Japanese company catches 3D bug

Matsushita Graphic Communications Systems Inc. of Japan develops products, such as facsimile machines, that are used in both corporate networks and personal home use. Each new product is developed after a series of complete user requirement studies. The company had switched to 2D CAD from conventional drafting in 1988, but was finding that response time to market demand was shrinking faster than they could meet. For their new Panafax A1CL machine, it was decided to switch to 3D CAD. The software selected by MGCS was SolidDesigner from CoCreate, Fort Collins, CO, which provided continuity from MGCS'existing 2D package, CoCreate's ME10.

The MGCS research personnel asked to try the software as an R&D tool. They found the software easy to learn just by studying the software's documentation, quickly creating prototypes of important components for the new machine. The design team, on the other side of the floor, found the renderings reliable enough to allow them to eliminate manufacturing trials and proceed directly to production of most of the new machine's components, saving a month of development time. Design reviews were carried out solely on the CAD data, with multiple designers able to perform checks on parts while concurrently looking at the same screen. The company also produced the manufacturing tools directly from the three-dimensional data, saving another month. According to Ken Tanaka, information systems officer for MGCS, "Overall, the time required for manufacture of a prototype was reduced by two-thirds, while time required to prepare molds was reduced by one-quarter." The same 3D data eliminated having to draft new drawings and take photographs of actual objects for service manuals, shaving 25% off of the time needed to prepare manuals.

3D CAD fever quickly spread, not just within the MGCS, but throughout the entire Matsushita Group. As Mr. Tanaka notes, "All of our designers who have used 3D CAD say that they will not return to 2D design, and that design has become more enjoyable."

--RM

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