CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
29 November 2004
Implementation Investments
Alibre Design Pulls Croft Trailer Supply to New Level of Productivity with Move to 3D
Croft Trailer Supply, Inc., a Kansas City manufacturer of flat bed, utility, and equipment trailers recently made the move from 2D paper and pencil drawings to 3D solid modeling by choosing Alibre Design.
In order to improve the automation of their business, Croft Trailer Supply asked engineer Rick Stephens to research and recommend a 3D CAD program. He initially considered AutoCAD and SolidWorks, but found that Alibre Design Professional delivered the needed features, yet the price was similar to that of AutoCAD LT.
"Sure I was a little skeptical-at that low price I was concerned that there had to be a major hole someplace," said Stephens, "However, we went ahead and made the decision to purchase Alibre Design Professional. Well, I have used it almost every day since and haven't found any holes."
In fact, in a few short months, Stephens has already built the company's utility trailer line in Alibre Design and plans to move on to the other product lines, a testament to the program's ease of use. He also credits this rapid rise in productivity to Alibre's excellent support, which was available both over the phone and via the program's integrated collaborative web capabilities.
The availability of fully detailed associative 2D drawings has led additional productivity increases on the manufacturing side of the business as well. Contract welders hired to supplement the regular crew no longer need the attention of a full-time worker to be productive; all the information is already provided in the 2D drawing.
"We jumped in with both feet, and I'm glad we did," Stephens continued. "With 3D modeling and communication tools that were not available before, we are realizing productivity gains with Alibre Design we didn't think were possible. It shows that even a 65-year old company can learn new tricks."
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