Don’t Miss Part 1

Over the years we have worked with different members of the SWUGN leadership team such as Richard Doyle and Rachel York.

We are thrilled to welcome the new Manager of the SOLIDWORKS User Group Network, Dan Wagner.

Earlier this month, Heather caught up with Dan to get to know him a bit better and learn about his journey to becoming Manager of the SOLIDWORKS User Group Network.

In the first part, Heather and Dan chatted about his background, past SOLIDWORKS Worlds, and what attracted him to the role.

Read Part 1 here.

What are you looking forward to the most in this new role?

“Right now, I am really looking forward to getting in front of as many users and user group meetings as possible.

I really want to invest some time in getting to know the community from this perspective.

Since coming on board, I have been on quite a few of the virtual SWUG meetings so I have jumped right in and everyone has been very welcoming.

Long term, I am really looking forward to seeing the SOLIDWORKS User Group Network expand on a global level.

Just this morning I was on a call with a gentleman from Nigeria who is looking to establish an entire network throughout the country.

It is awesome and exciting to think about the growth potential.

In my former role, I had a small footprint, now I can make a global impact.”

What is your vision for the SWUGN Community?

“Right now, I would love to see meetings expand with respect to availability. Evening meetings may not work for everyone. There could be professional, educational, or personal obligations that do not allow people to attend evening meetings.

Supporting SOLIDWORKS user groups that want to meet at different times and using different platforms will allow for more participation.

That could mean having groups meet in multiple time slots or shift their days – it’s really about getting and keeping users engaged.”

Do you believe there has been a shift in thinking around virtual meetings?

“In 2019, the SWUG leaders were all given access to use a networking platform called Meetup. This is an online platform that all group leaders can use to organize their online meetings as well as communicate with their members.

Additionally, all groups have a license to use GoToMeeting as a tool to host online meetings; this also allows them to record their meetings for future viewings.

As you can guess, both tools have been used quite a bit in the last 6+ months.

The more the groups get to use Meetup and the online meeting platforms, the more they are starting to see the benefits.

Over the last few months, we have seen groups start to see the benefits of ‘joining forces’ and hosting meetings of multiple groups at one time.

We have also seen groups getting together in the middle of the day. The online tools are helping to shape a new way of thinking about meetings.”

DriveWorks has been a SWUGN sponsor for many years and we enjoy being part of the community. Dan, as the new Manager to the SWUGN, how would you like to see sponsors and partners contributing more to the SOLIDWORKS User Groups in the future?

“DriveWorks does a great job in their support of the SOLIDWORKS Community.

We would like to see other sponsors follow what DriveWorks does by engaging with groups, getting involved, and their overall support of SWUGN.

Down the road, I would look forward to seeing sponsors and partners all back at meetings with giveaways, conducting technical presentations, and perhaps even engaging with customers to have them tell their stories.”

Earlier this year, Dassault Systemes made the difficult decision to host 3DEXPERIENCE World as a virtual event in 2021.

How do you see SWUGN being involved in this event?

“While we are still in the planning stages for this event, the SOLIDWORKS User Group Network has proven over the last 6+ months that they can create a successful virtual presence.

SWUGN will definitely play a role in 3DEXPERIENCE World 2021.”

Dan – thank you for speaking with us, congratulations on the new role and welcome aboard! 

We look forward to working with you to help support the SOLIDWORKS User Group Network and growing the community together – cheers!

Supporting SOLIDWORKS User Groups

Want to find out more about how DriveWorks can support your SOLIDWORKS User Group?

 Get in touch with us to find out more!

DriveWorks Solo Sample Projects

Explore a range of industry examples, learn how they are set up and see what’s possible with DriveWorks Solo.

Our industry sample projects are a great way to get started with DriveWorks design automation and using DriveWorks to create your first configurator.

We have created the sample projects so you can pick them apart and discover how they have been set up, or use them as a source of inspiration for your own projects.

