Automotive

Vishwas Auto Engineers

Auto supplier transforms process for significant competitive gain

Product NX Business challenges Establish own product development capability Continuously improve innovation and quality Significantly improve change management process Ensure timely delivery Expand into global market Keys to success Complete solution that improves design, analysis, manufacturing, testing and validation efficiency/process NX software Results New product design cycle reduced from 5 days to 2 days Rework and modification due to improper design reduced by 50 percent Time savings for rework contributed to 20 percent cost savings

NX helps manufacturer improve product development speed and quality while advancing global presence; design cycle time reduced by 60 percent
Struggling with 2D Vishwas Auto Engineers Pvt. Ltd. manufactures automobile components such as head rest support rods, tubular framing for seats and a variety of other press-part components. With 100 employees and a growth-minded vision in Indias growing automotive industry, the company was looking for ways to better position itself by offering higher quality products and faster product development turnaround in short, it sought a sharper competitive edge over other automotive manufacturing suppliers. Already serving several large automobile companies, Vishwas Auto Engineers operated an in-house tool room facility for manufacturing welded fixtures and provided general manufacturing support. However, the company lacked a true product development capability one that covered the range of design, analysis, manufacturing, testing and validation as well as provided the ability to perform all of these critical processes quickly and accurately. Vishwas Auto Engineers wanted to get the product right early on in the process.

Vishwas Auto Engineers had been working with an outside 2D-based vendor for the design-related aspects of product development. While company management recognized the significant limitation of the vendor to provide effective visualization of the designs in 2D, more and more managers became increasingly frustrated with the amount of time required to incorporate customer changes into designs. They further recognized 2D was not the tool that would enable the company to supply

www.siemens.com/nx

Results (continued) More than 70 percent of topand bottom-line growth from new, high-margin products Increased presence internationally

the best quality product, including achieving timely delivery and minimal rejections throughout the design and manufacturing cycle. As a result, it became increasingly clear that Vishwas Auto Engineers needed to develop its own advanced product development capability. There was always the possibility of human error with 2D design, says Vijay Sule, senior engineer, Design and Development, Vishwas Auto Engineers. Such errors caused problems during production. Our product development turnaround was inadequate since our vendor was unable to deliver a final design as fast as customers required it. Even just editing an alreadydeveloped model for CAD was inordinately cumbersome. Advancing a market-driven vision Manufacturing automotive products is a challenge of customization and responsiveness, says S. D. Mallah, director at Vishwas Auto Engineers. Each order is different. In addition, customers are continuously requesting faster delivery times. We needed a proven and highly efficient process across die, fixture and tool design.

Its at this time that Vishwas Auto Engineers established its vision of becoming every manufacturers First Choice through Innovation and Quality Excellence. The company intensified its focus on the quick development and delivery of high-quality and innovative products that contributed to its customers success. But it also wanted to achieve these goals while making significant headway into the international market. According to Mallah, Increasing market competition was requiring intensive product development work. It involved a lot of feedback and trial-and-error. Moreover, our profit margins were eroding. We wanted to be able to respond quickly to modifications requested by the customer. We were slowly but measurably losing our competitive edge. We needed to invest in the right technology and sooner than later. We targeted software with robust features for die, tool and fixture design. It was important that the technology be easy to use, be suited for modifications and possess powerful parametric editing functionality. Finally, we sought software where tool design updated automatically to the latest version, notes Javed Mahabari, manager of Quality Control at Vishwas Auto Engineers. For all these reasons, we chose Siemens NX software.

Other solutions we checked are unsuitable for our type of intensive product development that requires frequent and rapid design change. NX ts our needs perfectly.
Javed Mahabari Manager Quality Control Vishwas Auto Engineers

More than 70 percent of our top- and bottom-line growth has come from new, high-margin products developed using NX solutions.
S.D. Mallah Director Vishwas Auto Engineers Gearing up for production efficiency Vishwas Auto Engineers contacted Siemens partner Gnosis Infotech Pvt. Ltd. to help deliver the companys vision of product innovation, quality, fast delivery and global competitive edge. Sanjay Jogdand, who provides technical support at Gnosis, oversaw the installation and training. Gnosis specifically conducted training to demonstrate how we can use NX to reduce the time it takes for die design and modifications, explains Sule. With the help of Gnosis, we were able to greatly upgrade our in-house design skills and capabilities. Vishwas Auto Engineers soon demonstrated the value of its new design solution. A customer wanted us to develop a new product in absolutely the minimum time for the job at hand, recalls Mangesh Gadekar, manager of Production at Vishwas Auto Engineers. This required software that offered very fast modeling and easy editing, as we expected that several design modifications would be required before final development. Sule describes the process: We imported IGES files of the part to be produced. We then worked in NX to model the die. We also performed the necessary drafting and detailing in NX. We considered the other

solutions we checked to be marginal relative to CAD functionality and unsuitable for our type of intensive product development, which requires frequent and rapid design change. NX fits our needs perfectly.

Solutions/Services NX www.siemens.com/nx Customers primary business Vishwas Auto Engineers manufactures automotive components, including head rest rods/stay rods, nap rest rods, tubular frames, wire frames, wire and tube bending, arm rests and press components. www.vishwasauto.com Customer location Bhosari, Pune India Partner Gnosis Infotech Pvt. Ltd. We targeted software with robust features for die, tool and fixture design. It was important that the technology be easy to use, suited for modifications and possessed powerful parametric editing functionality. Vijay Sule Senior Engineer Design and Development Vishwas Auto Engineers Measuring improvements When using the outside CAD/CAM vendor, Vishwas Auto Engineers had to wait at least a week to get a completed fixture, tool and die design too long for most of Vishwas Auto Engineers good customers. Sule points out, With NX, it now takes just two days. Thats a 60 percent reduction in the time needed for this process. More than 70 percent of our top and bottom-line growth has come from new, high-margin products developed using NX solutions. And weve been able to reduce design modification time nearly 50 percent, which also translates to 20 percent cost savings. Our work is within the close tolerance with zero defects. We attribute these results to the modeling capabilities of NX. Mallah adds, Were proud of our work in the automotive industry, our ability to manufacture products that meet the end users needs for total safety and comfort, a high level of performance and a long, reliable product life. With NX, we now have the capacity to continue to innovate and respond adeptly to the diverse needs of our customers. In addition, using NX, we have made and continue to make important headway into the global market.

The new product design cycle has been reduced from 5 days to 2 days.

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