Welcome to Day Two of 3DEXPERIENCE World 2023!

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It’s Technology Tuesday and today’s general sessions focused on three key areas: Design, Simulation, and Manufacturing. Each domain session highlighted client success stories and showcased technologies solving today’s client challenges alongside the research and development investments in the 3DEXPERIENCE Works portfolio poised to drive client excellence in the future.

In the scope of 3DEXPERIENCE Works, everything begins with design. So it’s no surprise that step one on today’s journey began with a look at the best product design tools on the planet and the SOLIDWORKS users who bring imagination to life. Here, three clients shared the stage to discuss how long-term partnerships with SOLIDWORKS are delivering on current and future needs. These clients included: Boston Scientific, House of Design, and Sealed Air.

Matt Shedlov, Senior R&D Manager, Boston Scientific, a medical device producer and biomedical firm, shared details of his company’s emotional paycheck: improving and saving the lives of 30M patients each year. Shedlov discussed one patient case in which a patient at risk of cardiac arrest was implanted with a VIGILANT X4 cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator. The patient suffered a cardiac event and the device brought him back to life. Boston Scientific has been a client since 1998 and has grown from a handful of seats to more than 2K users today. Shedlov explained that as Boston Scientific grew, SOLIDWORKS was alongside, “SOLIDWORKS R&D has done a great job. We’ve grown together with them. They’ve listened to our needs and it’s been wonderful to have us both grow together.”

Ryan Okelberry, Co-Founder, House of Design, explained his company’s efforts in addressing the housing crisis by bringing automation in manufacturing building components in modular housing. Just in the United States, there’s roughly a 5M deficit in housing starts, which mostly impacts low-income and first-time homebuyers. Housing brings unique challenges – especially in size and scale. For example, House of Design’s floor truss assembly includes 40K components alone! The company’s main design goal is creating a virtual twin, which requires electrical and control systems. Okelberry explained that his team uses SOLIDWORKS Mechanical and Electrical design from the beginning. By working in parallel, his teams work faster and require less design iterations. House of Design also leverages CAD data downstream for robotic system engineers and uses structural analysis on its robotic systems. For House of Design, SOLIDWORKS design tools have been absolutely critical in prototyping and business success.

Brandon Foster, Sr. CAD Administrator at Sealed Air, has a product everyone uses and many can’t get enough of…BUBBLE WRAP! Sealed Air is in the business to solve critical packaging solutions and is working to create sustainable solutions with an aim to leave the world better than they found it. Sealed Air faces many unique challenges as a global business. The company must remain agile in the face of tight deadlines and with complex equipment, including machines with 10K parts, having accurate documentation is a must. Sealed Air uses DraftSight 2D to document and manage production lines and factory layout as well as in production drawings to manufacturing partners. Foster explained that DraftSight made sense as it’s a powerful and cost-effective 2D solution. The learning curve is low and easy for users to pick up. Sealed Air project engineers leverage machine libraries in DraftSight to create custom plant layouts to show customers how its machines are positioned and fit inside plants – making DraftSight a competitive advantage.

The future of design is evolving beyond product development. The most impactful designs will emphasize experience. Think of the items you use every day and why you continue to use them. A phone is an easy example. It’s not just a phone: it’s a communications, knowledge, and entertainment hub. What you learn or feel while using the phone keeps you coming back and these next users are focused on designing for experience.

Storyteller Overland is a Birmingham, AL-based adventure vehicle upfitter that equips outdoor enthusiasts with the tools they need to “Live Free, Explore Endlessly and Tell Better Stories.” Director of Engineering Michael Austell explained that the company was born out of a spirit for grand adventure, and they are focused on equipping those who are pursuing meaningful experiences and living a life of discovery out on the open road and beyond.