All of our DriveWorks Solo Sample Projects have already been set up so all you need to do is download and run them inside SOLIDWORKS.

Our Technical Team has also created handy walk-through videos for each project.

They’re a quick and easy way to demonstrate how to set up and run the projects, making it easier than ever for you to get started with DriveWorks.

Agricultural Silo Configurator

The DriveWorks Solo Agricultural Silo Configurator Project is a great example of what’s possible with DriveWorks Solo.

Configure an Agricultural Silo specific to your requirements. Enter your design requirements and select from options, more options will appear based on the selections you make and the rules behind the project.

Preview the changes you’ve made to models, drawings and documents before hitting generate when your new parts, assemblies, drawings and documents are created automatically.

Drawings are updated with views, annotations, position and scale changed automatically. Generation reports are created, giving you a complete audit trail of generation reports, allowing you to check status and results.

You’ll then see your results – parts and assemblies for manufacture, GA and detailed drawings (DWG, DXF & PDF) and documents including quotes, BOMs and cover notes – all saved with good file management, based on the project’s rules.

Run the configurator over and over again to produce different order specific outcomes. New files are generated automatically, saving you time.

Download and explore our DriveWorks Solo Agricultural Silo Configurator Sample Project.

Explore More DriveWorks Solo Sample Projects  

Download and explore our DriveWorks Solo Sample Projects to get started quickly and get inspiration for your own DriveWorks Solo projects.

Agricultural Trailer

Pressure Vessel

Wheel Chair

Roller Shutter Door

Medical Trolley

Machine Guarding

Locker

Lifting Equipment

Hydraulic Cylinder

Flange

Wooden Door

Agricultural Silo

Cupboard

Fan

Try DriveWorks Solo

Now is a great time to look at ways to embrace digital transformation and work smarter.

Save time, reduce errors, improve quality and streamline processes. with DriveWorks.

See what you can achieve with design automation and get started for free with the DriveWorks Solo 30 day free trial.

Proud Members of the  SOLIDWORKS Community

At DriveWorks, we are committed to supporting SOLIDWORKS technology as well as the SOLIDWORKS Community.

We have been an active sponsor of the SOLIDWORKS User Group Network for quite some time.

At SOLIDWORKS World 2015, we launched the DriveWorks SWUGN Sponsorship Program as a way to connect users, support education and share knowledge.

We love being a part of the SOLIDWORKS Community! 

With the support of our resellers, customers and partners, we have attended SWUG meetings, sponsored meetings and helped group leaders to find presenters with interesting presentations since 2015.

We were proudly awarded the 2018 SOLIDWORKS User Group Network Partnerof the Year Award at SOLIDWORKS World 2019.

Earlier this year at 3DEXPERIENCE World 2020 in Nashville, Heather Hasz was awarded the SWUGN Community Champion Award – an extremely proud moment for Heather and all of us at DriveWorks!

Heather Hasz, Community and Brand Ambassador, joined the DriveWorks Team in March 2016.

Heather’s role is to support the SOLIDWORKS Community and SOLIDWORKS User Group leaders to help make their meetings successful.

Introducing Dan Wagner

Over the years we have worked with different members of the SWUGN leadership team such as Richard Doyle and Rachel York.

While Richard and Rachel have both moved on, we are thrilled to welcome the new Manager of the SOLIDWORKS User Group Network, Dan Wagner.

Earlier this week, Heather caught up with Dan to get to know him a bit better and learn about his journey to becoming Manager of the SOLIDWORKS User Group Network.

Dan, can you give us just a little background on where you are from and your education?

“Thanks Heather! Sure, I am born and raised in the Philadelphia area (Delaware County).

In 2008, I graduated from Temple University (College of Engineering) with a B.S. in Engineering Technology with a focus on manufacturing.

As part of their program, Temple hosted an in-house machine shop that helped students learn CNC Machining as well as how to run a Mill and Lathe.

Early on in my life, I had an interest in cars which probably lead to my natural progression into engineering – specifically mechanical engineering.”

