CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive

15 November 2004

Implementation Investments

Superior Die Set Increases Sales Leads, Reduces Costs with SolidWorks 3D PartStream.NET-based Interactive Online Catalog

Leading die- and mold-building component supplier Superior Die Set is using the SolidWorks 3D PartStream.NET® service to market its products to customers around the world via an interactive online storefront. Fast and easy to deploy, Superior Die Set's 3D PartStream.NET-powered catalog allows customers to download 3D models of die sets, mold bases, fabrications, forging products, and other components into their product designs to ensure fit and function prior to purchasing them.

Based outside of Milwaukee, Superior Die Set has served the die- and mold-building industries since 1923. It currently has 25 domestic and 11 international sales offices. Customers who supply parts to such global brands as John Deere, GM, Chrysler, Ford, and Frigidaire use Superior Die Set products to make parts for such varied applications as electronics, medical instruments, cars, air conditioners, and farm tools. Before launching the 3D PartStream.NET Web catalog, the company e-mailed bandwidth-hungry computer-aided design (CAD) files to engineers or burned catalogs onto CDs that it shipped to customers.

The process was expensive and time consuming, often resulting in quickly outdated product information. Three engineers needed a total of 5,000 hours to assemble catalogs of 2D files of all of their products. When enough product offerings changed, the engineers had to repeat the process. Superior Die Set chose 3D PartStream.NET because of its fast and easy deployment and do-it-yourself-configuration capabilities. 3D PartStream.NET enabled only one engineer to create a fully interactive catalog with downloadable 3D models in less than two months. Additionally, 3D PartStream.NET's flexibility allows Superior Die Set to update the catalog on the fly, ensuring customers have immediate access to the latest product information.

"We build die sets and mold bases to customer specifications, so our customer's design challenge becomes our design challenge," said Nick Janiszewski, lead engineer at Superior Die Set. "We chose 3D PartStream.NET because it is much more efficient for CAD file distribution than publishing CDs and e-mailing CAD files to engineers who must custom configure components on the fly. 3D PartStream.NET also expands our marketing capabilities beyond simple online catalogs by providing a Web-based storefront for customers as well as a very precise tool for engineers."

Superior Die Set is listed on SolidWorks' 3D ContentCentral (SM), an online directory of suppliers offering downloadable 3D part models to hundreds of thousands of product designers and engineers around the world. According to Janiszewski, 3D PartStream.NET and 3D ContentCentral have significantly increased the company's exposure and sales leads per month, reduced the burden on its engineering departments to answer customer questions, and significantly lowered its cost per sales lead.

"A family business with an 81-year history of helping customers solve their design challenges knows the importance of simplifying the parts buying process," said Bob Noftle, general manager of 3D content solutions at SolidWorks Corporation. "Superior Die Set has created an interactive online marketplace where custom part configuration and purchasing is fast and easy, making it an easy choice for customers."

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