KaVo, a leading provider of dental equipment, was seeking to enhance the detail and usefulness of its product assembly and technical documents. The company was using 3D CATIA models to create assembly drawings, which were then converted to PDF files for use by production workers. However, the information on the PDFs was not detailed enough to ensure high-quality assembly. KaVo needed an automated solution for producing 3D interactive work instructions and product illustrations to provide the level of detail required for accurate product assembly and technical documentation. This would help to reduce the time to market.

Dassault Aviation’s Falcon Spare Parts department needed to provide a consolidated view of all spare parts information worldwide. The division was managing a global network of more than 80,000 spare parts which required precise logistical coordination. Over the years, each site has come to rely on its different solutions to locate the appropriate spare parts but, as a company, they did not have an overall and global view of their data. Moreover, these different solutions use different technologies – mainframe-based or client-server – which contributed to the isolation of each of their sites. To gain in efficiency, they needed a consolidated view of all their spare parts from any of their locations.

Nabtesco Corporation, a Japanese company known for its unique technology in robotic reduction gears, faced a challenge when expanding into energy harvesting equipment such as wind turbines and solar energy collector trackers. The company needed to ensure sufficient gear strength and long-term endurance in gusty conditions for their wind turbines. The yaw and pitch drives in a wind turbine engage with a pinion gear, which transmits power from the drive to the nacelle or blade. The rotation angle between drive and pinion gear teeth is particularly small, so repeated contact over time, particularly under the stresses of high winds and tower vibration, has the potential to damage tooth surfaces and cause assembly breakdowns. The engineers at Nabtesco needed to balance the contact between ring and pinion teeth to reduce the 'normal' stress of rotation and the sheer stress of the teeth against each other. Decreasing the stress on teeth improves their durability and that of the entire assembly as well.

Plastic Technologies Inc. (PTI), a leader in plastic package design services, was seeking a more cost-effective and efficient alternative to extensive physical prototyping and testing. The company wanted to help its customers lightweight plastic container designs and aid in root-cause analysis of product failures. The focus was on designing lighter-weight versions of current packaging to reduce costs and meet consumers’ demand for more sustainable products. However, achieving the optimal design that can offset lightweight material composition with a structure that still meets stringent performance requirements was a challenge.

Arburg, a leading manufacturer of injection molding machines, faced the challenge of bringing its products to market faster, while increasing quality and lowering costs. The company's product range and the modular design of its machines placed high demands on IT services. Under the motto “securing the future with process optimization using standard IT solutions”, Arburg's CIO and his IT team worked closely with the operations departments to radically rethink the company’s IT infrastructure. The goal was to build a process-oriented IT infrastructure with virtual product management to improve time to market and increase development-to-delivery speed two-fold.

The challenge was to compress the development of a system of work for an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) down to 90 days while providing the students of Wichita State University (WSU) a greater experience using real-life industry tools. The goal was to expose students to industry-related projects that provide them with learning that is not traditionally found in a textbook. The university aimed to be a model for applied learning and an economic driver for the community – where students can transition back and forth between the academic world and industry to work on real-world projects while they’re in school. The first fully collaborative project at the 3DEXPERIENCE Center is an unmanned aerial system (UAS), or drone, designed to handle multiple missions including search and rescue. The UAS was entirely designed and manufactured using Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform and its Aerospace & Defense industry solutions.

Mammut Sports Group, a Swiss mountain sports specialist and producer of alpine equipment and apparel, was facing challenges in accelerating their product innovation and managing their product information in compliance with norms and environmental regulations. The company was managing a highly diverse product portfolio and was using numerous Excel files to manage all their stock keeping units (SKU), which was time consuming and error-prone. The process of juggling between so many files eventually became complicated and information was hard to find. The company decided to consolidate all their product information in one unique system to improve coordination and to have better visibility within their product catalogue.