Austell walked through the company’s design process, which uses connected product development tools on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, to bring its experiences to life. The industrial designers start off with the concepts, before they hand it over to the mechanical engineers for turning it into reality. We work with our quality and shop floor teams as well as outside vendors to get custom parts manufactured. Austell explained how the 3DEXPERIENCE platform stores and organizes data and improves collaboration. “The built-in data and lifecycle management capabilities help us maintain coherence across the design team.With the platform, we have enabled our production engineering team as well as management to get access to 3D and introduced the ability to receive their feedback in real time. It’s great to be able to lock down final designs as released to prevent that unintentional edit.Leveraging the platform has been a real game changer to increase my team’s efficiency.”

Speaking of increasing efficiency, Florian Fischer, CEO of X Custom Engineering, is taking streamlining to the next level. X Custom Engineering is a prototype engineering company with a vision to combine the overall process, from engineering and prototype development to production, in one complete system. Fischer’s main driver is to combine PDM, CAM, CAD, and Simulation to reduce costs and improve innovation. Fischer explained four main goals:

  • Having an integral product development process
  • As someone who gains inspiration in nature, I wanted to be independent from specific hardware or work location  
  • To keep things simple, we wanted to keep intersections between different tools to a minimum
  • I wanted to access my data from every company device – whether that is cellphone, tablet, or laptop. I wanted device independence.

So how does Fischer make this possible? SOLIDWORKS Cloud design tools, of course. These browser-based applications enable Fischer to design and work the way he wants to work. He can access data on the go and design whenever innovation strikes…even while traveling in the mountains. This picture was taken while conducting a live design review in xDesign as he was traveling in the mountains. Fischer explained, “I am able to do the complete engineering process, from anywhere, using any device. Ideas can strike anytime. As a small startup company, I can take my device wherever I am and capture ideas directly on my iPad. I don’t have to go to the office, travel, or have complex computers. I can design right at home from my couch.” Just the way life should be.

The last few years required a lot of imagination to continue learning and creating. As the home became central to learning and discovering hobbies, the way we approached creating evolved.

As any pandemic parent can tell you, moving to virtual classrooms provided many challenges. Thankfully amazing educators, like Amy Hamilton of Sleepy Hollow Middle School, became real-life superheroes. As students were no longer able to access desktop SOLIDWORKS, Hamilton pivoted to cloud-based solutions via the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. Students took the apps and ran. Hamilton explained that her students started using CAD with 3D Creator (xDesign) and were able to learn enough to prepare AND PASS the CSWA exam. “It’s incredible to have middle school students certified with SOLIDWORKS. These certifications are included, and they’re so important to prime our kids for a wonderful career!”

As kids were learning at home, adults were discovering new ways to spend time – especially after blowing through Tiger King. It turns out, making something useful is the perfect palate cleanser for binge watching or failed attempts at bread baking. We discovered that if we had time, we could strive to be a maker. So 3DEXPERIENCE World featured one of the best: Kirby Downey.

Kirby makes killer pop culture props to life. One of his favorite personal projects is SOLIDWORKS modeled AT-AT Walker made famous in the Battle of Hoth (RIP Dax). Kirby wanted to make a highly detailed model with five points of articulation and a cutaway to see the interior. In addition Kirby has modeled and 3D printed props from videos games like DOOM, Destiny, Portal, and Hitman. One great maker story: Kirby printed a model gun for DOOM that holds the Guinness Book of Records for the largest and heaviest 3D-printed video game prop! Kirby finished with great advice for aspiring makers out there. “Have a goal in mind. Make something that will improve your life! It could be a stand for headphones, a new wallet clip, anything! Get inspired by watching other makers and don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty.”

Today’s design-focused general session was packed with awesome client stories from a diverse group of organizations and people.

Catch the replay below where you’ll also see some great technology updates from day two.

SOLIDWORKS

SOLIDWORKS

Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp. offers complete 3D software tools that let you create, simulate, publish, and manage your data. SolidWorks products are easy to learn and use, and work together to help you design products better, faster, and more cost-effectively. The SolidWorks focus on ease-of-use allows more engineers, designers and other technology professionals than ever before to take advantage of 3D in bringing their designs to life.
SOLIDWORKS

@SOLIDWORKS