step in the automation
process, EDA converted those two thousand AutoCAD master drawings into just
over two hundred master solids, with all of the possible
configurations for that model embedded in it. In this conversion process, many
design formula errors and inconsistencies were uncovered and standardized.
A quick tour of the automated
system
EDA integrated SolidWorks, Access, Excel, AutoCAD LT, and Optimation
software for a seamless and efficient automated system. The system begins in
Access, with configuration questions based on the sales database
LEWCO had already developed. As the sales specifications are entered into the
product configurator, the program uses LEWCO's design logic to automatically
eliminate choices that would result in incorrect conveyor configuration.
Once the conveyor has been configured, the automated system
converts the sales specifications into exact engineering specifications and
sends them to an Excel program for engineering calculations.
Excel applies design formulas to the specifications and calculates the
locations of all the holes in the conveyor frame. The results of Excel's
calculations are passed via EDA's Solid Design Controller program
to SolidWorks, where they drive parametric solid models and
assemblies. The result is three-dimensional parts and assemblies created based
on engineering design rules. Using SolidWorks' sheet metal feature,
corresponding 2-D layout drawings in .DXF file format are also created from
these solid models. AutoCAD LT and the Optimation
program then prepare these .DXF files so they can be used as laser cutting
machine-ready files. This entire process-from sales order to laser
machine-ready file-takes less than five minutes. LEWCO is now
promising
24-hour delivery on any of their conveyors which can be processed by
the automated system.
The Solid Design Controller
Our programming team developed the Solid Design Controller (SDC) program to
externally manipulate SolidWorks to build models on the fly. The SDC program
keeps track of paths and program settings, opens and runs the design programs,
and uses API calls to create SolidWorks part and assembly files.
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