Clip-Lok International, a Copenhagen-based manufacturer of reusable, flat-packable wooden boxes, needed to secure its competitive edge by custom designing boxes that are cost effective, match the precise size and shape of their contents, and can be flattened for return shipment. The boxes are custom-made, posing many design challenges for the engineers. They had to design a box that has the optimum shape and size with respect to the products to be packaged, that is cost efficient to produce, assemble and flatten and that occupies as little space as possible during return shipment. These design challenges were met thanks to CATIA PLM Express.

Agnico Eagle’s Meadowbank gold mine in northern Canada was facing a challenge of integrating mine design and production schedules with geological modeling to increase in-house knowledge and ensure profitability. They were struggling with a competitive software solution for over a year and needed a more efficient and effective solution. The mine is Agnico eagle’s largest gold producer, with 1.8 million ounces of gold in proven and probable reserves since the open pit began in early 2010. The mine is one of the most complicated waste management sites in Canada with 14 dikes, 9 pits, multiple dumps and more than 100 haul routes. The mine was also looking to reduce production costs and needed to modify the long-range plans on-the-go ensuring they are up to date with current operations.

Korsö Båt, a family-run boatbuilding company, wanted to leverage its extensive boatbuilding knowledge and expertise with the proper software tools. The company faced stiff competition and its biggest challenge was to combine utility and good looks as every customer wanted to have the best boat. The company relied on its extensive knowledge and experience gained through years of designing boats. However, it needed a technology solution that could help it meet customer demands and stay ahead of the competition.

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has set detailed regulations about the materials, substructure, installation, testing, and certification of artificial turf for playing fields. This means that turf manufacturers have to consider a multitude of factors when designing their products for performance and safety. These factors include the make-up of the individual blades to mimic the look and playing-feel of natural grass, the type of yarn/fiber to use, the shape of the fiber, its height above the field surface, its density per square meter, stiffness and dissipative behavior. All these factors affect wear, safety, and playing characteristics. Furthermore, what’s below the visible surface of the grass is just as critical. The fiber travels down through infill made of rubber or thermoplastic granulate, which provides shock absorption, controls rebound and prevents skin damage caused by sliding. Beneath that are additional layers of rubber and sand and, finally, the backing in which the grass blade is imbedded.

Renault, a global automotive company, was seeking an enterprise-wide PLM solution that would effectively address issues of standardization for its processes and design tools. With more than 40% of its engineers located outside of France in “technocentres” in Romania, India, Korea, South America and Spain, the company needed a global engineering tool that would allow its designers to effectively and efficiently collaborate around the globe. Renault also sought a solution that would allow it to easily access and manage all of the company’s data – from product design and process to simulation, testing and resources information – while ensuring its traceability. The company wanted a single PDM that could be deployed worldwide to cover all of Renault’s needs for data management across product, process, simulation and performance.

Superheat, a leading innovative heat-treatment provider, was facing challenges in handling DWG files received from customers and accelerating heat treatment package development. The company was using SmartDraw 2D software for creating layouts for its heat-treatment quality packages and SOLIDWORKS® 3D design software for developing more specialized and sophisticated heat-treatment designs. However, the 2D software had limited capabilities and could not read DWG files, the most common customer format for components requiring heat treatment. It also had difficulties in manipulating engineering drawing layers. This situation prompted Superheat to look for other 2D design solutions that could improve efficiency and accelerate the development of heat treatment packages.

Innovative Manufacturing Services, Inc. (IMS) was in need of a more efficient and cost-effective 2D design solution for developing electrical schematics and accessing legacy 2D files. The company had been using SOLIDWORKS 3D mechanical design software for creating custom manufacturing and automation systems, but continued to use AutoCAD 2D software for accessing legacy design files and creating electrical panel schematics. The challenge was to find a solution that could seamlessly integrate with their existing SOLIDWORKS implementation, provide access to legacy 2D data, and support the development of electrical schematics in a more cost-effective manner.

