Wise Plastics Technologies Inc has realized a 30-40% reduction in the design cycle times of its injection molded components and assemblies since implementing SolidWorks® 3D mechanical design software. In addition, the Stratasys Dimension 3D printer has helped the company simplify model production and generate additional revenue by building concept model parts in hours, not days.
Headquartered in St. Charles, IL, Wise Plastics Technologies provides custom state-of-the-art engineering through in-house tooling and prototyping for the military, consumer product, medical, automotive, and electronics industries. The company's engineering department chose SolidWorks Office 2006 as the lead software for the design of its injection parts and consumer products.
"We chose SolidWorks for its compatibility with our customer base and range of design features," said Dave Otto, vp of sales and engineering for Wise Plastics. "SolidWorks has helped us take in and generate models and drawings in many different formats, streamlining the work between suppliers and customers."
SolidWorks and the integrated COSMOSXpress™ tool have helped reduce several design issues. The interference check tool allows for easy assembly confirmation, while COSMOSXpress is used to evaluate the differences in materials for possible cost reductions.
In addition, the Dimension 3D printer from Stratasys has helped Wise Plastics minimize the number of prototypes required to verify production tools.
"Now that we're able to supply our customers with a fast, low-cost physical model, it has accelerated the approval process," said Otto. The Dimension 3D printer enables the company to share 3D parts with its supply chain, function as a service bureau for additional revenue, and utilize 3D models for sales and marketing.
"The Dimension printer has shortened our development time on projects and increased our level of confidence overall for our applications," said Otto. "We also use it to create our own components for secondary operation fixtures, saving us thousands of dollars and many hours of work."
