Integrated Design Solution (IDS)

Client Background

Client is one of the pioneers in automobiles in India. The Machine Tools Division is well known for its quality product range which includes Turning Centres, Gear Machines, Horizontal & Vertical Machining Centres & Special Purpose Machines.

Design Process Analysis

When the sales division finalises a new order from its clients, the Design Head allocates projects to the Project Leader depending upon the skill sets and availability. The Project Leader prepares file structure on his machine and some of these folders are made shareable for the team members to access from their Work-stations. After modelling and detailing activity, hard prints of drawings are given for checking and corrections are implemented on the models and drawings. No data errors found during checking and rework of effort is maintained. BOM is entered in SAP system directly. The work allocation and project scheduling activities are managed manually.

Need Identification for Integrated Design Solution (IDS)

As the work allocation and project scheduling activities were also managed manually, and there was no software tool for project monitoring, it was a difficult and tedious task to provide precise status of the project at any point of time.

No PDM software was implemented at the site. Individual designers took back-up of the data as per their requirements and stored at a common location. There was no file server used for design activities and the data was scattered on various work-stations. Whenever required Standard parts were copied from the database and stored along with machine data. In case of parts like gears or shafts which could be repetitive in nature, there was no tool to search for the existing database. As a result, chances of repeat efforts for already existing parts were high.

Our Solution

PARAM proposed the Client to restructure data management at the Machine Tool Division. A file server was proposed for the task of storing all project data. This server was then connected to all existing workstations through high speed Ethernet cables. The File Server used,has high capacity high speed reliable Hard Disks and a tape drive for back ups. No up gradation of existing work-stations was proposed except for addition of Gigabit Ethernet cards.

PARAM's Designing team and System Analysts proposed Client with its highly versatile product Integrated Design Solution (IDS) which is a customised product designed to cater to all requirements of the Machine Tool Design team. IDS is installed on the server and on all user machines. IDS streamlines the Design Process and also ensure proper backup and retrieval of all design data. It also restricts access of data to all users and ensures data security as desired by the administrator. The tracking tool helps in project planning and status monitoring. IDS in a true sense, helps in limiting the design cycle by helping designers in quick search on the existing data, improving productivity of design team and optimizing utilization of resources.

Benefits

  • The entire Design Process is streamlined.
  • Real time back-up of design data is taken on separate server which in turn avoids possibility of any data clogging.
  • Project Monitoring tool "Lakshya" helps Top Management to identify the exact status of project at any moment and also guides in proper utilization of resources.
  • SmartShare tool enables user to share parts designed by other users.
  • SmartSearch tool helps in searching existing parts from the database to avoid duplication of parts and saves design time.

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