How did you enter the SOLIDWORKS Community?

“While attending Temple University, I had the opportunity to hear Lynn Ewell (co-founder of Prism Engineering) speak during an engineering class.

Lynn, an Electrical Engineer, spoke about career development and gave insight into the types of careers that are available in engineering.

This is where I first learned about the SOLIDWORKS reseller channel.

Shortly after graduating from Temple University in 2008, I interviewed for a position with Prism Engineering – a SOLIDWORKS reseller in the Philadelphia area.

Over my 12 years with Prism, I worked as Support Engineer Manager. Over my time there, Prism was acquired by Fisher Unitech and subsequently Computer Aided Technologies, Inc. in 2019.

My role in support allowed me to help customers learn products and answer their questions.

One of the things that I always appreciated about my role in support was that there was always a challenge and things were always changing with new functionality and releases. There was always something new to learn and that doesn’t get old.”

 How many SOLIDWORKS Works Worlds have you attended? 

“After giving this a bit of thought, I believe I have attended SOLIDWORKS World 10 times!”

Knowing I must ask this…which SOLIDWORKS World has been your favourite so far?

“My favourite SWW was definitely Orlando, Florida in 2013 at the Swan and Dolphin. That was the year that the Special Event was at Universal Studios. So much fun!

Come to think of it – I also loved SWW when it was in San Diego and the Gas Lamp District. Oh – you can’t beat Nashville in 2020 – it’s hard to choose a favourite when they have all been great in their own way.”

Everyone has a most memorable keynote speaker from SOLIDWORKS World, who is yours?

“At SOLIDWORKS World 2012 in San Diego, California – Mike Rowe. It was so much fun to see him on stage and listen to him talk about Dirty Jobs as well as the Mike Rowe WORKS Foundation.”

Dan – you have been part of the SOLIDWORKS community for quite some time. Please tell us what attracted you to take on the role of Manager of the SOLIDWORKS User Group Network?

“As you know, I was in a technical support role at the reseller. This is a very service-based position and I really enjoyed helping customers sort through problems and learn new things. After considering my own career path, I knew that if I were to make a change, I wouldn’t want to go from a technical support role to another similar role.

When I saw the position open for Manager of the SOLIDWORKS User Group Network, I was really interested as I knew the former managers in this position and what they brought to the table.

Considering my own strong technical background as well as my personal skill set, I thought that this is something that could really help me expand my involvement in the community.

It was exciting to think about taking my existing skills and experiences and using them to grow and expand the SOLIDWORKS User Group Network.”

Part 2

It was a pleasure speaking to Dan, learning more about his background and what attracted him to the role.

Learn more about Dan and his future plans for the SOLIDWORKS User Group Network in Part 2!

Supporting SOLIDWORKS User Groups

Want to find out more about how DriveWorks can support your SOLIDWORKS User Group?

 Get in touch with us to find out more!

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of our economy, making up 99.9% of all UK businesses.

Government data shows there were more than 35,600 medium-sized businesses in the UK at the start of 2019 (0.6%) and a further 7,700 large businesses (0.1%). At the same time, there were 5.82 million small businesses, making up 99.3% of the total business population. (MerchantSavvy.co.uk).

The current economic situation has forced many businesses to embrace digital, kick-starting their digital transformation journey early.

With the pandemic having such lasting effects on the economy, business owners are having to reevaluate the way they work, considering the best long-term strategy for survival of the business.

No one could have foreseen the damage the crisis would do to enterprises, not just throughout the UK but across the world.

In every country, we saw a dramatic drop in sales across all industries and sectors. Businesses of all shapes and sizes had to adjust to the rapidly changing markets.

Since the pandemic began, we have seen a huge switch – businesses are utilising digital like never before, concentrating on technology that enables remote working, online communication and group collaboration.

Companies have also been increasing their online presence and accessibility to consumers.

Governments have given support to individuals, SMEs, large businesses and multinationals.

