What are the advantages of an open and customizable CAD/CAM solution?

7 Jun 2019 | Digital Engineering, CAD/CAM, Precision Manufacturing, Digital Engineering, Mécanique de précision, Verwendung, Wood Industry

As the performance and productivity requirements of professionals increase, design and manufacturing software evolves. An open and customizable CAD/CAM solution is what TOPSOLID offers to support companies for the purposes of unlimited and increasing development. What are the possibilities specifically offered by this type of software? What are the benefits of implementing them in your company? Discover the benefits of an open and customizable CAD/CAM solution through the features of TopSolid’Wood for the woodworking industry.

What is an open and customizable CAD/CAM solution?

An open CAD/CAM solution is a software designed to communicate easily with other software.

Thanks to its standard interfaces, the open CAD/CAM solution facilitates and accelerates both import and export. It allows you to communicate smoothly with your customers and suppliers, save time and reduce the margin of error to zero.

Examples of how you can use the TopSolid’Wood software in the wood industry:

Possibility of importing architectural plans in DXF or DWG formats into your CAD/CAM software: the designer works directly from these files.
Possibility of import 3D models in STEP, Parasolid or IGES formats: the furniture professional works without difficulty with the hardware supplier.
Exporting a cutting list in various formats: at the end of the layout project, the open software is able to export the cutting list in a format readable by a software specialized in panel cutting.
Exporting images to give the customer a realistic preview of the final rendering.

A customizable CAD/CAM solution is a software that allows the user to integrate specific issues and know-how.

Each profession has its know-how and each company has its own processes: from one company to another, professional expertise is concretely reflected in the implementation of specific procedures. It is in the company’s interest to preserve this in order to distinguish itself and protect its competitive advantage. To this end, the CAD/CAM software allows you to customize all stages of the design process. Moreover, it is this customizable nature of the software that offers professionals a better productivity potential.

Illustrations with TopSolid’Wood software:

Many different manufacturing processes coexist in the wood industry. The designer does not work in the same way with a professional and a private individual. In addition, he adapts his procedures according to the nature of the work in progress – bathroom, hotel, kitchen, store, etc. A tailor-made part is also necessarily integrated within each project. The furniture manufacturer’s issues, for its part, are radically different – standardization of parts, optimization of production, manufacturing for kit assembly or already assembled furniture, adaptation of processes based on the materials (solid wood, panels, resin, etc.). In this context, a standard CAD/CAM solution is not enough.

By choosing a customizable CAD/CAM solution, such as TopSolid’Wood, the company is importing its own know-how and procedures into the software to optimize its work without altering it. There are a thousand and one ways to design and manufacture using wood, and many benefits to be derived from this diversity. It is up to each professional to preserve his methods with regard to his brand image and production issues, with the support of a customizable software.

The advantages of an open and customizable CAD/CAM solution

1. Capitalize on your know-how

You are unique, and that is your strength. Through experience, the company acquires its own know-how on which to capitalize in order to win on the competition’s ground. By customizing its CAD/CAM solution according to its own know-how, the company gains in performance and productivity.

Example: TopSolid’Wood software allows you to create your own component libraries. In addition, customers can import their creations. These component libraries, which can be customized ad infinitum, add to the company’s assets over time.

2. Use an intuitive and evolutionary CAD/CAM solution

No computer skills are required to use TopSolid’Wood software. TOPSOLID, to make life easier for the company and its employees, includes in its CAD/CAM software offer comprehensive training for its users, and offers unlimited customer support free of charge for 6 months. The software solution’s intuitive interface allows you to get started quickly, regardless of your initial skill level. After using the software over time, the user makes the most of it by customizing it according to his specific needs: the CAD/CAM solution evolves with the professional.

3. A customizable software tool to increase productivity

As the CAD/CAM solution evolves with the professional, productivity increases accordingly. By choosing a solution that can be customized at an early stage, the company is able to integrate all the new data into the manufacturing process over time.

4. An open solution to improve performance

Saving time while ensuring a pristine work quality is the major advantage of open software. With TopSolid, the company automatically imports and exports all types of files from its suppliers and customers. This process saves time – no need to redo the work several times, to enter data to be exported, etc. – and at the same time reduces the risk of human error. The company’s performance increases considerably.

A good design and manufacturing software must adapt over time, without limit, to the evolution of the company. It is in this context that TOPSOLID thinks about its TopSolid CAD/CAM solutions. Thanks to TopSolid’Wood software, an open and customizable solution, professionals in the wood industry are able to develop their products without being limited by software issues. With the same objective of productivity, the TopSolid’Wood CAD/CAM solution also offers the opportunity to preserve valuable know-how and specific business expertise.

