STARC Systems Dramatically Grows Business by Combining SOLIDWORKS & 3DEXPERIENCE Works

STARC Systems, Inc. (Simple Telescopic Airtight Reusable Containment) designs and manufactures reusable temporary containment systems that confine the dust, debris, and noise associated with renovation projects. Its FireblockWall™, RealWall™, and LiteBarrier™ systems use lift-and-drop connections and telescoping tracks that enable building professionals—especially healthcare facilities with infection-control protocols—to easily install and move, and reconfigure temporary wall panels while providing a quiet, dust-free solution that eliminates the disruption of renovation.

Because one of STARC’s founders, Vice President of Product Development Bruce Bickford, had used SOLIDWORKS® since its first version was launched in 1995, it was a no-brainer to develop the first STARC product with SOLIDWORKS 3D mechanical design software when the company was founded in 2013.

SOLIDWORKS helped STARC grow 20 to 30 percent year over year. As the company’s product line grew along with its volume of product design data, it needed an affordable solution for managing its data to sustain its growth trajectory.

In 2018 the company tried PDM (product data management) and PLM (product lifecycle management) systems that did not work out but then happily discovered—via Solidxperts reseller—it could leverage transparent data management capabilities in the cloud by adding 3DEXPERIENCE® Works solutions. STARC connected SOLIDWORKS to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to strengthen workflow management and revision control, which are built into the platform.

Since implementing 3DEXPERIENCE Works in 2019 and through the COVID-19 pandemic, STARC quickly became comfortable working collaboratively in the cloud. The company improved its data management structure and workflows, tightened its revision controls, boosted product quality overall, and accelerated its rate of product innovation to meet growing customer demand for greater customization while doubling in size. With an annual revenue increase of 59 percent, STARC had its best-performing year in 2020. 

“Our company is doubling in size every couple of years, and our customers are demanding greater customization. To meet that need, we need to accelerate our rate of product innovation and more thoroughly formalize our workflows to manage innovation and change,” says Bickford. “As we get bigger, we not only need to increase product development throughput and add staff. We also need to move towards more of a team environment—with more design iterations and greater collaboration—and less of a task-to-task approach. Working with and managing data collaboratively in the cloud via 3DEXPERIENCE Works solutions is helping us prepare to manage future growth efficiently and effectively.”

Bickford concludes, “As the volume of our product design data and related data like renderings continues to grow, having a collaborative, secure database in the cloud is a real benefit in more ways than one. It ensures data integrity, which frees up people from worrying about whether they are working with the right file or overwriting something that they shouldn’t.”