 The Challenge
UK-based KeyMed, a subsidiary of Olympus Optical Corporation, provides ancillary equipment for Olympus’s range of endoscopy systems used for diagnostic examination and surgical procedures. As a leader in the medical and industrial equipment market, KeyMed realised it needed to move to an integrated 3D CAD package that would allow it to increase productivity and continue to meet market demand.
The Solution
KeyMed was drawn to SolidWorks because of its superior modelling capabilities but soon realised there were many other benefits. ”We make a lot of sheet metal components and SolidWorks has a very good sheet metal facility. It also allows us to do complicated models for plastic moulding, which again we do a lot of. It was that flexibility that sold it to us. The other advantage is that more and more companies are using SolidWorks so we are able to send native files to external suppliers, which can be used for setting up machine tools or creating mould tools. It speeds things up for them because they don’t have to re-engineer the model. They take our model and use it to lay out cutting parts for the CNC machines. It also means they are using our data not something they’ve had to make up themselves.”
Summary
KeyMed has expanded its use of SolidWorks beyond the engineering group into its technical publications group, its manufacturing facility and its sales and marketing department. “It’s all about time to market. That is why we have spread SolidWorks across the company. We asked ourselves who we could push the software out to in order to save time on projects.” SolidWorks has greatly increased KeyMed’s productivity, shortening the product design process, and reducing design errors.
“Without SolidWorks we would experience many more delays in product development and it would be a lot harder to get people to commitment to a project early on. It helps us deliver on our service promise and keeps us at the forefront of medical device technology.”
Ian Hallett, medical research and development manager, KeyMed
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