CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
5 October 2004
Implementation Investments
Williams Medical Supplies Utilizes UGS' Solid Edge® CAD Software to Deliver Innovative Designs
Williams Medical Supplies, traditionally a reseller of a range of medical supplies, set up its Technical Development Department to enhance the design of medical products currently available on the market using UGS ' Solid Edge® CAD solution. With Solid Edge at the core of its design process, Williams Medical Supplies aims to expand the existing figure of £10 million revenue that it currently generates through the design and distribution of its own products.
"Our aim is to innovate to enhance current medical tools, taking a routine surgical instrument like a needle holder or fiber optic light source and bringing something new to the design that will provide significant benefit to the end user," said Robert Steele, director of technical development at Williams Medical Supplies.
The design and manufacture of Williams Medical Supplies' day surgery operating table, OPMASTER SERIES 4, typifies the company's approach. The enhanced design allows a patient to be examined, operated on and recover on the same table.
"We took into consideration the need to protect the patient as they went through the various medical processes while balancing the requirement for good access during surgery," said Steele. The final solution included cot-side rails, which allow accessibility during surgery and afford good protection to the patient when in the latched up position.
Using Solid Edge's 3D environment, Williams Medical Supplies was able to model parts of the table and run a number of analyses, such as collision analysis, interference analysis and motion simulation at this stage-considerably speeding up the design process.
"We were able to sit down with the Sales and Marketing team during the initial stages and get their feedback on the design. As a result we were able to move more rapidly to the manufacturing process. Essentially, designers don't always get it right, but with Solid Edge we were able to rehearse the design, thereby minimizing the risk of getting it wrong. In fact, we were almost able to dispense with the prototyping phase and go straight into Manufacturing," added Steele.
Williams Medical Supplies bought Solid Edge from Solid Applications-UGS' largest UK business partner. Solid Applications implemented the software and provides ongoing support.
Based in Oldbury, near Birmingham, SOLID Applications Ltd specializes in the supply, implementation and support of Solid Edge based CAD solutions. Ranked the UK's number one supplier of Solid Edge by UGS, SOLID Applications develops, implements and supports other complimentary applications to meet its customers' needs. The company also provides network design, installation and implementation services to individual customers' requirements. Visit http://www.solidapps.co.uk .
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