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Case Study Voith-Werke Page 1 of 2

Explicit Modeling Helps Crane Manufacturer Push Complex Products to Market QuicklyDirect Modification of Geometry Lifts Success of Special Crane Systems at Voith

Voith-Werke Ing. A. Fritz Voith Gesellschaft m.b.H. & Co. KG., Traun, Austria

Founded more than 60 years ago, Voith-Werke has established itself as a key manufacturer of automatic and customized crane systems. The company provides a complete portfolio of solutions, including develop-ment, design, planning, and manufacturing, primarily within its home offices and facility, covering more than 17,400 square meters.

The Challenge: No Two Products Alike

Each crane system developed at the Voith plant looks nearly the same, but a closer examination shows that each design has its own customer specifications. That customization can lead to expensive inefficien-cies for any manufacturing company. So, to keep projects on target, Voith originally deployed SolidWorks® 3D CAD software along with a product data management (PDM) system. However, the PDM system failed to provide the flexibility Voith needed for its custom projects. Plus, every time designers needed to make changes using SolidWorks, productivity slowed. And, if larger models needed to be adapted, engineers had to load the design the night before if they wanted to make revisions the next morning. Something had to change.

The Solution: A Faster, Easier Modeling Method

Voith turned to the explicit modeling approach offered by CoCreate Modeling from PTC, because it offered the ease, speed and flexibility Voith needed to turn around new designs faster. Created specifically for companies that develop customized solutions, CoCreate Modeling provides a 3D development environment that makes it easy to modify and reuse existing models. To manage its CoCreate design data, Voith added CoCreate Model Manager, a tightly integrated PDM solution for CoCreate Modeling.

The Result: Using Existing Designs to Build New Products

CoCreate Modeling and Model Manager proved to be the best solution for Voith because CoCreate enables designers to directly modify exist-ing geometry for new projects. As well, CoCreate enables designers to instantly pick up a design where other designers left off, which enables teams to achieve maximum productivity.

Gerhard Hörtenhuber, Design Director, Voith - Werke Ing. A. Fritz Voith

Gesellschaft m.b.H. & Co. KG.

Gerhard Hörtenhuber, Design Director, Voith-Werke Ing. A. Fritz Voith Gesellschaft m.b.H. & Co. KG says, “having the flexibility to use existing modules and components is key for us, mostly because it boosts the efficiency of our design processes. Sometimes we can use up to 75% of an existing crane to build a new system. But that wasn’t always easy. In the past, we’ve had to start from scratch to accommodate changes in a design, even if we were nearly finished with the original design. Obviously, it’s important to integrate available models effectively in new projects, and since the CoCreate Modeling design approach is based on explicit modeling, it lets us adapt existing components through direct modification of the geometry.”

Case Study Voith-Werke Page 2 of 2

Building Bridges – And New Customers

When Voith receives inquiries from prospective customers, it typically tries to match the customer’s requirements with previous designs, using elements such as hall dimensions, layout of the production machines, and storage location as the basis for selecting a crane system.

During the sales process, Voith then uses existing 3D models and conceptual drawings, taken from simplified crane depictions from older projects, to illustrate to customers the effectiveness and use of their product.

If Voith wins the contract, it then uses the framework from the bid as the starting point. Next, the company divides jobs into subprojects, such as the crane bridge, the lift rig for the load suspension, and the trolley for changing the position of the lifting cable. Each subproject is then implemented by specialized staff.

Easy Modification and Alteration of Existing Components

Change orders are inevitable in any industry, and industrialized crane construction is no exception. That’s why Voith’s engineering and design teams take advantage of explicit modeling in CoCreate. With CoCreate Modeling, the company can modify modules and components with-out digging through reams of old files, or tracking down the original designer’s notes. In turn, this lets the current design engineer work off a colleague’s previous job for a new project more effectively and quickly.

That’s important to Gerhard Hörtenhuber, Voith’s design director. “Design work can take anywhere from 40 to 1500 hours,” he says. “So if we can help minimize that in any way, we will.”

Design, alteration, and modification of projects now takes much less time, plus projects now run more smoothly. CoCreate Modeling’s simple design approach gives the company more flexibility than ever before.

“Employees can take the existing design and radically modify it by moving or stretching surfaces, adapting dimensions, or cutting and pasting geometric elements,” says Hörtenhuber. “The new model is then completely customized and modified from the original design.”

Of course, last-minute changes, late in the development cycle during production, are seamless since designers can flexibly make changes without slowing down production on the project.

CoCreate Model Manager: Keeping Team Members on the Same Page

No project for Voith is the same; each project differs not only in length and size, but in the type of crane system being built, and the number of parts being used to build a crane. In fact, the number of parts can range anywhere from 5,000 to 50,000. Throw in performance issues, change orders, and complex project management steps, and you risk missed deadlines and late deliveries.

However, since the company started using CoCreate Model Manager, performance problems have dropped and workflow has increased. CoCreate Model Manager’s release and version processes and advanced search functions are proving invaluable for Voith, says Hörtenhuber.

“Since the latest version of a component is always loaded, no problems come up with the interfaces,” he says. “If there is a change at one interface, the system automatically notifies us, so everyone can load the updated component.

“CoCreate Model Manager complements our original PDM system, and explicit modeling has proven to be exactly the right approach for our custom projects,” concludes Hörtenhuber.

© 2009, Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC). All rights reserved. Information described herein is furnished for informational use only, is subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a guarantee, commitment, condition, or offer by PTC. PTC, the PTC logotype, CoCreate, and all PTC product names and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of PTC and/or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries. All other product or company names are property of their respective owners.

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Trolley for Voith 75 tonne casting crane.

Voith 75 tonne casting crane for transferring molten materials.