Custom Designs in Half the Time: Paranthaman Exporters goes from 2D to 3D
PRD Rigs, an award-winning Indian manufacturer of drilling rigs for oil and gas exploration, has designed, manufactured, and exported more than 350 drilling rigs to more than 30 countries around the world through its Paranthaman Exporters division. However, as the company grew, so did requirements for faster, more efficient product development.
Until 2011, Paranthaman Exporters used AutoCAD® 2D design tools in combination with hand calculations to design and validate rig components. However, increasing customer requirements for faster development, design reviews in 3D, and validation of rig performance using finite element analysis (FEA) simulation technology compelled the company to transition its development platform from 2D to 3D, according to Design Head Ramesh Rajamani.
“In 2D, it took at least 30 days to complete the design for a custom drilling rig when our customers wanted it in half that time,” Ramesh recalls. “To improve our competitiveness, we needed to accelerate development, validate designs with FEA, and resolve the fabrication issues that are inherent in manufacturing equipment that’s designed in 2D.”
analysis software, Paranthaman Exporters can
conduct both part and assembly FEA studies to
validate rig performance.
Since implementing SOLIDWORKS design and analysis solutions, Paranthaman Exports has cut its development cycles in half—doubling its custom rig development throughput—while simultaneously resolving a range of fabrication and assembly issues, which occurred frequently when working in 2D.
“Our customers demand that we complete all manufacturing drawings for a custom rig within 15 days,” Ramesh notes. “Working in 2D, it was impossible to finish the drawings for a rig in less than 30 days. By implementing SOLIDWORKS, we have been able to consistently meet our customers’ requirements, reducing our design cycles by 50 percent, which has substantially improved our competitiveness. We’ve also been able to eliminate the fabrication and assembly issues and associated rework that were common with 2D because we can use tools like interference/collision detection to resolve clearance and alignment problems in 3D,” Ramesh adds.
company to improve the strength and performance of
its equipment while decreasing rig weight and
reducing material usage and associated costs.
Using SOLIDWORKS Simulation Professional analysis software, Paranthaman Exporters can conduct both part and assembly FEA studies to validate rig performance. This capability has enabled the custom rig manufacturer to improve the strength and performance of its equipment while decreasing rig weight and reducing material usage, and associated costs, in the process.
By making the switch from 2D to SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD, Paranthaman Exporters met the challenge of accelerating development and validation of custom drilling rig designs for its customers. To learn more about Paranthaman Exporters’ success with SOLIDWORKS, click here to read the full case study.
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