Cornell Industrial Corp.
SUCCESS METRICS
- Decreased assembly and reworking time by as much as 20%
- Lowered design costs because detailed 3D drawings allowed the company to use less experienced assembly workers
The Challenge
Cornell Industrial Corporation designs and manufactures custom sawmill equipment for small-to-mid-sized lumber companies, with an emphasis on saws and material handling systems. Increased competitiveness within the lumber industry has forced smaller companies to become more specialized. As a result, Cornell faces the task of altering the design and configuration of almost every machine or handling system ordered. As a result, the company needed a versatile, powerful 3D modeling solution that can stay on top of constantly changing design requirements.
The Solution
After evaluating Solid Edge, Mechanical Desktop, and Pro/ENGINEER, Cornell opted for SolidWorks with its familiar Windows interface and intuitive sketching and modeling functions. Unlike the other modeling packages, there are no confusing layered pull-down menus. Also, SolidWorks handles large assembly models efficiently. Moreover, the SolidWorks equation tool makes it easy to preserve design intent, and its Feature Manager design tree easily guides the user through large assemblies. Cornell also appreciates SolidWorks' affordable price. Current business strategy is to construct solid models of all "standard" equipment, and then to take advantage of the power and flexibility of SolidWorks to quickly make the changes customers require.
