Aperia Technology: Transform an Industry Problem Into a Business Solution

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Some of the best designs come from problems we see every day while we’re working.  Many SOLIDWORKS users find it their mission to solve these everyday problems and create better designs to not only improve their workflows, but industry workflows as a whole. One example of our customers creating an innovative design based on an industry common issue is Aperia Technologies.  Let’s take a look at their story.

Aperia Technologies was founded by Chief Executive Officer Josh Carter and Chief Technology Officer Brandon Richardson, who met at Stanford University while pursuing master’s degrees in mechanical engineering design methodology and energy systems.  While in school, they were looking for an interesting project and focused on a common issue faced by commercial trucking fleets, which is tire underinflation. Once they realized the significant impact on the industry, they jumped at the opportunity to start a business to improve these setbacks.

Aperia Technologies, which the pair launched in 2010, intends to eliminate trucking costs related to tire underinflation, including unnecessary energy consumption and creation of preventable tire waste, through the development of its Halo® Tire Inflator system. The prototype for the Halo, which installs over an existing wheel hub, utilizes the wheel’s rotational motion to maintain optimal tire pressure. By automatically maintaining the correct tire pressure, the Halo increases fuel efficiency; extends tire life; reduces blowouts; reduces tire maintenance; and cuts oil consumption, emissions, and waste.

In order to develop its Halo prototype, Aperia knew it needed a more versatile CAD package to allow them to increase their efficiency and speed and it wasn’t long before they standardized on multiple SOLIDWORKS Solutions like SOLIDWORKS Premium, SOLIDWORKS Simulation Premium, SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation, SOLIDWORKS Plastics Professional, and SOLIDWORKS Composer.

According to Richardson, “Moving to SOLIDWORKS enabled us to ramp up development, which allowed us to get product on the road more quickly.”  After switching to SOLIDWORKS, Aperia continued to see vast improvements like, increased design efficiency and physical prototyping cut in half.

To read more on Aperia Technologies and how with the help of SOLIDWORKS solutions it created a product and business out of an industry problem, click here.

Josie Morales

Josie Morales

Josie connects with SOLIDWORKS users every day to help them share their cool and ground breaking design stories. When not speaking to users, she's binge watching everything.