Power supply company makes CAD choice

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Aug 30, 2007

CoCreate's OneSpace Suite helps companies to quickly react to unexpected changes, resolving fundamental problems in a way that would be difficult with a history-based system.

Pfisterer Sefag has chosen the CoCreate OneSpace Suite, placing CoCreate OneSpace Modeling and CoCreate OneSpace Model Manager on all of its engineering desktops.

The implementation was made with the help of Leuthold + Partner from Winterthur, a partner of CoCreate Software distributor Acadis.

Four Pfisterer competence centres develop and produce components and systems for power supply networks with voltages ranging from 500V to 765kV.

Pfisterer Sefag is located in Malters, Switzerland, and employs about 150 people in its overhead power line competence centre.

As part of the implementation of a company-wide development environment, the company tried a history-based CAD system.

But the design department in Malters was skeptical about that change.

About 95% of revenues come from project business.

Plus, changes to designs shortly before production occur frequently, and the projects often demand very tight deadlines, exactly where the history-free approach can support product development.

"With a history-based system, fundamental mistakes in a design in the early development stages become too difficult to resolve later on", says Thomas Birrer, Head Designer of the Overhead Power Line division.

"Such systems are hardly appropriate for customer-specific development".

Hans-Ueli Studer, IT Director of the company, adds, "CoCreate's OneSpace Suite targets companies that need to quickly react to unexpected changes and new demands during the development process".

"You couldn't describe our situation during development better".

"Isolators are sometimes ordered shortly before the pylons are completed".

"And, of course, this all has to happen very quickly".

"This was a primary and objective argument for the decision".

In the end, the company equipped all its engineering desktops with OneSpace Modeling and OneSpace Model Manager, with the data migrated into OneSpace Model Manager.

All designers now work in a standard OneSpace-based environment for developing in either 2D or 3D.

The 3D-based product development is already improving workflows throughout the company, right down to production.

Ever since the mould builders started receiving the cast components as 3D models, development time went from an average of six to eight weeks to three to four weeks.

At the end of 2006, the company used OneSpace Modeling for the first time to create a silicon-supporting insulator for 824kV DC voltage, which will be put to use in China.

In Europe, large power lines typically carry up to 420kV.

Thanks to the 3D CAD model, designers could efficiently perform the calculations needed to ensure the insulator met that the required load values.

The prototype of the new isolator arrived on time and has already been successfully tested.