NX

Plast Competence CenterEngineering firm enables manufacturers to streamline product development process

IndustryIndustrial machinery and consumer products

Business challengesShorten time-to-marketGlobalize design and production Improve design for manufacturability

Keys to successIn-house design expertiseHolistic range of services with project responsibilityInvolvement of manufacturing partners at an early stageEnd-to-end CAD and CAE solution with synchronous technology – NXAbility to modify imported data quickly with NX

Using NX helps Plast Competence Center customers meet demanding delivery deadlines

Setting the right courseSince 1999, the Plast Competence Center AG (PCC) has provided a variety of services – from design to development, calculation, tool design and consultation – for companies producing industrial prod-ucts made of thermoplastics and duro-plastics. Located in Zofi ngen, Switzerland, PCC helps manufacturers produce parts, modules and entire products.

www.siemens.com/nx

In a half-timbered house worthy of a preservation order, the innovative engi-neering consultancy successfully develops unique solutions for the most diffi cult challenges. The multi-functional team of designers, developers and computer-aided design (CAD) engineers helps customers deliver complex components for high-quality series production on injection mold-ing machines in a timely manner. PCC has fueled its business by enabling its custom-ers to meet these industry requirements with modern tooling technology, and includes several components, including multiple cavities, inserts and complex hot runner systems. From the outset, the

Using the stress wizard capability of NX, fi nite element analysis is performed to optimize material usage.

engineers have used NX™ software from Siemens PLM Software. “We chose the NX 3D system because we were particularly impressed by the versatile range of func-tions for the development of plastic parts, and by Mold Wizard for tool and mold design,” says Dominique Burkard, design engineer and member of the executive board at PCC.

When the production and design of tools started being increasingly outsourced in 2003, PCC was already successfully con-centrating on providing services in design, product development, project manage-ment and procurement, all using NX. As a result, PCC has 12 CAD workstations, up from two in 2003.

Providing industry expertiseWhether they are developing coffee machines, medical technology products, electro-technical appliances or design-intense consumer devices, the PCC special-ists provide not only knowledge of plastics processes, but also experience with indus-try-specific requirements.

As an example, PCC worked with LiSi, a medical equipment manufacturer, on a development project (with an emphasis on industrial design) for a transfer aid between lying and sitting positions for nursing homes. This product facilitates moving patients between a bed and a wheelchair and is intended to save time for nursing staffs. The result is a good-looking and comfortable alternative to the traditional patient lifter equipment, pre-serving the health of both the patient and healthcare worker.

Using a hydraulic system, the compact, light support structure can be adjusted manually, so the patient can go from a sitting to a prone position. The cladding (covering) and control elements consist of plastic parts that resemble a comfortable armchair. The closed, rounded surfaces facilitate cleaning.

ResultsShortened turnaround times from the first draft to the first prototypeReduced development time Improved processes and compressed cycle time across operationsDifficult assignments resolved quickly and efficiently

This CAD insight reveals an inventive interior.

Contemporary styling of the air conditioner achieved using NX.

Aesthetic requirements, ergonomic aspects and customer requests are recon-ciled using NX Shape Studio, an industrial design and styling package that combines the freedom necessary for concepting with the accuracy needed to test and help ensure viability of design alternatives. The seamless integration of curve- and surface-based modeling up to dynamic design accelerates the identification of a solution from the available models, sketches and surfaces. Special tools for rounding, bend-ing, stretching and twisting support cre-ativity. Despite all changes and

calculations, the associativity and integrity of the data is retained across NX applications.

“Our in-house design expertise shortens the turnaround times, because design and engineering go hand-in-hand,” explains Burkard. “And you can gain valuable time in the case of design-related product adap-tations, because the internal designer can react to them immediately.”

Employing NX with synchronous technol-ogy, initial variants quickly become 3D models and can be presented either on the screen or using a suitable rapid prototyp-ing method. This initially facilitates the ergonomic verification of development projects. The many different capabilities of NX enable designers to quickly switch from paper to the CAD system.

“Our customers value synchronous tech-nology a great deal, because it allows them to better estimate the leeway in engineer-ing and design,” notes Burkard. “As a result, we supply toolmakers and injection molders with authoritative data at an early stage.”

Improving design efficiencies A project of a completely different nature for Air-On, a manufacturer of heating, ven-tilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equip-ment, also had to be ready for production within a short development time. In order to create the optimum indoor climate and minimal energy consumption when reno-vating buildings, Air-On needed a new type of air conditioner that would combine

heating, ventilation, air purification and humidification.