In the UK, businesses have received extra funding with the government implementing the job retention scheme, reducing business taxes and introducing business rates relief, all in an effort to save our economy.

Although many businesses have been able to pull through the on-going crisis, sadly lots have not been so lucky.

Now is the time for SMEs to go digital.

Why Go Digital?

Digitalisation transforms the way businesses bring together customers, data and processes.

Pre pandemic, the introduction of digital transformation was seen as an option only some companies embraced. Although we were heading towards a digital world, many had not yet taken the first steps to ‘going’ digital.

There are many reasons why business owners would be hesitant about adopting digitisation and the idea of new ways of working.

Fear of change and a lack of understanding had been a key factor when looking at why businesses are reluctant to accept change.

‘The way we already do it works fine’ is an easy mindset to get stuck in when we are busy with our daily routine, however, going digital often offers a way of working smarter and faster.

The financial cost is another one of the main reasons why many businesses are reluctant to go digital, but as we believe at DriveWorks, you should always start small and work your way up.

Starting Small

Digital transformation should be focusing on adding value to every customer interaction and understanding the potential of your technology.

It doesn’t mean completely changing everything to be digital – altering the business all at once is not the way to approach this.

It’s all about integrating new technology and processes through to all areas of the business, rethinking old operating models, experimenting more to see what works best for you and ultimately becoming more agile in response to your customers and competitors.

Digital transformation can be different for all business structures, there is no one size fits all approach.

Up until this year, it has been an option, more than a necessity, for small and medium-sized enterprises to adopt digital. However, introduce a global pandemic and things have changed dramatically.

The introduction of national lockdowns and move to the home office has meant that digital is more important than ever, both in our work lives and home lives.

The power of technology connects people and processes in a way that works best for you.

Becoming Agile and Responsive

Now more than ever before we have seen the need for agility and responsiveness.

An organisation’s ability to adapt quickly to supply chain disruptions, time to market pressures, and rapidly changing customer expectations has become critical to survival.

Mark Anderson, Senior Director of Solution Architecture, Equinix, described this year as “a forced test of many things we had thought about but not tried.” (Enterprisersproject.com)

For enterprises who hadn’t yet begun their digital transformation journey, they were thrown into the deep end.

Whist those who had embraced digital found not only did they survive, they thrived.

Having the ability to quickly reinvent the way they work and sell meant business could carry on. For example, shop owners who normally sell products in-store began to sell online.

Creating an online presence and reaching customers in their homes has been a huge factor in staying competitive during this time.

SME’s can differ from industry to industry but no matter what the differences are, going digital is proven to be a key advantage pre and post-pandemic.

For many SMEs, the benefits of embracing new, emerging tech are huge.

Going digital can open up a wealth of opportunities for smaller businesses. For example, being able to compete against larger companies which in the past may have seemed impossible due to restricted budgets, pressures on time and resources, or low staff numbers.

Digital tools help SMEs streamline business processes, gain data-driven insights, increase productivity and improve communication all while keeping costs down.

Going digital will enhance SMEs competitiveness and understanding of consumer behaviours.

By adopting new technology and embracing digital, SMEs increase agility and enable further innovation in the future.

But How?

Now we have identified the need for business owners to embrace digitalisation, it’s important to understand how that can be achieved.

Driving change is easier said than done.

As I mentioned earlier, digital transformation is about adding value for the customer.

You shouldn’t be asking how you can do things faster, instead, look at your business processes and consider how you can adapt them to make the most of the technology you have invested in.

The same goes for digitalisation, rather than considering how you can change the business, focus on keeping things going the same but with the aim of working simpler and more efficient.

There are many tools and technologies on the market to help SMEs begin their digital journey.

Including cutting-edge technologies such as automation, blockchain, IoT, 5G, cloud computing, robots, AI, data science and many more.

It’s important to remember that technology will only assist if it is used correctly. There’s no point investing for the sake of it.

