Dynamic modelling adds a new dimension

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Nov 7, 2007

Chikuma Seiki was looking for a 3D product development platform that would allow immediate response to customer-driven requirement changes.

Chikuma Seiki has made the move from 2D to 3D product development processes with the CoCreate OneSpace Suite.

Chikuma Seiki develops a broad range of technology products ranging from precision processing machinery to development technology for electronics and embedded software.

Chikuma Seiki's strong manufacturing heritage with precision instruments, personal computers, optical thin film vacuum deposition and precise multiwire saws led the company to develop, design and manufacture factory automation devices for external customers.

The company is an engineering intensive business where its 60-plus engineers make up nearly 40% of the organisation's workforce.

Chikuma Seiki sought a 3D product development platform that would allow immediate response to customer-driven requirement changes.

This led the company to choose the dynamic modelling based approach of CoCreate OneSpace Modeling.

A dynamic modelling based approach is history-free.

By eliminating history, CoCreate's 3D CAD software breaks the dependency on tracking and ordering the sequence of 2D profiles and 3D modelling operations to drive changes to a product design.

As a result, Chikuma Seiki's designers concentrate completely on coming to the best design without concern for the planning or reordering of 3D CAD modelling steps.

The flexibility of CoCreate's approach frees Chikuma Seiki engineers to easily incorporate customers' requirements and unexpected changes at all stages of development.

Additionally, the company has dramatically improved communication with all product development stakeholders by making the move from 2D to 3D CAD.

Communicating with lifelike 3D models has both increased the quality of communication and decreased the time spent in meetings.

"Because the product is very easy to learn designers can master it in a surprisingly short period of time".

"Engineers are fabricating models in only three hours after a brief introduction".

"Others are operating design work just as they did with 2D one week later", says Daishi Miyahara, a member of the design group within the factory automation section of Chikuma Seiki.

Chikuma Seiki included the deployment of CoCreate OneSpace Model Manager and the Advanced Design and BOM Editor addon modules in their transition to a 3D product development process.

OneSpace Model Manager provides Chikuma Seiki's development team with an integrated data management solution for orchestrating current 3D design projects.

Additionally, OneSpace Model Manager enables lightweight graphics within OneSpace Modeling.

The high performance handling of large assemblies proved to be a decisive factor for the company's adoption of OneSpace Model Manager.

The company expects to attain additional productivity benefits through the reuse and repurposing of existing 3D product designs on new development projects as its design database grows.

CoCreate channel partner Obic supported Chikuma Seiki with both its evaluation and implementation of the CoCreate OneSpace Suite.