Dainippon Turns To CoCreate to Manage Fast Design Cycles
CoCreate’s OneSpace Model Manager serves as the front end of Dainippon’s technology development center, streamlining the company’s lifecycle management process.
Product lifecycles for electronics have drastically compressed in recent years, and will only continue to shorten as new capabilities come to the forefront. For high-quality digital printing and imaging equipment, this is especially true.
“The competition is intense and we are challenged to quickly release popular products with high quality,” says Hirofumi Tano of the media technology division of Dainippon Screen (Japan). Dainippon’s successful CTP product line has transformed the workflow of production printing. “The CoCreate platform is essential for doing this.”
CoCreate’s (Fort Collins, CO) canon of design software products gave Dainippon not only a powerful 3D modeling tool which was easy enough for all its engineers to use, but also offered the technology to manage the overall design and production cycle without costly errors in versioning, modifications or miscommunication between departments.
Modeling the PlateRite 8800II
Dainippon Screen’s flagship model is the PlateRite 8800II, the star
of the company’s computer-to-plate (CTP) thermal plate recorder line.
In addition to supporting a variety of output sizes, the PlateRite 8800II
is equipped with state-of-art technology including GLV™ to output an
impressive 30 plates per hour.
The process of creating plates for printing presses formerly required a multi-step plate production process that involved first printing the document onto film. Dainippon Screen’s thermal plate recorders transform the workflow of production printing by imaging digital documents directly onto printing plates. The reduced number of steps cuts production costs and improves workflow efficiency.
According to Hirofumi Tano, choosing a 3D design tool for building the development of the PlateRite 8800II was of critical importance to the entire organization. Since the development involved engineers working on several diverse aspects—mechanical, electrical and optical—Dainippon Screen required a tool that satisfied each set of requirements, yet could bring together an accurate and complete 3D assembly, ready for production.
The deciding factor in choosing the CoCreate OneSpace Modeling was the software’s ease of use and a quick learning curve. Users’ skills naturally improved following only two days of training, allowing them to be effectively left to their own to immediately focus on design.
The benefits of the new product development tool quickly began to appear. In one of the first projects with OneSpace Modeling, the molded component that forms the CTP head was sent to post-processing following detailed analysis, and progressed all the way into production without the mold being sent back for modification. At the time it was normal to have two or three mold revisions, so this was an astonishing achievement, saving tens of thousands of dollars in mold revision expenses.
Focus on the Whole Process
What makes the CoCreate platform so appealing to manufacturers
with rushed design cycles is twofold. First, the unique history-free
modeling format permits very fast last-minute modifications before
production. The 3D forms are not restricted by the series of parametrics
used to create it. Secondly, the CoCreate philosophy focuses on the
use of the designs throughout the organization. CoCreate has perfected
the sharing of 3D models while development is proceeding concurrently
by many departments.
At Dainippon Screen, it is the CoCreate OneSpace Model Manager that orchestrates the overarching development process for the company. Just as many disciplines come together to create one product, Dainippon Screen uses one solution to collectively manage all 3D components, wiring, circuit board diagrams and firmware source code that go into the development of products.
Well-managed revision and state control has not only increased sharing of development information across the team, but has also shortened development times through better process management. The excellent user friendliness of both the tightly embedded and standalone desktop applications for OneSpace Model Manager proved easy to learn for all disciplines—including non-engineering departments that leverage released design information, such as procurement.
OneSpace Model Manager is also linked to Dainippon Screen’s ERP system, serving as the front end of the technology development center and streamlining the company’s lifecycle management process. Dainippon Screen has now extended collaboration to include CoCreate OneSpace.net, which the company is effectively using to conduct design reviews focused on analysis and digital simulation.
The precious time already saved in averted travel and misunderstandings has set high expectations, and the company has created plans to expand its use to plate and mold partners, subcontracted designers and the CTP production plant that is located in China.
When release dates of only a month can make the difference in hightech completion, companies like Dainippon Screen have found the advantages of a fully managed streamlined design cycle.
Ulrich Mahle is vice president of Worldwide Marketing and Product Development at CoCreate. He began working with Hewlett-Packard’s Mechanical Engineering program almost 20 years ago and was instrumental in starting up that company’s ME CAD program, the original ME CAD roots for CoCreate. Ulrich has held management positions in support, sales development, marketing and R&D. He helped broaden the ME CAD program by adding data management capabilities to the portfolio and developed a new generation 3D CAD product in the early 1990s. He also led efforts to bring collaboration technologies to market, forming the foundation of CoCreate’s OneSpace Collaboration product line.
CoCreate Software is ideal for leaders in high-tech electronics and machinery, and other innovative companies facing intense time to market pressure. Many of the world’s best known product development companies depend on CoCreate in order to achieve unprecedented speed and flexibility. CoCreate’s 3rd generation approach to product lifecycle management (3G PLM™) streamlines the process of planning, developing and manufacturing products. For more information visit www.cocreate.com.
Dainippon Screen is a high-tech electronics companies for semiconductor production equipment, computer-to-plate (CTP) digital printers and other printing and prepress machinery. The company has annual sales of nearly $2.3 billion ($250 million yen) with more than 4,500 employees. For more information, visit www.screen.co.jp.
