We asked senior mechanical engineer Joshua Rigberg of Origin Product Development to share with us how they use SolidWorks.
Could you tell me a little bit about your company, and what you do?
Origin Product Development delivers innovative product design and development solutions for clients in the medical/laboratory, industrial and consumer markets. Our services include design research, industrial design user interface design, mechanical engineering, and manufacturing sourcing to help our clients bring new products to market, on time and on budget.
What were using before you started using SolidWorks? What were the biggest challenges?
Prior to Solidworks we used AutoCAD as our main CAD software package. This software was good for 2D layouts, but became difficult to design parts with limited 3D functions. The software didn’t offer the freedom of part design and assembly work that SolidWorks does.
When did you decide to start using SolidWorks? What was the deciding factor?
We switched to SolidWorks in the late 1990’s to increase our capabilities to create the best products to our customers. SolidWorks opened doors to better CAD models and drawings in addition to the ability to analyze parts with Finite Element Analysis built into the modeling software.
What are some of the largest benefits you see of using SolidWorks?
Our greatest benefit from using SolidWorks is that it’s the tool that we use from the beginning to end of any project. From the earliest point we use SolidWorks to block in the internal components into various configurations. Our designers are able take those configurations and quickly start sketching ideas around these internal components.
Since we are able to stay in Solidworks from concept, to prototype, through to manufacturing we rarely have to deal with translating between various software solutions. Another large benefit is that Solidworks is commonly out there in our industry. Many of our clients and vendors use SolidWorks which makes collaborating that much more painless.
How has SolidWorks changed how you design products?
Solidworks allows us to better visualize the products we design, and allows our customers to get a good feel for their products before we proceed to build prototypes or production units. Reviewing assemblies ensures that all parts assemble as desired without interferences, and that all hardware is properly sized. Simulation offers the ability to quickly review parts for proper material selection and optimization of part dimensions.
Would you recommend SolidWorks to other people in your industry?
We have found that Solidworks is critical to our field. As product designers we straddle the line between aesthetic design and product engineering. Being able to design forms in Solidworks makes for a smoother transition when parts need to be converted to manufacturable parts is a huge time saver.
We have found that while Solidworks may not be the fastest for generating surfaces, the added time it takes in the beginning is paid for near the end of the process. When changes come in we are able to quickly make modifications to complex shapes without the set back of rebuilding from scratch.
Have you taken any of our SolidWorks training classes?
Every year we attend the “What’s new in Solidworks” course that CAPINC offers. We find it to be indispensable for keeping abreast of new changes that will improve our process moving forward. We have attended training classes which were presented in an easy to follow and well rounded manner. The instructors were clear and concise in their teaching methods and were exceptionally helpful in answering questions regarding the software.
Why did you choose to work with CAPINC?
CAPINC has a great reputation in this region for offering exceptional support to their customers on both in the area of troubleshooting and educating employees on how to use SolidWorks.
