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KMW Engineering Optimizes Product Development Process PDM solution from Autodesk® improves data security and efficiency. KMW Engineering GmbH Customer Success Story Autodesk ® Vault Workgroup Autodesk ® Inventor ® The increases in efficiency that we have already seen justify the purchase of Autodesk Vault Workgroup under any circumstances. Going forward, expanded and deeper usage in all areas will simply multiply the benefits. Robert Popp Head of Design and CAD Manager KMW Engineering GmbH Project Summary KMW Engineering GmbH (KMW), based in Klingenthal, Germany, was founded in 1997 and has been growing steadily ever since. Welding and cleaning machines for plastics manufacturers and speciality machinery such as stamping, milling and forming systems for car manufacturers are developed and built at the Klingenthal site. KMW owns a branch in Helmbrechts, Germany, which exclusively develops and builds specialist machinery, automation and robotics solutions such as gluing, clipping and handling systems for automotive suppliers. KMW's engineers have the mechanical, electronic and programming know-how to be able to handle complete production process chains. Large companies in the automotive supplier industry are therefore among KMW's customers. To provide a structure for the non-systematic data archives that have developed over the years at KMW, the team from Helmbrechts took a closer look at a range of PDM solutions. They finally opted to purchase and introduce Autodesk Vault Workgroup, and they had good reason to do so: implementation and training on the Autodesk Vault PDM software only takes one day. Furthermore, the Vault software won them over with its simplicity of use and its ability to achieve time and cost savings in design and production work. Challenge The developers at KMW Engineering have long been using Autodesk Inventor as their design tool both at their main site in Klingenthal, where seven Inventor workstations are in use, and at the Helmbrechts branch, where five designers use Inventor. The amount of data that had accumulated over the years was extensive by the time the team in Helmbrechts began to think about improving the situation last year. Only long term employees could find their way through it, and new colleagues had even greater difficulty. Robert Popp is Head of Design and CAD Manager at the Helmbrechts site. He knew the properties and benefits of PDM systems from his previous work. As a result, he was keen to structure and regulate the unsystematic storage of design data, which had grown organically at KMW over the years, by introducing a data management system. With the aid of specialists from Autodesk, Popp investigated the situation in the design division and took aim at identifying the weaknesses so they could quantify the potential benefits of a data management system. The analysis provided many arguments and potential savings to justify the purchase of PDM software. “In the past, we had to depend on what an individual user held in their head and knew. Then if that employee was ill, or on holiday, we encountered problems and lost time. Clip assembly for sills - Image courtesy of Feige GmbH

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Page 1: KMW Engineering GmbH Customer Success Story KMW ...images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/kmw_customer_story.pdf · KMW Engineering Optimizes Product Development Process PDM solution from

KMW Engineering Optimizes Product Development ProcessPDM solution from Autodesk® improves data security and efficiency.

KMW Engineering GmbH Customer Success Story

Autodesk® Vault Workgroup Autodesk® Inventor ®

The increases in efficiency that we have already seen justify the purchase of Autodesk Vault Workgroup under any circumstances. Going forward, expanded and deeper usage in all areas will simply multiply the benefits.

Robert PoppHead of Design and CAD ManagerKMW Engineering GmbH

Project Summary KMW Engineering GmbH (KMW), based in Klingenthal, Germany, was founded in 1997 and has been growing steadily ever since. Welding and cleaning machines for plastics manufacturers and speciality machinery such as stamping, milling and forming systems for car manufacturers are developed and built at the Klingenthal site. KMW owns a branch in Helmbrechts, Germany, which exclusively develops and builds specialist machinery, automation and robotics solutions such as gluing, clipping and handling systems for automotive suppliers. KMW's engineers have the mechanical, electronic and programming know-how to be able to handle complete production process chains. Large companies in the automotive supplier industry are therefore among KMW's customers.

To provide a structure for the non-systematic data archives that have developed over the years at KMW, the team from Helmbrechts took a closer look at a range of PDM solutions. They finally opted to purchase and introduce Autodesk Vault Workgroup, and they had good reason to do so: implementation and training on the Autodesk Vault PDM software only takes one day. Furthermore, the Vault software won them over with its simplicity of use and its ability to achieve time and cost savings in design and production work.

ChallengeThe developers at KMW Engineering have long been using Autodesk Inventor as their design tool both at their main site in Klingenthal, where seven Inventor workstations are in use, and at the Helmbrechts branch, where five designers use Inventor. The amount of data that had accumulated over the years was extensive by the time the team in Helmbrechts began to think about improving the situation last year. Only long term employees could find their way through it, and new colleagues had even greater difficulty. Robert Popp is Head of Design and CAD Manager at the Helmbrechts site. He knew the properties and benefits of PDM systems from his previous work. As a result, he was keen to structure and regulate the unsystematic storage of design data, which had grown organically at KMW over the years, by introducing a data management system. With the aid of specialists from Autodesk, Popp investigated the situation in the design division and took aim at identifying the weaknesses so they could quantify the potential benefits of a data management system. The analysis provided many arguments and potential savings to justify the purchase of PDM software. “In the past, we had to depend on what an individual user held in their head and knew. Then if that employee was ill, or on holiday, we encountered problems and lost time.

