When Husky Corp. engineers Tom Mitchell and Gordon R. Coates III began designing a new product for their company, they knew they would be working with several suppliers along the way.
For some companies that could pose challenges, but not for Coates and Mitchell: Their key suppliers use PTC''s Pro/Engineer, so they could reuse knowledge, drive designs by objectives, share electronic files, and work collaboratively on the new product throughout the entire design-to-manufacturing cycle.
"We e-mailed our tooling vendor the Pro/Engineer designs he needed, while protecting intellectual property and maintaining our corporate standards -- that''s a truly flexible engineering approach," Mitchell says.
The end result was a unique gas nozzle design that can be used on three different categories of vehicle. The new product was designed and manufactured in one year using PTC technology; it would have taken two to three years without using PTC solutions, Mitchell says.
Designing Inside Out
Husky Corp., headquartered in Pacific, Missouri, designs and manufactures fluid handling equipment for the retail station market (i.e. gas nozzles, safety breaks, P/V Vents, and swivels) for customers worldwide. The product Mitchell and Coates designed, called the 3N-1, was a new concept for the company. "We approached upper management with the game plan of using Pro/Engineer throughout the entire project and they were behind us 100%," says Coates.
They used PTC''s Pro/Engineer to create their design, and decided they wanted the accuracy of die-casting. Mitchell knew that their die caster toolmaker was a Pro/Engineer user, and that they would be totally integrated for this portion of the design so we could manage changes. They also wanted a prototype they could manage virtually, and were able to e-mail their electronic design data to a local company, which made a wax pattern of the nozzle within two weeks.
"After six weeks we already had something to test," Mitchell says. The engineers also needed to design an expansion plug. Using PTC''s Pro/Mechanica they designed one that was elliptical instead of the traditional round shape. "It was the only shape that would fit because of the height constraint we had for the cover," Mitchell continues. PTC''s Pro/Mechanica, part of the Pro/Engineer family, helps customers digitally analyze and simulate how a product will perform.
"By using Pro/Manufacturer we were able to accurately cut the elliptical shape and verify the fit and function of the elliptical plug. With the help of Pro/Mechanica we could see how it sealed and worked. And it works in the real world," Mitchell says.
After making some minor changes, the engineers sent their files to the die cast toolmaker company, which made the tool in 16 weeks. "Before Pro/Engineer, we would send them a drawing and they had to guess on certain dimensions. Now, we send them a model that is complete; they had everything they needed to know. When we received the die cast it was correct. Before, there was a human interpretation error that could happen," Mitchell explains.
While the die cast tooling was being made, another vendor made 150 plaster castings of the nozzle -- using the same data Mitchell had sent to the die caster.
After machining the plaster castings, Husky underwent 60 to 90 days of field testing, and were thoroughly tested by the time production started. Only minor changes resulted, and Mitchell e-mailed a new file -- highlighting the changes -- to the die caster, who was able to make the changes on the fly.
In total, the engineers worked on the 3N1 product for about three months. "The product cycle was significantly reduced by using Pro/Engineer vendors because they are on the same page as we are," says Coates.
"In the old days, we would spend a year to design a product," Mitchell says. "I have more time now to design products, collaborate with the vendors, and respond to our customers'' needs."