SolidWorks Helps Maesa Studio Create Elegant, Cost-Effective Packaging For Top Cosmetic Brands
Sharing Information Between Design and Production Eliminates Budget Overruns That Erode Customers’ Profits
CONCORD, Mass., USA, Jan. 12, 2010 – The firm that designs packaging for top cosmetic brands like Estee Lauder and Victoria’s Secret uses SolidWorks® 3D CAD software to produce designs that display its clients’ products elegantly and creatively while keeping costs in line.
SolidWorks enables design and production engineers at Los Angeles-based Maesa Studio to collaborate throughout the design process to strike the essential balance between cost limits and innovative designs that sell products. Although cleverly designed bottles, containers, and packaging are crucial to clients’ images and product sales, Maesa Studio’s Executive Vice President of Product Development Sean Brosmith said price has the final word.
“Our customers are very price sensitive because they make money in volume sales, so they need to hold down unit cost,” Brosmith said. “We could spend all day designing the most beautiful packaging possible, but if it costs 30 percent more than the client’s budget we’re not doing them any service. SolidWorks helps us from the very earliest creative and industrial design phases. When creative has a design they’re working up, they can quickly throw it over to production engineering for price referencing, to check the weight – anything that might affect cost.”
Maesa Studio, a division of Maesa Group, designs and produces paper, plastic, glass and metal packaging between facilities in the U.S., Asia, and Europe. Among its clients are international brands like Crabtree & Evelyn, L’Oreal, Bath & Body Works, and celebrities like rapper 50 Cent who launch their own product lines. Maesa Studio’s design engineers translate sketches of new containers, boxes, and displays into SolidWorks 3D models. They use the models to present concepts to clients, refine them based on the clients’ responses, then put them into production. Maesa Studio’s ability to quickly present clients with creative, cost-effective concepts is a huge competitive advantage.
“SolidWorks is a multi-purpose tool that allows us to explore 3D concepts creatively and present conceptual designs to our clients knowing that we have CAD data ready to be passed to the engineering/production teams. That makes the interaction between our creative industrial deign and engineering teams incredibly streamlined,” Brosmith said. “Our costing teams in New York and Asia use the SolidWorks data industrial designers generate to get a head start on the costing process. Through early evaluation of our designs, we can be sure items stay on budget and allow the production team to make recommendations on how to lower part costs in manufacturing, all before final engineering.”
A wide range of consumer products, from snowboards, to mountain bikes, to children’s toys, to furniture, are designed in SolidWorks by companies that want performance and cost effectiveness without sacrificing aesthetics. SolidWorks provides modeling and analysis tools that enable designers to optimize their designs throughout the product development process, balancing practicality and creativity.
“Maesa Studio is using our software to manage costs the way they should be managed. Not as a curb on creativity, but as a reality that has to be considered throughout the creative process,” said DS SolidWorks Vice President of Marketing Christine Washburn. “From design to internal and client communication, Maesa Studio is proving the value of SolidWorks.”
Maesa relies on authorized SolidWorks reseller GoEngineer for SolidWorks for ongoing software training, implementation, and support.
About Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp.
Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp., a Dassault Systèmes S.A. subsidiary, is a world leader in 3D solutions that help millions of engineers and designers succeed through innovation. Our products deliver an intuitive experience in product design, simulation, publishing, data management, and environmental impact assessment. For the latest news, information, or an online demonstration, visit our Web site (www.solidworks.com) or call 1-800-693-9000 (outside of North America, call +1-978-371-5000).
About Dassault Systèmes
As a world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, Dassault Systèmes brings value to more than 100,000 customers in 80 countries. A pioneer in the 3D software market since 1981, Dassault Systèmes develops and markets PLM application software and services that support industrial processes and provide a 3D vision of the entire lifecycle of products from conception to maintenance to recycling. The Dassault Systèmes portfolio consists of CATIA for designing the virtual product – SolidWorks for 3D mechanical design – DELMIA for virtual production – SIMULIA for virtual testing – ENOVIA for global collaborative lifecycle management, and 3DVIA for online 3D lifelike experiences. Dassault Systèmes’ shares are listed on Euronext Paris (#13065, DSY.PA) and Dassault Systèmes’ ADRs may be traded on the US Over-The-Counter (OTC) market (DASTY). For more information, visit http://www.3ds.com/.
CATIA, DELMIA, ENOVIA, SIMULIA, SolidWorks, and 3D VIA are registered trademarks of Dassault Systèmes or its subsidiaries in the US and/or other countries. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective owners. Copyright © 2009 Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp.
