Antares Slashes Lead Times by 75% with SOLIDWORKS and 3DEXPERIENCE Works

Defense contractor Antares Aerospace & Defense is based in Bogotá, Columbia. Founded in 2009, the company grew rapidly when it became the sole supplier of the drag chute system used by Israel Aircraft Industries’ KFIR jets, which are multi-role, supersonic, all-weather combat aircraft. In 2019, Antares entered the U.S. market as a contractor to private companies serving the U.S. Department of Defense.

The company used open-source CAD software for product development before moving to Ansys® SpaceClaim® software in 2011. To meet the data management and documentation requirements needed for certification, Antares developed its own homegrown data management system using Google Drive^TM. However, the company struggled with accessing legacy design data, revision errors, and supporting a remote workforce.

“When we initially began our certification [AS9100 Rev. D] journey, we worked to improve our quality system and organize our workflows,” recalls Engineering Director Hector Mejia. “While that was sufficient at first, new requirements for certification are added every year.” The new requirements, the revision errors, data management problems, and the struggles around enabling remote workers to collaborate effectively prompted the company to seek a better solution.

When Antares moved to SOLIDWORKS and 3DEXPERIENCE Works solutions, it cut its customer delivery lead times from two-years (the general defense industry standard) to roughly six months. Mejia says the company improved its speed and flexibility by improving collaboration, formalizing product development workflows, and supporting remote work.

“With SOLIDWORKS and 3DEXPERIENCE, we’re just more efficient,” Mejia stresses. “One example of how we saved time was [by] using the Product Release Engineer role, which is magic because it organizes all the data and specific details for the production in a format that links it to all of the drawings and supporting information. Without it, preparing a product design for release to manufacturing used to take a week or two. With the Product Release Engineer role, it takes about half an hour.”

In addition to saving time, Antares has leveraged 3DEXPERIENCE Works data management to completely resolve its revision control issues.

As Antares goes after the U.S. market, the move to SOLIDWORKS and 3DEXPERIENCE Works solutions has prepared the defense contractor to maintain its critical certification while also managing rapid growth. “We need increased speed, flexibility, and collaboration to continue to grow our business in the United States,” Mejia points out.

“We’re saving substantial amounts of time with 3DEXPERIENCE Works solutions managing data while also ensuring the accuracy of our revisions,” Mejia continues. “With 3DEXPERIENCE Works, we’re able to keep track of everything without spending a lot of time, which will help us support future growth.”