Many SMEs are looking for simple to use and simple to understand solutions that work for them.

Scalability is another thing to consider when planning your digital strategy.

We all know how fast things can change, and it’s important to keep in mind if the tools and technology are future proof.

Moving Forward

With the development of digital and the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the future of the global economy will have everything to do with digitalisation.

Digital transformation holds a lot of value when trying to remain competitive, especially for SMEs competing with the larger players in their sector.

With the current economic situation constantly changing, there’s no time like the present to adopt digital and get on board so that your business can reap the rewards.

How is Automation Driving Digital Transformation?

Markets are changing, and customers are expecting more from the products and services they are buying. Consumers want products faster, cheaper and easier than ever before, without compromising on quality.

This is presenting a challenge for many businesses.

To meet demand, manufacturers are looking to automation.

Learn how automation is driving digital transformation in all industries in our digital transformation blog series.

We are excited to announce the release of DriveWorks 18 SP1.

DriveWorks 18 SP1 adds to the new features and enhancements added in DriveWorks 18.

In April we released our latest major version, DriveWorks 18, and presented about the new features and enhancements during Digital DriveWorks World.

Since then, we have continued to work on DriveWorks 18 Service Pack 1. Less travel and more time in the office over the past few months has enabled us to dedicate a lot of time to work on adding new enhancements and updates to this service pack release.

DriveWorks 18 Service Pack 1 is now available to download from the DriveWorks Community. Download the latest version to make the most of the added functionality.

Watch the What’s New in DriveWorks 18 SP1 Webinar

On Thursday, 22nd October, DriveWorks CEO, Glen Smith hosted a live Tech Team Thursday webinar sharing What’s New in DriveWorks 18 SP1 and answering questions about the latest release.

If you missed it, you can download the webinar recording from the DriveWorks Community to learn about all of the new features and latest enhancements in DriveWorks Pro 18 SP1.

What’s New in DriveWorks 18 SP1

Webinar Download

Download the Latest Release Now from the DriveWorks Community

DriveWorks Resellers and Customers with an Active Subscription Support Contract can download DriveWorks 18 from the DriveWorks Community.

Here’s what you’ll need to download the latest release:

• A DriveWorks Community Account, you can create an account if you don’t have one or reset your password if you’ve forgotten it.
• Pre-Requisites can be found in our Online Documentation.
• DriveWorks 18 License Codes

Important Information

• We have tested the updates rigorously across Windows Operating Systems and latest versions of SOLIDWORKS to test compatibility.
• As with any upgrade, remember to take a back up of your data!
• The download should take no more than 30 minutes.
• If you are working in a multi-user environment make sure you upgrade all of the DriveWorks Modules e.g. DriveWorks Administrator, Autopilot, any DriveWorks User licenses, DriveWorks Live and DriveWorks Pro Server.
• Make sure you have your DriveWorks 18 license keys to hand.
• More information is available in our Online Help File.

We are excited to announce the release of DriveWorks 18 SP1.

DriveWorks 18 SP1 adds to the new features and enhancements added in DriveWorks 18.

In April we released our latest major version, DriveWorks 18, and presented about the new features and enhancements during Digital DriveWorks World.

Since then, we have continued to work on DriveWorks 18 Service Pack 1. Less travel and more time in the office over the past few months has enabled us to dedicate a lot of time to work on adding new enhancements and updates to this service pack release.

DriveWorks 18 Service Pack 1 is now available to download from the DriveWorks Community. Download the latest version to make the most of the added functionality.

Watch the What’s New in DriveWorks 18 SP1 Webinar

On Thursday, 22nd October, DriveWorks CEO, Glen Smith hosted a live Tech Team Thursday webinar sharing What’s New in DriveWorks 18 SP1 and answering questions about the latest release.

If you missed it, you can download the webinar recording from the DriveWorks Community to learn about all of the new features and latest enhancements in DriveWorks Pro 18 SP1.

