CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
17 April 2007
Implementation Investments
BM - Battery Machines Optimizes Development Processes With CoCreate
CoCreate Software Inc . announced the successful introduction of a third-generation PLM solution environment at BM - Battery Machines. The company will now be able to guarantee process continuity because the basis of the development environment now lies within CoCreate OneSpace Modeling, OneSpace Model Manager, and CoCreate's Sheet Metal module, as well as the integration of this design environment into the Product Planning and Control (PPC) systems.
BM - Battery Machines is a world market leader in enveloping and stacking machines for the battery industry. The machine produces up to 220 pockets and processes up to 500 plates per minute. With an export quota of 98%, around two-thirds of the company's sales volume occurs outside Europe in countries including Mexico, South Africa, India and China. The successful BM Group, with its 50 highly-qualified employees, today generates an annual turnover of approx. 5.5 million Euros.
Several years ago, the high-tech company opted for CoCreate products for its design department. By integrating these products with its PPC system, BM - Battery Machines now has an integrated product development environment at its disposal; featured are OneSpace Modeling as its 3D CAD tool, CoCreate's Sheet Metal module for the optimized production of steel plates, and OneSpace Model Manager for the efficient management and re-use of design data. The processes between design and production are fully automated.
"By automating processes between design and production -- made possible by linking the PPC and design environments with automatic parts lists -- we spend far less time duplicating work. This means we save several hours' work per part list," says Rainer Prokop, BM Design Manager.
With the integration of the systems, employees in purchasing and production can readily access up-to-date information. That means a lot for projects with short deadlines, where design, production and commissioning overlap.
Thanks to production-based design, no more production errors occur in sheet metal processing. Information about preferred material and available tools, as well as expert knowledge about sheet metal production, resides in rich master models. Once designers finish, the sheet metal component is processed and the supplier receives the blank as a drawing which contains the exact drill-holes and dimensions for each sheet. Re-inputting of data and the associated costs and sources of error become a thing of the past.
At the same time, assembly time shrinks as components come together quickly with precise, pre-drilled holes instead of time-consuming welds.
Rainer Prokop is extremely pleased: "I estimate that we save at least 15-20% in assembly time, which of course reduces costs. From my point of view, that proves that CoCreate's approach with rich models and automated, integrated processes through system integration, leads to economic advantages for high-tech manufacturing companies. We have definitely profited."
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