Rules-based system reduces design-office pressure

Vector International has added DriveWorks software to its SolidWorks-based design office.

Vector International designs and manufactures compact connection and sealing technology solutions for piping, vessel and pressure containment in the oil and gas, nuclear, processing, chemical, mining and aerospace industries around the world.

Vector works closely with major operators and contractors across the globe, developing partnerships based on design, manufacture, supply, and long-term support.

Vector International was originally established in 1987 and in 2003 merged with SPO (Steelproducts Offshore), the highly respected Norwegian flange and clamp connector manufacturer.

Today with offices in the key global industrial regions, Vector is committed to designing and manufacturing the safest most secure and efficient pipe sealing and pressure containment technology available.

In-house engineers are able to design, test and manufacture bespoke pressure containment and sealing solutions.

Vector has four seats of SolidWorks and in August 2004 bought two seats of DriveWorks, the SolidWorks Certified Gold Partner for knowledge based engineering/design automation.

"We're always looking at ways to work more effectively and efficiently".

"We were aware of the pressures on our design office".

"Every drawing needs checking, and this can be very labour intensive".

"It is also very repetitive and tedious", explains Vector Design Engineer, Nick Robertson.

"Moreover, checking drawings is prone to human error and one mistake can cost a lot of money".

"We're also very aware that we're a vital link in the chain and production is reliant on our checked drawings to manufacture".

"Many of our designs are variations of something that we have done before tailored to a customer's needs, and we have specific rules that can be applied".

"A lot of that information already existed inside the company, and we felt that if we could organise this effectively using a rules-based system we would be able to ensure the drawings are right first time and reduce the need for manual intervention and checking".

"Initially we thought that we would probably write an in-house program that we would use to look up relevant rules and values associated with our drawings", says Robertson.

"We were not sure that there were any generic products that would be able to deliver what we were looking to achieve".

"We were happy with SolidWorks and discussed our requirements with our SolidWorks Reseller NTCADCAM who gave us an initial demonstration of DriveWorks".

"What we saw looked interesting and we started to realise that a lot of the data we already had could be incorporated into DriveWorks and then accessed via a friendly interface".

Robertson continues: "We purchased two licences of DriveWorks and have captured the rules for the Techlok clamp connector hub - one of our most successful products offering significant weight and space savings over traditional flanges, of high value to our customers".

"We already had a spreadsheet which we had been building over the years and where we had recorded the basic rules that apply for this particular product and we can use this data as part of our DriveWorks implementation".

"In DriveWorks we have created our own custom user interface for specifying new and variant hubs".

"The great thing about this is that as engineers we know all the questions that need to be asked".

"Others such as members of our production engineering and technical sales teams can now create their own specifications and relevant outputs, including the drawings".

"Once we know that the values in the spreadsheet are correct we can virtually eliminate the need to physically check the drawings".

"Another big advantage is that we have set up our DriveWorks implementation to include two levels of drawing", adds CAD Engineer Mike Sheehan.

"DriveWorks lets us determine what we include".

"On the one hand, production needs a full set of manufacturing drawings".

"DriveWorks generates this according to the inputs/requirements entered by the user".

"On the other hand, customers often request a drawing but we may not wish to include all the technical detail".

"These can be generated very quickly and ensure that the customer receives a professional response".

"A further advantage is that now, with the user interface that we have created in DriveWorks, others can produce their own drawings".

"We intend to formalise this so that members of our production engineering and technical sales teams can generate their own drawings".

Other outputs include the DWG files for the CAM system.

"It's interesting that during the course of the implementation we have seen wider applicability for DriveWorks", says Robertson.

"In particular we are looking at how it will link into our other manufacturing systems".

"The current quotation process is quite complex and could be simplified and improved using DriveWorks".

"Longer term we would like the ability to generate quotes on the web whilst still capturing all the information required by manufacturing".

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