TopSolid CAD/CAM Product Range

TOPSOLID is to date the only publisher to offer this innovative integrated solution. Indispensable for saving time, reducing the margin of error, securing and improving processes, TopSolid’s products offer a significant competitive advantage. Discover the software adapted to your needs.

TopSolid’Design at the service of Métallerie Letourneau

6 May 2019 | Digital Engineering, Steel Industry

Métallerie Letourneau company manufactures metalworking for individuals and industries. Equipped with TopSolid’Design since 2015, the company designs all of its productions using the CAD software from the French editor. A software that is perfectly adapted to the needs of the company since it allows it to meet the specific expectations and requirements of each of its customers.

Do you specialize in the construction of metal structures? Are you looking for a software that is both simple and efficient, allowing you to manage numerous projects?

Find out why Métallerie Letourneau chose TopSolid and how it perfectly meets the company’s quality requirements.

Métallerie Letourneau, an expert in the manufacture of metal structures

Specialized in the production of metal structures, from computer-aided design to installation, Métallerie Letourneau offers customized solutions to manufacturers, architects as well as individuals and communities. The company designs various and varied equipment for the interior design of traditional homes, architects’ houses, industrial premises and local authority buildings.

Founded in 2010 by Simon Letourneau, its current manager, and now made up of a dozen people, the company located in the Burgundy region, manages all types of metalwork manufacturing projects, from the simplest to the most complex.

Variety of services offered by Métallerie Letourneau

The SME offers a wide range of services, constantly adapted to each of its customers; it builds and installs metal structures intended for the development of their interior and exterior spaces: staircases, gates, doors, railings, pergolas, awnings, glass partitions, etc.

Surrounded by a team of seasoned experts, the young manager in his thirties, creates unique, tailor-made and personalized equipment, integrating various materials (steel, aluminum, stainless steel, etc.). And to provide a turnkey solution and impeccable quality to its customers, the company frequently collaborates with all areas of the building industry. The manager models the different parts in the design department and creates the assemblies, all using the latest version of TopSolid’Design.

Even if the “functional” aspect of their equipment is essential, it undoubtedly has a decorative purpose; as a result, Métallerie Letourneau makes it a point of designing resolutely aesthetic works that will blend in perfectly with their customers’ interior designs and the architecture of the building.

Providing a wide range of services is an asset for the company, but it also represents a real challenge: the engineers must be able to bring to life all the equipment previously imagined for their customers.

TopSolid’Design: the ideal software to design large-scale metal structures

To date, the company uses TopSolid’Design CAD software to design all their parts and assemblies; this software solution allows them to manage all types of projects, from the most classic to the most ambitious; thanks in particular to the large assembly management feature, the company can manage the modeling of very large assemblies.

Before making his choice, the head of the metalworking company analyzed the CAD software market at length. What he was looking for above all, was a simple to use, intuitive software that would allow him to manage all his customers’ projects. He also needed a robust solution with extensive and powerful design along with simulation capabilities.

TopSolid’Design is both simple and very powerful. Its intuitive interface guarantees its users a quick start and easy and optimal use, without unnecessary waste of time. This tool includes an infinite number of features that allow it to manage complex projects.

This solution has the advantage of being very ergonomic: thanks to its dashboard listing the latest documents and current projects, you have an overview of your current projects at a glance. Moreover, to design your sheet metal parts and assemblies, you will appreciate its sparse, very functional and customizable interface which is adapted to your needs; you can easily add or remove some features, as you wish, to lighten the interface.

Securing your designs was an asset that seduced the Burgundy company. The design of your parts is fully secured thanks to the integrated PDM (Product Data Management) which will ensure the complete management of all your data. You do not lose any information, all data is saved, no matter how it is manipulated or modified.

This application manages all files, links between parts and assemblies as well as all the changes made to the project: if you move a file, rename the documents, everything is saved automatically.

TopSolid’s integrated PDM allows you to manage large-scale projects with complete peace of mind. Let’s say you want to go back to the original project for some reason. With TopSolid’s integrated PDM solution, you are protected against data loss: you can restore an earlier version or recover the original version. You can easily reuse elements from other designs to re-inject them into other projects, which guarantees exceptional productivity benefits.

For Métallerie Letourneau, this integrated solution was a decisive factor in the final choice: convinced of the importance of data security, the company was immediately reassured.

Conclusion

It is a great satisfaction for TOPSOLID to see that the software allows Métallerie Letourneau to access various and varied markets, and to be able to respond to the demands and quality requirements of major customers such as SNCF.

Do you want to acquire a simple, intuitive and efficient CAD software?

Do not hesitate to ask for a demonstration of the software: you will see for yourself that this software is ideal for designing and producing any type of work.