CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
11 October 2005
Implementation Investments
FISHER/UNITECH Helps Wise Plastics Technologies Realize Up To 40% Reduction in Design Cycle Times
Wise Plastics Technologies Inc., headquartered in St. Charles, Illinois, has realized a 30-40% reduction in the design cycle times of its injection molded components and assemblies since the implementation of SolidWorks® 3D mechanical design software. In addition, the Stratasys Dimension 3D printer has helped the company simplify model production and generate additional revenue by building concept model parts in hours, not days.
Wise Plastics Technologies provides custom state-of-the-art engineering through in-house tooling and prototyping for the military, consumer product, medical, automotive and electronics industries. The medical industry comprises nearly 60% of the company's target market.
FISHER/UNITECH , the leading SolidWorks reseller in the Midwest, assisted Wise Plastics Technologies with the implementation. "Exceeding customer expectations is the hallmark of our company," said Fred Wise, president of Wise Plastics. "With FISHER/UNITECH, SolidWorks and the Dimension 3D Printer, we've been able to shorten delivery times, help customers with their design verifications and get products to market faster."
Wise Plastics Technologies' engineering department replaced AutoCAD® with SolidWorks Office 2006 as the lead software for the design of its injection parts and consumer products. "We chose SolidWorks for its compatibility with our customer base and range of design features," said Dave Otto, V.P. of Sales and Engineering for Wise Plastics. "SolidWorks has helped us take in and generate models and drawings in many different formats, streamlining the work between suppliers and customers." SolidWorks and the integrated COSMOSXpressT tool have helped reduce several design issues. The interference check tool allows for easy assembly confirmation, while COSMOSXpress is used to evaluate the differences in materials for possible cost reductions.
The Dimension 3D printer from Stratasys has helped Wise Plastics Technologies minimize the number of prototypes required to verify production tools. "Now that we're able to supply our customers with a fast, low-cost physical model, it has accelerated the approval process," said Otto. The Dimension 3D printer enables the company to share 3D parts with its supply chain, function as a service bureau for additional revenue and utilize 3D models for sales and marketing. "The Dimension printer has shortened our development time on projects and increased our level of confidence overall for our applications," said Otto. "We also use it to create our own components for secondary operation fixtures, saving us thousands of dollars and many hours of work."
Wise Plastics Technologies chose to work with value-added reseller FISHER/UNITECH based on its strong technical support, training and implementation strategy.
Wise Plastics Technologies Inc ., formerly Wise-Hamlin Plastics since 1974, is a custom producer of close tolerance plastic injection molded components. As an ISO 9001:2000 registered manufacturer, Wise Plastics Technologies produces components and assemblies for a diverse group of domestic and international OEM companies including the medical, electronics, military, commercial display, consumer, automotive and telecommunications industries.
The Dimension 3D Printing Group is a business unit of Stratasys, Inc., based in Minneapolis, Minn. Dimension 3D printers-which include the legacy Dimension and the enhanced Dimension SST-are networked, desktop modeling systems that provide CAD users a fast, office-friendly, low-cost alternative for building functional 3D prints. Dimension 3D printers build accurate models layer by layer using durable ABS plastic, allowing users to not only evaluate design concepts, but test 3D prints for functionality, form and fit. As the first desktop 3D printer that sells for less than $25,000, Dimension incorporates many key features found in modeling systems that cost tens of thousands of dollars more. For more information, visit http://www.dimensionprinting.com .
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