CentraSep Technologies, a leading manufacturer of industrial centrifuges, separation and filtration systems, environmental products, and fluid management services, was facing a challenge with its 2D drawing solution. The company had been using AutoCAD software for creating DWG files to support the drawing needs of sales, engineering, manufacturing, and documentation functions. However, the company's installed seats of AutoCAD were getting out-of-date and Autodesk no longer offers perpetual software upgrades, only more costly monthly leasing. This led CentraSep to start looking for a more cost-effective 2D solution. The company needed a solution that was easy to learn and use, worked well alongside SOLIDWORKS 3D design software, and provided a more cost-effective 2D solution.

California Wire Products Corporation (Cal-Wire), a leading manufacturer of woven wire products, was facing challenges in creating custom product designs in 2D during the configuration of SOLIDWORKS 3D/ DriveWORKS automated design application. The company was using AutoCAD 2D design software, which was not only costly but also presented data compatibility issues. The company had attempted to use Autodesk Inventor 3D design software to automate development but hit a roadblock in the process. The need for a cost-effective, efficient 2D design solution was paramount, especially as the SOLIDWORKS/DriveWorks automation package was being built and configured. The company was also facing issues with opening files and losing dimensions and text blocks on drawings due to outdated AutoCAD licenses.

Haenen Design Studios, a brand identity and interior design consultancy based in Culver City, CA, faced a significant challenge in creating to-scale, dimensionally accurate 2D drawings of interior design concepts. These drawings were crucial for incorporating design elements and communicating interior design concepts to clients and contractors. The company's principal designer, Christine Haenen, had experience with AutoCAD® 2D design software from her student days. However, upon founding Haenen Design Studios, she found that a commercial license for AutoCAD was prohibitively expensive. She needed a more affordable 2D design and drawing package that could meet her needs without compromising on quality or functionality.

Bill’s Custom Fab, Inc., a family-owned business providing custom design and fabrication services for structural steel components since 1990, faced a challenge in supporting the 2D design requirements of their business more efficiently. The firm uses 2D CAD for fabricating structural steel for a variety of applications, including construction, handrails, and stair stringers. The management team, committed to quality improvements, periodically re-evaluates its design and fabrication tools to increase efficiency, boost productivity, or add capabilities. However, licensing changes with their former CAD provider led Bill’s Custom Fab to re-evaluate its 2D design solution. The firm needed a solution that was not only functional and provided a good return on investment, but also stable, compatible with major CAD formats, and capable of running LISP macros and routines, which the firm uses to create common structural steel features.

Young Industries, Inc., a manufacturer of custom-designed equipment for handling dry bulk materials, was seeking to optimize the use of 2D and 3D design tools to boost productivity and advance the development of custom material-handling systems. The company had been using the SOLIDWORKS® 3D applications platform for the past two decades, but still had needs that were better addressed with 2D tools. They had been using MountainTop® 2D design software, but decided to seek a new 2D design solution after encountering both hardware and software failures. The company needed a solution that was easier to maintain and support, included the features they needed at a better price, and was compatible with their existing SOLIDWORKS design environment.

Griscia Pastacaldi, a former technical officer with the Italian navy and a talented naval architect designer and mechanical engineer, founded GPNA S.R.L. in 2018. The firm focuses on creating innovative yacht designs for a variety of clients, emphasizing high-quality designs and top-notch technical support. However, Pastacaldi faced challenges with the design tools he had previously used at other naval architecture design firms. He found AutoCAD® and MicroStation® 2D design software increasingly complex and less intuitive, with too many commands that took up too much space from the working area. This led him to investigate other solutions that would be more efficient and cost-effective for his new firm.

MAC Design and Build, a family-owned contracting business, specializes in creating custom cabinetry, furniture, doors, and built-ins for home and business furnishing and remodeling services. The company prides itself on delivering unique interior design and remodeling services that are only limited by the client's imagination and budget. However, the company faced a significant challenge in accelerating the development of these custom pieces while simultaneously eliminating errors and reducing costs. The company initially used AutoCAD 2D design software for designing the cabinets and woodworks, which are at the core of the firm's business. However, the annual licensing costs of AutoCAD, roughly $1,200 for two seats, were too high for the company. They needed a more cost-effective 2D solution that could deliver the same capabilities as AutoCAD.