CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
8 September 2004
Implementation Investments
EMCO Rapidly Delivers Innovative New Products for Major Retailers with Help of Avatech Solutions
Avatech Solutions, Inc. announced that EMCO, a manufacturer that has achieved national recognition as an innovator in the storm and screen door industry, has chosen Avatech as its design automation systems integrator.
With Avatech's total solution, EMCO is able to turn out new manufactured parts in 3 days to 5 days as opposed to the 6 to 8 weeks that it took previously. The successful solution includes a custom implementation of Autodesk® Inventor as the main design tool, migration of legacy AutoCAD data and an ongoing company wide education program. Avatech also helped EMCO to convert its instruction manuals to a 'live model' design containing the most current use illustrations taken directly from models, rather than pictures that had been used previously. Rapid prototype printing rounds out the solution by enabling staff to print out realistic designs in plastic and be used by sales and marketing personnel. With the new system in place, EMCO is delivering new cutting edge products and retaining its position as the main supplier of storm door products for Home Depot nationally.
"When deciding to move to the solid modeling world, we knew the partner we chose would have to be a long term partner and Avatech has proven over time that we can rely on them to help us make the right decisions for our manufacturing processes-choices that directly affect our bottom line in a positive way," said Jim Gelina, Director of Engineering and Quality at EMCO Enterprises. "Avatech was instrumental in first introducing us to the benefits of the '3D world' and developed a comprehensive implementation and training plan that has been easy to roll-out company wide."
After evaluating several competitive products, EMCO was impressed with Avatech's knowledge of 3D solid modeling and their commitment to customized solutions-factors that helped the engineering management to decide to remain with Autodesk software and leverage existing AutoCAD data. Key success factors included the following:
• In order to standardize quickly, EMCO issued a policy that all new projects going forward had to be done in Inventor.
• To ensure as rapid a transition as possible, Avatech performed a custom implementation and tailored an education program that enables the more than 25 engineering, design and drafting staff to receive ongoing training for a total of 32 hours per year.
• A key critical investment EMCO made to support the Inventor software was the purchase of a rapid prototype printer that eliminates step of having to send designs to a machine shop to be milled out of steel and instead, prints out designs directly in plastic, saving weeks of time. These models are key selling tools for EMCO.
• 'Live model' instruction manuals were updated to include illustrations that are taken directly from current Inventor models rather than using pictures.
EMCO Enterprises, Inc. maintains multiple facilities in Des Moines, Iowa, and Luray, Virginia, for the manufacturing and distribution of a full line of storm and screen doors. EMCO manufactures and supports the warranties of storm doors that can be purchased at fine home improvement stores across the U.S. and Canada. Visit http://www.emcodoors.com for more information.
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