What’s New in DriveWorks 18 SP1

Webinar Download

Download the Latest Release Now from the DriveWorks Community

DriveWorks Resellers and Customers with an Active Subscription Support Contract can download DriveWorks 18 from the DriveWorks Community.

Here’s what you’ll need to download the latest release:

• A DriveWorks Community Account, you can create an account if you don’t have one or reset your password if you’ve forgotten it.
• Pre-Requisites can be found in our Online Documentation.
• DriveWorks 18 License Codes

Important Information

• We have tested the updates rigorously across Windows Operating Systems and latest versions of SOLIDWORKS to test compatibility.
• As with any upgrade, remember to take a back up of your data!
• The download should take no more than 30 minutes.
• If you are working in a multi-user environment make sure you upgrade all of the DriveWorks Modules e.g. DriveWorks Administrator, Autopilot, any DriveWorks User licenses, DriveWorks Live and DriveWorks Pro Server.
• Make sure you have your DriveWorks 18 license keys to hand.
• More information is available in our Online Help File.

Read Glen’s Virtual Event Feature in October’s DEVELOP3D Magazine

Technology has come a long way since Glen first attended a virtual trade show back in 2010, where opening up conversation with a fellow attendee meant opening a chat window and hoping they would reply.

Over the past year, we have all become very accustomed to online meetings. With more people using webcams and having the ability to share screens, it has become a normal part of our working day to join a meeting online.

This use of technology has now been applied to virtual events and online conferences to improve the way we connect with each other virtually.

“10 years on and I’m looking forward to seeing how the latest technology is being harnessed to make virtual events engaging and valuable.”

“The uptake in virtual meetings this year has been huge. They’ve become the norm in work and for engaging with family and friends. Technology has helped us all stay connected.”

“More people are using webcams, making it easier to gauge reactions through body language -albeit on-screen and looking slightly ridiculous in oversized headphones.”

DEVELOP3D Magazine is free to read online, read the full article on page 15.

Hauff-Technik GmbH & Co. KG

Germany-based Hauff-Technik GmbH & Co. KG is known far beyond the country’s borders for high-quality solutions when it comes to underground installations of water, electricity, gas or media lines into a building.

Hauff-Technik has the right product for every case – from the foundation to the roof – and seals. In addition to the headquarters in Hermaringen in the Heidenheim district of Baden-Württemberg, Hauff-Technik GmbH & Co. KG has another production site in Switzerland, Hauff-Technik Swiss AG.

The company employs a total of 375 people and supplies the European, Asian and Arab markets with Hauff products – made in Germany.

Innovation and customer proximity are particularly important because with 50,000 unique items per year, Hauff-Technik delivers exactly what the customer wants.

“In order to be able to deliver a high level of individual production in an extremely short time at a fair price, an automation solution must be found!”

– Jörg Schmid , Head of Development and Design at Hauff-Technik GmbH & Co. KG

Automated Custom Products

The Hauff-Technik portfolio includes not only cable and pipe seals, but also complete solutions, such as multi-branch house connections or individual press seals for the reliable sealing of cables and pipes that are or have been placed in core bores or wall sleeves. An individual customer requirement is often associated with a higher design and production effort.

But how do you manage 50,000 individual customer projects per year with an average production time of 24 hours?

The designers at Hauff-Technik have always worked very successfully with the 3D CAD software SOLIDWORKS. With the help of an in-house design guideline, sophisticated design templates and continuously optimized processes, the processing of orders has been significantly accelerated over the years.

However, customer requirements are becoming more and more complex. At the same time, appointment requests are becoming shorter and shorter.

As a rule, a design employee needs around 16-24 hours for the manual design of a component specially designed for the customer. This is time that designers could be spending on important development tasks.

Jörg Schmid, Design and Development Manager at Hauff-Technik, recognized this early on: “In order to be able to deliver a high level of individual production in an extremely short time at a fair price, an automation solution must be found!”

Challenge

Depict countless variants within minutes at the push of a button on the basis of a 3D CAD model.

