Athena 3D Manufacturing Makes Quality Parts Faster with 3DEXPERIENCE Works

Athena 3D Manufacturing uses the process that best suits the job, whether CNC machining, 3D printing, injection molding, or cast urethane production, always striving to help its customers leverage the latest tools and technologies to consistently produce high quality parts. Athena also offers design and engineering services to help its clients design products that take full advantage of additive manufacturing.

Additive manufacturing is the process of building parts by adding material to them, which is different from traditional machining where the process "subtracts" material to make parts. (You could say that 3D printers are the CNC machines of additive manufacturing.) Therefore, optimizing mechanical designs for manufacturing differs depending on the type of process—additive or subtractive—used to create parts.

“Our expertise and niche are in design for additive manufacturability, and customers turn to us to ensure fast, quality outcomes for orders that are produced on the manufacturing side of our business,” Chief Technical Officer Dean Price explains.

Athena’s design and engineering group initially used Autodesk® Fusion 360® design software when the company was founded in 2019, but decided to move to Dassault Systèmes solutions: SOLIDWORKS® for design and simulation capabilities, and 3DEXPERIENCE® Works solutions for collaboration and data management.

“Part of the reason we moved to SOLIDWORKS and [cloud-based] 3DEXPERIENCE Works solutions is the fidelity of SOLIDWORKS,” Price says. “The other reason for the move was the need for a robust system for managing and releasing designs, documents, and drawings that would be accessible to our remote workforce as part of our ISO: 9001 certifications.”

Athena has increased its ability to collaborate internally across its remote workforce and with customers on the cloud-based 3DEXPERIENCE platform—reducing travel requirements and associated costs—while managing data in the cloud. “We built our workflow contingent on our ISO: 9001 certifications for release and revision control,” Price stresses. “Following a formal workflow and having a collaborative project space has not only made us more efficient but has also helped us eliminate design errors and non-conformities through greater due diligence and the application of simulation tools.”

Athena acquired SOLIDWORKS Simulation to validate designs. “One of the characteristics that attracted us to SOLIDWORKS is the accuracy and reliability of its simulation solutions,” Price notes. “For example, the ability to analyze non-uniform pressure distributions and static load simulations has become part of the due diligence that we have adopted to boost quality,” Price continues. “We haven’t had a single error or non-conformity since we began leveraging simulation and adhering to our ISO: 9001-certified workflow.”

Increased Throughput, Doubled Revenue

SOLIDWORKS design software and 3DEXPERIENCE Works enable Athena’s design teams to work smarter, travel less, substantially increase production throughput—and ultimately double the company’s revenue. With the robust product life cycle management tools from the 3DEXPERIENCE Works portfolio the company is prepared to continue growing with employees from all locations because the cloud-based 3DEXPERIENCE platform enables a remote workforce to work more effectively.

The 3DEXPERIENCE platform has broadened the company’s reach so it can also serve customers internationally. As design for additive manufacturability is an emerging specialty and growth market, the 3DEXPERIENCE platform helps Athena work more efficiently with its customers as well as pursue new opportunities.