With PCC managing the project, Air-On developed multi-functional, inexpensive and low-weight plastic components. The project included developing and integrat-ing plastic components with contacts and structural parts made of metal.

Inexpensive tools were procured on-time for approximately 90 individual parts. The tasks ranged from idea exploration, varia-tion studies, risk analyses and the design of the various modules to the coordination of the toolmakers, the creation of 3D data suitable for plastics and the procurement of components. Using NX, PCC signifi-cantly exceeded project goals relative to turnaround times, efficiency and quality.

Utilizing synchronous technologyThe simultaneous cooperation of several employees on a module or the fast, smooth handling of large amounts of data is expected of professional CAD environ-ments. However, it was the potential of synchronous technology that led to real enthusiasm on the part of PCC users. Data used to be exchanged with suppliers via an external interface. As a result, many com-ponents had to be completely re-created in order to avoid time-consuming problems and errors. Thanks to synchronous tech-nology, external data can now be edited directly, avoiding the typical unforeseen consequences due to unobserved relationships.

“That results in a large gain in time for us as a service provider,” notes Burkard. “We can change imported data with or without parametric modeling in exactly the same way as if it were our own.”

Less preparation requiredThe use of synchronous technology also facilitates change updates to components, which usually become necessary in the course of optimization after finite element method (FEM) calculations or flow simula-tions have been performed.Variations that

“ We chose the NX 3D system because we were particularly impressed by the versatile range of functions for the develop-ment of plastic parts, and by Mold Wizard for tool and mold design.”

“ Due to the highly automated tools of NX, we repeatedly save a great deal of data preparation work. Without system changes and with uniform user guidance, our optimization process becomes much shorter overall.”

Dominique Burkard Design Engineer MAS Member of the Executive Board Plast Competence Center AG

Human engineering analysis is used to help reduce the impact on service personnel.

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Siemens Industry Software Americas +1 314 264 8499Europe +44 (0) 1276 413200Asia-Pacific +852 2230 3308

Solutions/ServicesNX CAD NX Mold Wizard NX Shape Studio NX CAE NX Topology Optimization NX Nastran www.siemens.com/nx

Customer’s primary businessPlast Competence Center specializes in all phases of plastic injection mold design, as well as installation and pro-duction process optimization. www.plastcc.ch

Customer locationZofingen Switzerland

“We find a solution for every task with NX. We have never hit the limits of the system.”

Dominique Burkard Design Engineer MAS Member of the Executive Board Plast Competence Center AG

correspond better to the desired values can be created rapidly. Integrated tools, including NX Advanced Simulation and NX Topology Optimization, are used for linear and non-linear FEM calculations.

“Due to the highly automated tools of NX, we repeatedly save a great deal of data preparation work,” explains Burkard. “Without system changes and with uniform user guidance, our optimization process becomes much shorter overall.”

Depending on the project, the applications differ widely. With the development of power tools, it was possible in advance to secure the drop test prescribed for German Technical Monitoring Association (TÜV) testing and device approval. The exact concordance of the results shows there is a significantly lower risk in making late changes.

“We now receive orders for component optimization and save not only a consider-able amount of weight, but also material costs,” says Burkard.

Resolving challenging tasksMold Wizard played a big part in PCC’s decision to use NX. This capability facili-tates performing the routine tasks of tool design according to specified rules and set-tings. These include the definition of mold partitions, the automated use of standards when designing a mold and the placement of hot runners and gate valves or the auto-matic generation of electrode models.

“Due to the outsourcing of these design and manufacturing orders, we can only exploit these advantages in about 10 percent of the projects,” notes Burkard. However, the performance of the system has become considerably more important in many other places. It is not uncommon for customers to encounter specific design tasks that they are unable to solve in a satisfactory manner using their own tools. PCC is ready in such instances. “We find a solution for every task with NX,” says Burkard. “We have never hit the limits of the system.”

He considers the end-to-end functionality of NX CAD and computer-aided engineer-ing (CAE) to be the software’s major core advantage. “Our customers achieve profes-sional, efficient processes from the design to the initial sample testing and optimiza-tion,” notes Burkard. “That’s why we decided to head into the future with NX.”

Designed from scratch using NX, LiSi helps bring disabled persons from a lying to a sitting position.