Online catalogue includes 3D CAD models

As part of an expanded online catalogue service from WDS designers and production engineers now have a choice of over 10,000 individual parts to download as 3D files.

As part of an expanded online catalogue service from WDS, the largest supplier of standard parts and production equipment in the UK, designers and production engineers now have a choice of over 10,000 individual parts to download as 3D files to suit virtually any current 3D CAD package.

Having access to so many useful parts in native file formats direct from the product supplier ensures that items can be quickly and accurately assessed by the customer and seamlessly integrated into designs, speeding up the entire design process.

Tim Richards, WDS Sales and Marketing Director, explains the motivation behind the project, "An effective policy of continuous communication with our customers has made it clear to us that both design and production engineers are under ever increasing pressure to control production costs and reduce time-to-market.

In providing instant access to ready-to-use 3D design items via the web and eliminating any file or format transfer barriers, WDS has addressed an area in the design process where we can be of most benefit.

Using the new online catalogue, customers working with virtually any 3D design package can save time, improve accuracy and take advantage of the added convenience the service provides.

We are listening to our customers needs and investing in the best available technology to provide the ultimate in service support".

He adds, "Recently published figures from the EMTA illustrate that in order to compete in the global economy, many UK engineering firms have become smaller, faster moving and more flexible in order to be viable economic units.

The implication for design and production engineers is that their roles have to follow suit; a designer no longer has the time to model a threaded fastener or a small fixture from scratch or use line drawings provided by other suppliers".

Peter Heselton, WDS Marketing Manager comments on the implications for customers as WDS develop their route to market, "We will continue to produce the main WDS catalogue in paper and CD ROM format while there remains a significant demand.

The increased use of the web as a resource and the continual introduction of new products to the WDS range does mean however, that the live nature of our online service satisfies more of the criteria for our future growth in terms of sales and technical support channels.

The new 3D CAD file download feature represents a large step forward in developing our route to market, not only does it add convenience to the design process, but when the files are integrated into new designs, the items are tagged with the part number.

This ensures that the right part is finally ordered and there is less room for misinterpretation between design and assembly stages".

The proliferation of 3D CAD packages on the market today means that there are only a limited number of cross platform file types available.

When designs are transferred between client and supplier this means that often the files do not carry the viewing, annotation and amendment features both parties are used to, let alone the ability to integrate the item into an existing design without additional work.

It was therefore essential to WDS to be able to supply drawings that were compatible with the customer's software, whatever system they were using.

Bob Clements of NT CADCAM; the firm commissioned to implement the system adds, "The provision for supplying this service to UK engineering firms represents a significant investment for WDS and this is the first in Europe using 3D Partstream.net technology; certainly none of WDS competitors are currently online with interactive 3D catalogues.

Market analysis shows that the first company to bring a successful e-commerce solution to the market and develop it tends to secure its position as market leader.

If the customer finds the service useful, they become used to using it and it becomes a regular resource".

Commenting on the back-end systems, he states, "The original 3D files (created using Solidworks) are held on the server that manages the WDS catalogue site, when a user requests a download file, the site recreates the item in the format requested and downloads it to their system.

The process happens live and so does not involve the user in lengthy searches and ensures the site works quickly because the amount of stored information the server has to process is kept to minimum".

The Solidworks 3D design suite provided and supported by NT CADCAM is installed at WDS HQ in Leeds and has also increased the speed and flexibility of the company's own custom manufacturing service.

It offers parametric 3D design to manufacture, allowing WDS to build stock parts in 3D and then control all the variants of a component in the design driven by a spreadsheet.

Creating an original 2D drawing might take two hours, but using this method, designing 'specials' can take as little five minutes and once approved, the item can go straight from a 3D model to manufacture, bringing time-to-manufacture down to a minimum.

Customers benefit from being able to order bespoke nonstandard parts that are not in the WDS catalogue and not available elsewhere; WDS will then design, manufacture and deliver them in the same time that some suppliers would take to provide a stock item.

Drawings can be e-mailed to the client in their preferred format, marked up and returned ready for production in a matter of hours.

The flexibility of the new service means that even difficult to obtain products, such as items manufactured from hard, soft or exotic materials, those with nonstandard dimensions or special coatings and finishes can all be supplied on short lead times.

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