Switch to 3D makes electrical sense

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Feb 21, 2008

North America's largest manufacturer of electrical and electronic wiring devices has purchased 300 licences of SolidWorks 3D CAD software to speed product development and improve global collaboration.

The White House, a Napa Valley winery, an oil rig in Canada and 90% of the homes in the USA all use electrical wiring devices from Leviton, North America's largest manufacturer of electrical and electronic wiring devices.

The company has purchased 300 licences of SolidWorks 3D CAD software to speed product development and improve global collaboration as it continues to strengthen its market leadership.

Based in Little Neck, New York, Leviton began as a two-person operation providing tip mantles (devices which produce light) for gas lamps in 1906.

Since then, it has expanded its product set to more than 25,000 unique items made in plants in the USA, China and Mexico and distributed in more than 100 countries.

It sells everything from decorative wall-mounted light switches to commercial lighting systems, industrial cameras, speakers, relays and uninterruptible power supplies.

For almost 18 years the company had been using various iterations of CoCreate (now a Parametric Technology Corp (PTC) product) prior to selecting SolidWorks, CosmosWorks Advanced Professional design validation, and PDMWorks Enterprise product data management software.

"We're dealing with 25,000 different SKUs in a fiercely competitive market", says Scot Hale, Senior Manager of Engineering Service at Leviton.

"We could no longer endure the delays of trying to modify master files, which were mostly in 2D because the software couldn't handle the changes in 3D".

"SolidWorks will make engineering changes fast, easy, and accurate, which will help us deliver more innovative products faster to market".

The nature of electrical plugs, outlets, and other close-fit components mandates exact tolerances.

Previously, Leviton had to outsource much of its design analysis to ensure accuracy.

CosmosWorks will enable the company to keep more product development in-house because engineers will be able to see precise fits within the design window.

"We wanted an FEA tool that engineers could use on their desktops without having to work in two disconnected applications".

"SolidWorks and CosmosWorks fit the bill", says Hale.

Leviton plans to improve internal collaboration with PDMWorks Enterprise, which will enable engineers around the world to access the latest versions of every product design, work concurrently on the same designs, and ensure version control.

Engineers will also more easily share design information with sales, marketing, scheduling, billing, and other operations when Leviton integrates PDMWorks Enterprise with its Oracle database.

Leviton will also improve collaboration with customers, partners, suppliers, and others using SolidWorks' eDrawings design communication tool.

eDrawings allows users to send design files in e-mails that recipients can open, view, rotate, pan and manipulate as if they were holding the drawing in their hands.

SolidWorks' widespread use around the world will also help make communicating with third parties easy and efficient.

"It will be great to work with a component development tool that is an industry standard", says Hale.

"Working in native file formats with vendors is not something we've been able to do very often".

Hale also expects to take advantage of SolidWorks' tool and die manufacturing partners to help further streamline production.

"Leviton's customers demand performance, durability, and increasingly, aesthetic flair", says Jeff Ray, SolidWorks CEO.

"Selecting SolidWorks reinforces the company's century-long commitment to innovating better products that meet the needs of its customers, be they commercial building managers looking for sophisticated lighting systems or homeowners who want sleek light controls".

Leviton relies on authorised SolidWorks reseller Cimquest for ongoing software training, implementation, and support.