Company: Crayola

Industry: Consumer Products
Location : USA
Previous CAD: Pro/ENGINEER

The Challenge
Crayola, a leading manufacturer of arts-and-crafts materials for children, had been using Pro/Engineer software, but needed realistic solid modeling software that would allow the company's design team to more fully explore their imaginations. The new software also needed to be easy to use, so others could share in the design process. The marketing department, for example, wanted realistic product design for quick and thorough design evaluations.

The Solution
Our team considered using IronCAD, but instead chose SolidWorks software for its ease-of-use, especially for users who lacked 3D CAD experience. We have also simplified our design process by using PhotoWorks software. The photorealistic image capability has proven extremely useful, allowing us to design products in days, instead of months. Our ability to create high-quality graphics means the marketing department can begin product evaluations before prototype parts are made.

Summary and Metrics

• Removed boundaries to the design team's creativity
• Shortened the learning curve for employees who lacked CAD experience
• Reduced development time from months to days
• Launched product in three month

"The photorealistic images are the next best thing to actually having the item in hand."
George Nagle, Director of Operations Engineering

About Cimquest Inc.
Cimquest Inc. provides software, support, training and consulting for the CAD/CAM industry. Founded in 1990, Cimquest has hundreds of customers in NY, NJ, PA and CT. As an Integrator, our goal is to partner with our customers and elevate their productivity to the highest level possible. With a full suite of products - including SolidWorks® for mechanical design, Mastercam® for manufacturing, COSMOS/Works for analysis, and Dimension 3D Printers for Rapid Prototyping - we offer a complete solution.

To complement our product line, Cimquest has a comprehensive support and training system unrivaled in the industry. This individualized system takes a comprehensive and step-by-step approach, addressing both the customer’s problems and needs and maintaining their specific goals - taking them to a complete solution.

For more information call 866-277-8778 ext. 219.

Company: HS Design, Inc.

Industry: Design & Engineering Services
Location: USA
Previous CAD: Pro/ENGINEER

The Challenge
HS Design, Inc., is an industial design and product developement firm. Our expertise lies heavily in, but is not limited to, medical products. We pride ourselves on taking products from concept to market with unmatched swiftness and accuracy. We were looking for a program that could deliver fast and accurate conceptual designs, which could be presented easily to clients and then brought quickly to the manufacturing stage.

The Solution
We evaluated AutoCAD, Pro/ENGINEER, and Mechanical Desktop, but chose SolidWorks software because the other packages were each over specialized for certain needs. PhotoWorks is also beneficial because it allows us to get ideas across to clients, which is very important in the industrial design business. Other CAD software was focused on engineering with rendering as an after-thought.

Summary and Metrics

• Decreased design time by at least 50%
• Lowered development costs by 40%
• Reduced errors by 90%
• Increased sales by 20%

"We have enjoyed a lot of success in cross-platform file sharing for concurrent engineering. It is overwhelming to be able to share the proper files for the proper tasks."
Robert Barry, Design Engineer

About Cimquest Inc.
Cimquest Inc. provides software, support, training and consulting for the CAD/CAM industry. Founded in 1990, Cimquest has hundreds of customers in NY, NJ, PA and CT. As an Integrator, our goal is to partner with our customers and elevate their productivity to the highest level possible. With a full suite of products - including SolidWorks® for mechanical design, Mastercam® for manufacturing, COSMOS/Works for analysis, and Dimension 3D Printers for Rapid Prototyping - we offer a complete solution.

To complement our product line, Cimquest has a comprehensive support and training system unrivaled in the industry. This individualized system takes a comprehensive and step-by-step approach, addressing both the customer’s problems and needs and maintaining their specific goals - taking them to a complete solution.

For more information call 866-277-8778 ext. 219.

Company: U.S. Army Research Lab.

Industry: Aerospace & Defense
Location: USA
Previous CAD: Pro/ENGINEER

The Challenge
The U.S. Army Research Laboratory Ballistics and Weapons Concepts Division was looking for an affordable, easy-to-use 3D CAD program. This software needed to be highly versatile and powerful but easy to use. It was also necessary that users be able to communicate with other packages like Ansys, CircuitWworks, and other types of analytical add-on software.

The Solution
We chose SolidWorks software because it allows us to create intuitive designs quickly. We can move from concept, to analysis, to drawings, and finally to production more accurately than with other CAD packages. We have made improvements in design that were not available with other packages. Kinematic collision detection has been great in analyzing clearances and motion.

Summary and Metrics

• Shortened design time by 30 to 40%

"We chose SolidWorks because it allows us to create intuitive designs quickly."
Michael Hollis, Mechanical Engineer

About Cimquest Inc.
Cimquest Inc. provides software, support, training and consulting for the CAD/CAM industry. Founded in 1990, Cimquest has hundreds of customers in NY, NJ, PA and CT. As an Integrator, our goal is to partner with our customers and elevate their productivity to the highest level possible. With a full suite of products - including SolidWorks® for mechanical design, Mastercam® for manufacturing, COSMOS/Works for analysis, and Dimension 3D Printers for Rapid Prototyping - we offer a complete solution.

To complement our product line, Cimquest has a comprehensive support and training system unrivaled in the industry. This individualized system takes a comprehensive and step-by-step approach, addressing both the customer’s problems and needs and maintaining their specific goals - taking them to a complete solution.

For more information call 866-277-8778 ext. 219.

Company: Vision Quest Lighting, Inc.

Industry: Electronics
Location: USA
Previous CAD: Pro/ENGINEER

The Challenge
Vision Quest Lighting is a small, specialized firm focused on the design and manufacture of architectural and theatrical lighting. The challenge facing the company was to find a way to debug designs before prototyping. Our 2D CAD program simply could not do the job even though we spent a lot of time revising the design in several views with it.

The Solution
The most important reason for purchasing SolidWorks was the ability to do parametric modeling. In addition, the display speed of the solid models was very impressive. SolidWorks was easy for us to use and understand, which was key because we needed to hit the ground running. We evaluated several products in addition to SolidWorks. AutoCAD 14 functioned more like a surface modeler; it did not integrate well to work as a 3D modeling program. Pro/ENGINEER was expensive and had a steep learning curve. We did not seriously consider Mechanical Desktop. Using SolidWorks, we have realized tremendous time-savings when making revisions and generating drawings. Specifically, we have seen a 50% saving in the drawing phase and an 80% saving in redesign time. We recently landed a new job specifically because the customer saw how we could save him time and money in the prototype phase.

Summary and Metrics

• Reduced drawing time by 50%
• Decreased redesign time by 80%

"Our customers are very impressed and have conveyed to us a sense of extra confidence after seeing their projects modeled in SolidWorks."
Larry Lieberman, President

About Cimquest Inc.
Cimquest Inc. provides software, support, training and consulting for the CAD/CAM industry. Founded in 1990, Cimquest has hundreds of customers in NY, NJ, PA and CT. As an Integrator, our goal is to partner with our customers and elevate their productivity to the highest level possible. With a full suite of products - including SolidWorks® for mechanical design, Mastercam® for manufacturing, COSMOS/Works for analysis, and Dimension 3D Printers for Rapid Prototyping - we offer a complete solution.

To complement our product line, Cimquest has a comprehensive support and training system unrivaled in the industry. This individualized system takes a comprehensive and step-by-step approach, addressing both the customer’s problems and needs and maintaining their specific goals - taking them to a complete solution.

For more information call 866-277-8778 ext. 219.