CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
15 September 2008
Implementation Investments
PTC® Pro/ENGINEER® Helps Cue Acoustics Excite Listeners with Contemporary Radio
PTC announced that Cue Acoustics, Inc. used Pro/ENGINEER exclusively to design its inaugural product – “The Cue Radio Model r1”, a premium AM/FM tabletop radio system with support for the iPod® digital mobile device. Pro/ENGINEER is PTC’s integrated parametric MCAD/CAM/CAE software that helps companies develop detailed, intuitive and realistic digital product models and related deliverables. Cue Acoustics used Pro/ENGINEER to create the complex curvature continuous surfaces that embody the Model r1’s stylish design.
The challenge of introducing a new product into the highly competitive consumer electronics market can be a daunting proposition for any company. For Cue Acoustics, a Massachusetts-based start-up co-founded by CEO Sam Millen, a veteran industrial designer and product development specialist, choosing the right design solution was a critical first step to developing a next generation best-in-class tabletop audio system. The company needed design software that would enable it to maintain the core design intent while providing the flexibility to quickly incorporate late stage changes without impacting time to market. Familiar with competitive CAD tools, Millen immediately selected Pro/ENGINEER for its flexibility and superior top down design, complex surfacing capabilities, and ability to seamlessly integrate with ECAD data.
Pro/ENGINEER enabled the design team to create the complex curvature continuous surface of the Cue radio in one week and supported an iterative design process to achieve the desired final shape. With Pro/ENGINEER, the team was able to adjust the outside depth of the product by a microscopic one – one-hundred-thousandth of an inch to accommodate a late stage change to internal subcomponents and ensure manufacturability - without having to rebuild from scratch.
Cue Acoustics enlisted the services of Boston Engineering, a PTC reseller, to help complete manufacturing engineering work and chose a vendor in Singapore that uses Pro/ENGINEER to tool the plastic parts for the radio. By using Pro/ENGINEER, the Cue radio was developed in one year from design to manufacturing.
“Our goal was to develop a premium radio that would be differentiated in the market by its superior sound quality, elegant design and tactile user interface,” said Sam Millen, co-founder and chief executive officer, Cue Acoustics, Inc. “As an industrial designer, I have experience using all of the well known tools and Pro/ENGINEER was my top choice. It delivers top down design capabilities that other solutions only promise.”
“Using Pro/ENGINEER helps small and medium businesses like Cue Acoustics level the playing field in highly competitive industries like consumer electronics by providing them with the same powerful design capabilities used by leading companies already established in the market,” said Matthew McGovern, director, vertical market strategy, PTC. “PTC is committed to delivering solutions that help customers drive innovation and create high quality products.”
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