CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
26 October 2004
Implementation Investments
World's Leading Cement Plant Maker Embraces Efficiency of 3D with SolidWorks Mechanical Design Software
F.L. Smidth of Denmark, a global supplier of cement production technology, has selected SolidWorks® software as its 3D mechanical design standard because it will increase the company's engineering efficiency and productivity in designing cement-making equipment and plants.
F.L. Smidth is implementing 200 licenses of SolidWorks software for full production use in early 2005. SolidWorks will let engineers more quickly design products like kilns, mills, coolers, burners, and related electrical systems in three dimensions. F.L. Smidth engineers will work more efficiently by graphically conceptualizing products they are designing, avoiding errors caused by work that could be automated, detecting interference among parts and systems, and generating multiple designs from a single model.
The company, a longtime AutoCAD® 2D software user, first began using SolidWorks software in its pre-heater design department, where highly complex "cyclone" technology is applied to the cement making process. SolidWorks confirmed the efficiency, accuracy, and productivity benefits of 3D design in this department and gave F.L. Smidth the confidence to standardize on SolidWorks for all of its 3D design going forward.
"In our detailed evaluation, we clearly identified the benefits we would obtain with 3D," said Magnus Rimvall, F.L. Smidth's vice president of information technology. "Working in 3D with SolidWorks will significantly increase our efficiency by enabling us to design a machine once and then customize the design simply by feeding dimensions and other parameters into a template design. No longer will we have to create separate drawings for each new order. Laying out our plants in 3D will enable us to more efficiently design multiple, separate systems with full awareness of other systems being designed simultaneously. Moreover, 3D is an effective way to improve customer satisfaction and acceptance by communities hosting the plants we build. SolidWorks software is the logical choice since it is the standard in 3D design with a worldwide customer base that continues to grow at an impressive pace."
F.L. Smidth chose SolidWorks over competing mechanical design software because of years of satisfactory experience with SolidWorks in the pre-heater design department as well as the software's broad feature set, overall value, and ability to interoperate seamlessly with partner software. SolidWorks will interoperate with F.L. Smidth's new product data management system, Conisio from GCS Scandinavia AB, to manage design data and control versions across servers in Denmark, India, and the United States. F.L. Smidth will also benefit from SolidWorks software's full support of 2D design. Engineers can edit 2D DWG files in their native format in an AutoCAD-like interface and convert 3D models into detailed 2D designs for the benefit of contract manufacturers.
"F.L. Smidth is one of the world's most successful engineering organizations, and designing in 3D promises to make a huge, positive impact on engineering efficiency and productivity," said Jeff Ray, SolidWorks chief operating officer. "Time savings over the life of a plant design and construction project can lead to dramatic cost savings. We look forward to being a partner in F.L. Smidth's successful embrace of 3D mechanical design."
F.L. Smidth works with authorized SolidWorks reseller Solid Design House for ongoing software training, implementation, and support.
F.L. Smidth offers cement industry customers worldwide everything from total cement plants to individual machines and upgrading projects. For more information, visit http://www.fls.com .
Solid Design House A/S was one of the first SolidWorks resellers in Europe back in 1996. Today, Solid Design House A/S is one of the largest SolidWorks resellers in Northern Europe, and has years of experience in CAD, CAE, and PDM. Products distributed include SolidWorks, COSMOSWorks® , and Conisio. For further information, visit the company's Web site ( http://www.sdh.dk/ ) or call +45 70 22 22 80.
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