Clip assembly for sills - Image courtesy of Feige GmbH

Page 2: KMW Engineering GmbH Customer Success Story KMW ...images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/kmw_customer_story.pdf · KMW Engineering Optimizes Product Development Process PDM solution from

The search for existing components and designs is easier, similar parts can be found more quickly.

Vault software is simple to use and we've now become familiar with it. Our colleagues in production can now gain read-access to all drawing data via the company network without lengthy searches and can view them using the DWF Viewer. Even customer drawings are stored electronically in the system and are easy to find. That is a huge advance.

Robert PoppDesigner and CAD ManagerKMW Engineering GmbH

Autodesk, Autodesk Vault Workgroup and Autodesk Inventor are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. in the USA and / or other countries. All other brand names, product descriptions or trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Autodesk reserves the right to change all product offers and technical data without notice at any time. Autodesk is furthermore not liable for any graphic or spelling errors in this document. © 2011 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

Gluing system for CAD spoiler - Image courtesy of Feige GmbH

Welding and cleaning line for windows - Image courtesy of Feige GmbH

Identical or similar parts were often produced in parallel with different numbers because it was not possible to access the existing data quickly,” explains Popp. “There was an archive structure that related to the projects but we did not pay enough attention to the systematic reuse of purchased and standard parts to rationalise production. In the past, we not only tolerated duplicated data storage and redundant design data, but also redundant production which was associated with unnecessary costs. We wanted to eradicate these weaknesses.”

SolutionKMW Engineering researched and evaluated a number of different alternatives on the market. Ultimately, they decided to buy and introduce Autodesk Vault Workgroup. The costs of this solution were clear. The functions meet the company's needs and its upgradability would guarantee that it could cope with possible increasing demands in the future. Criteria such as future integration into an ERP system, interaction across several sites – such as Klingenthal and Helmbrechts – or the demands of use for series production, as undertaken in Klingenthal, played a role here.

The PDM software Autodesk Vault was introduced in January 2011. Implementation and training took just one day. The first half of the day was spent on the installation and training for the administrator, with the second half spent on training users. After around three months, there was a further training and discussion day. This enabled topics to be examined in greater depth. Outstanding questions and problems could be discussed and solutions explained.

Greater Security - Lower CostsIn the meantime, the use of data management has become routine and the benefits of the software are easily recognisable. “The search for existing components and designs is easier, and similar parts can be found faster. This has enabled us to save on design work, because we can use existing parts. In the production process, this leads to better value pre-production or small series production. The application reference is very useful. It helps

us to identify the consequences of changing a component,” explains Popp.

All users are allocated specific access rights through the user management facility in Vault Workgroup. Naturally, design staff have more extensive access rights than their colleagues in purchasing or production. “We use the check-in/check-out functions to reserve a design for a member of staff for as long as he or she is working on it. Only after check-in can a colleague gain access to it again. This ensures that no designer can overwrite a colleague's current design data,” explains the head of design. In the course of the reorganisation of data management, the KMW developers have improved their item listings. “We now generate everything from item lists to order lists faultlessly and automatically using the Inventor software because all the data is there in the CAD system. It took a while to get used to it because the item lists were drawn up manually until recently. However, the advantages were clear and convinced everyone,” says Popp. The new system automatically issues drawing numbers, ensuring that they are unique and the developer no longer needs anyone to manage the allocation of numbers. “We did have to deal with one small disadvantage: the 'meaningful' numbers that we once used and the allocation to projects by number no longer exist,” explains Popp.

Worthwhile InvestmentAfter initial familiarization, and time spent on the migration of the item list organization and data management, the designers have recognized the advantages of the new system. “Vault software is simple to use and we've become familiar with it now. Colleagues in production are also full of praise: they can now gain read-access to all drawing data via the company network without lengthy searches and can view them using the DWF Viewer. Even customer drawings are stored electronically in the system and are easy to find. That is a huge advance,” says Popp.

The cost of introducing the PDM software was more or less as expected. “The gain in efficiency that we have already seen, after just a short while, justifies this investment in any case. Going forward, expanded and deeper usage in all areas will simply multiply the benefits.

We have already decided now to introduce Autodesk Vault Workgroup at the Klingenthal site too,” says the head of design. The experiences gained in Helmbrechts will help to achieve a smooth and fast implementation there.