Antares Aerospace eliminates revision errors, drastically shortens delivery lead times, and grows internationally with SOLIDWORKS Connected and 3DEXPERIENCE Works.
Improve data management and documentation capabilities to eliminate revision errors, shorten delivery lead times, grow internationally, and maintain AS9100 Rev. D certification for defense contractors.
Transition to SOLIDWORKS® Professional design software and 3DEXPERIENCE® Works modeling, collaboration, data management, engineering release, change management, and communication solutions, including Collaborative Designer for SOLIDWORKS, Collaborative Industry Innovator, Collaborative Business Innovator, 3D Creator, 3D Sculptor, Product Release Engineer, and Change Manager roles.
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 DriveTM. 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.
How do you connect your design, engineering, and business teams together? With the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, connecting SOLIDWORKS to everyone else is just a few clicks away. Enhance the value of SOLIDWORKS, Improve Collaboration, Productivity, and Innovation with Collaborative Designer for SOLIDWORKS. Click here to explore collaboration solutions for SOLIDWORKS users.
Videos
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.
The 3DEXPERIENCE platform really hit us where we needed it, providing a joint CAD [SOLIDWORKS] and cloud-based PDM [product data management] solution.
“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.”
Connect your SOLIDWORKS CAD to the cloud to enhance collaboration and accelerate product development
SOLIDWORKS
Great ideas can come from many places. Product developers must find ways to bring their best people together so they can effectively collaborate as an ongoing part of development process, but must do this without incurring the cost of bringing everyone to a single location, installing more software, or purchasing additional hardware.To make collaboration more effective in generating innovation, product developers must be able to connect and collaborate without negatively impacting development cycles. They simply need to work smarter, not harder, and collaborate more, not less.This eBook shows how two companies used tools on the Extended SOLIDWORKS Portfolio to:Boost productivity and foster innovation with cloud-based toolsTake advantage of built-in data management capabilities with zero IT overheadConnect and gather feedback in a way that doesn’t delay development cyclesSafely collaborate on designs in real time with colleagues, partners, and suppliersLeverage SOLIDWORKS design tools to connect design teams any time, from anywhere and on any deviceDownload the eBook to discover the benefits of adopting a cloud-based approach to product design.
EBooks
As more and more software is deployed on the cloud, many might question how secure cloud-based applications actually are versus traditional on-premise software. ... Continued
Article
See the May 2021 updates to the browser-based design capabilities of 3DEXPERIENCE Works, adding significant power and flexibility to your product design strategy. ... Continued
Article
SOLIDWORKS solutions enable you and your team to quickly transform new ideas into great products.
