Provide a full set of manufacturing drawings from 3D modelled data provided. Needing to generate the base set of drawing data for 200-300 parts can be time-consuming, tying up designers when the job is most suited for a CAD technician type role.
What we did
The most essential element for this client was to ensure really smooth communication channels. We enabled a secure area within the website to transfer both the model data from the client and the finished drawings from Catwards back to the client. In our experience this is the most efficient way to facilitate this. The client does not have to worry about their firewall, or the effects of sending large amounts of data via the email system. Another crucial element was to ensure our file structure for the project matched that of the client’s. When using Inventor this is crucial, otherwise it looses track of where all the elements are stored and cannot make the links again with all the library data.
Conclusion
The project was completed on time and within budget. Although not all drawings were necessarily completely right when they left us, as the design was still live and being worked on whilst we were producing the drawings. Because the models and drawings are always linked the drawings automatically corrected once the new model was loaded. The importance for this job was of getting the base data set created. Changing a CAD drawing takes very little time. It’s the creation of the drawing in the first place that is time consuming.
What the client says
“Utilising the Catwards team to produce good quality manufacturing/engineering drawings meant our team could carry on with the essential design work. It was like having another team member. To have this resource that we can switch on and off to cope with the peaks and troughs has been enormously beneficial to us. Catwards understood that our need was to get the data set produced as quickly as possible. Not all drawings were 100% correct, but this meant we had a ‘light touch’ input just to get them in line with company standards.”
Steve Smith – Engineering Projects Manager Arcall PLC