How SOLIDWORKS Brought the Heat to Meltech

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Ever wondered where factories get their factory parts? Why, other factories, of course. How about induction melting equipment for foundries? Now that’s a burning question.

Induction heating is a hot topic in manufacturing. Literally. It’s a method of making that demands precision to the nth degree. Again, quite literally. Manufacturers need their melting equipment to be as accurate as the foundry is hot. That’s extremely hot.

Meltech knows a thing or ten about induction melting equipment for foundries. What’s more, they’ve had SOLIDWORKS fanning the flames of their success.

Who is Meltech?

For over twenty years, English manufacturing company Meltech has made furnaces its trade. From rebuilding older machines and providing spare parts to moving into designing and producing digitally controlled fibreoptic-firing furnaces for sale the world over, it’s safe to say the company’s ongoing accomplishments have been nothing short of scorching.


How has SOLIDWORKS helped Meltech?

For over ten years Meltech’s meticulous designs have been created using SOLIDWORKS’ 3D CAD. Utilising lifelike material simulation that provides accurate stress-testing during the design stages is a process that has afforded Meltech much-needed extra time. Pretty handy given that the business has doubled in size across the past decade.

Prototypes? No need. SOLIDWORKS has removed entirely the need to produce costly and time-expensive trial builds. With a virtual build of a working model in SOLIDWORKS’ software, Meltech eliminates the need to manufacture any physical product until actual production. Straight from SOLIDWORKS to reality.

They’ve also branched out into SOLIDWORKS Electrical, the printed circuit board (PCB) design studio that offers swift mastery of electronic components in 3D CAD. Meltech’s furnaces are complicated builds, with just a little more wiring than your average toaster. Each machine is a haven of high voltage, containing dozens of circuits, microchips and transistors, each as crucial as the next. Having a toolbox of circuitry in the SOLIDWORKS program available at the click of the mouse has reduced the company’s design time by a whopping 40 percent – and time, as any business worth its share price will tell you, is money.


A melting pot of ideas  

The company has also invested in SOLIDWORKS Product Data Management, the data file and documentation service that’s lent Meltech’s team the capacity to store, re-use and share files across design teams, halving potential design times. Different teams using the same deep catalogue of components and parts at their fingertips has sped the company’s productivity exponentially.

Not just for manufacturing, use of SOLIDWORKS has bled through to the marketing department too. Employing SOLIDWORKS Visualization, Meltech have been able to use their 3D CAD designs to produce complete photorealistic product renderings of the finished products. It’s given the sales team easy and flexible access to final product designs from each and every angle before so much as a rivet has been produced. The customer can see exactly how the product looks and operates in as much detail as they need. It’s enabled Meltech to take its design cue directly from its clients, offering bespoke products as requested.

As Meltech goes from strength to smelting, SOLIDWORKS is happy to be able to assist with striking while the iron’s piping hot.


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SOLIDWORKS UK

SOLIDWORKS UK

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.