INDUSTRY News
Amazon completes a big CAD conversion project for its industrial customers
Recently, Amazon’s Industrial Products division undertook one of the largest CAD conversion projects around, to supply downloadable CAD fi les for the millions of parts it supplies to its industrial customers. Engineers use these CAD fi les, inputting them directly into designs, to ease digital simulations and complete projects. Converting 2D paper or scanned fi les into electronic 3D Computer Aided Design (CAD) or Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) fi les is taking on an added signifi cance as companies increasingly look to make their processes digital. Many organisations have thousands, even millions of parts, assemblies and drawings that must be digitised into CAD- compatible fi les.
Amazon scanned and digitised the original part blueprints and drawings, which, unfortunately, proved hard to read and not useful for most modern design and manufacturing processes. “This was a huge job that needed to be done quickly, and we struggled to fi nd anyone capable of handling this type of volume on such a short timeline,” said Jason Mikhailovich, Senior Manager at Amazon Supply, which works with industrial and scientifi c companies. Amazon would seek advice from a major aerospace company which suggested one of six CAD companies in the US certifi ed by the Department of Defense (DoD) for scanning and conversion work.
A CAD file of a wing nut
“We needed a company that could ramp up the project quickly,” said Mikhailovich, who ultimately selected CAD/CAM Services, a Dallas-based CAD engineering fi rm with 35 years of expertise in 3D scanning, modelling and conversions. It didn’t take long before Amazon was
receiving over 1,000 CAD conversion fi les per day, in nine diff erent fi le formats – which was required for its catalogue. “I’m sure many companies are gearing up to do the same type of work, and my advice is to fi nd the right partner and take it one step at a time,” said Mikhailovich. Another signifi cant advantage
companies are fi nding include the avoidance of “CAD chaos” or a poorly- organised CAD ecosystem. One extreme example of how critical this can be is that of a major aerospace manufacturer who had to halt production of its newest aircraft after it had already reached the assembly room fl oor. The problem was traced back to
diff erent plants using diff erent versions of the design software. The end cost was tremendous, so much so that the company reduced its profi t forecasts by $6bn, and shut down multiple facilities, with the loss of thousands of jobs.
6 May 2023 | Automation
automationmagazine.co.uk
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