With simultaneous creation, transfer and management in the ERP system including all production-relevant information and order data as well as common part testing.

Solution

• SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD Premium for construction
• DriveWorks automation software
• SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional for managing design data and process security
• ERPWorks for the synchronization of design data between the ERP system and SOLIDWORKS.

Integrate without Large Detours

The management, Jörg Schmid and his team wanted a solution that went beyond pure construction processing. There are many 3D CAD configurators, but only a few that offer integration with the in-house ERP system and are scalable up to sales.

The choice, therefore, fell quickly on the DriveWorks automation software and the established SOLIDWORKS partner COFFEE.

DriveWorks offers all the advantages of a product configurator, fully integrated in SOLIDWORKS, and the constructions can be connected directly to sales and inventory management.

The creation of models and drawings of products that are the same but different is done automatically in SOLIDWORKS by DriveWorks, including all data and information relevant to production.

In addition, documents accompanying the product (PDFs, Excel, etc.) are created and stored in the PDM system.

“As a SOLIDWORKS designer, it is simply easy because the DriveWorks software is fully integrated.”

 – Christos Delikostas , Sub-Project Manager Variant Design , Hauff-Technik GmbH & Co. KG

“DriveWorks has a simple, logical structure and is user-friendly,” says Mr. Christos Delikostas, sub-project manager for variant design, describing his benefit from the additional software: “As a SOLIDWORKS designer, it is simply easy because the software is fully integrated.”

In merchandise management, articles and materials are automatically created and checked using ERPWorks in the ERP system. Characteristics for the calculation for pricing are delivered directly to SAP and a common part check is carried out in order to avoid creating duplicates.

All of this is initiated by just one process and thus saves considerable time and the designers can use the freed resources for new developments.

The sales employee configures the appropriate quotation data directly from SAP and receives the associated production documents and quotation drawings for the customer as a result.

With the introduction of DriveWorks, the throughput time of a complete job is reduced from 16-24 hours to 5 minutes.

“We were already fast, but with DriveWorks we are even faster!”

– Jörg Schmid proudly reports on the successful implementation in close cooperation with the COFFEE GmbH project team.

Production Starts with the Customer

The management of Hauff-Technik GmbH & Co. KG is already thinking a step further, as Jörg Schmid explains:

“The goal should be for the customer to configure the product themself. DriveWorks creates this product in SAP as an article, transfers a status the work preparation.” 

“Drawings, as well as production-relevant data, are automatically transferred to production – without manual intervention!”

With the SOLIDWORKS software solutions and with COFFEE as a strong partner, Hauff-Technik GmbH will achieve this goal and we look forward to seeing their progress!

See What You Can Achieve with DriveWorks

Explore our online product configurator examples to see the many different ways DriveWorks can be used for design automation and digital selling.

Greg’s Mug

But it’s not just members of the DriveWorks team who own DriveWorks mugs!

In the past, we have also been known to send out a personalised mug to say a big thank you to members of our community or to use as giveaways at events.

Last month, SOLIDWORKS user, Greg helped support us at a regional SWUG meeting.

We wanted to say thank you to Greg, so we got a personalised mug printed and sent over to Greg’s house.

Greg was so pleased with his own DriveWorks mug, he sent us a video of it at his desk!

Frangus Ltd is a design consultancy that specializes in the design of materials handling equipment for the rail and construction industry.

We recently caught up with founder and Managing Director of Frangus, David Thomson, to see how they’ve been getting on with DriveWorks Solo.

He told us Frangus have been using the software for four months, and have already developed a number of configurators for standard parts, such as pin and hydraulic cylinder assemblies, as well as for whole products, including excavator adapter heads and rail tracking devices.

Designing to Order before DriveWorks

Before DriveWorks Solo, David explained that Frangus would design to order ‘the hard way’.

They used SOLIDWORKS for creating CAD models but to create new products or configurations, they needed to take a pack and go of a similar product, then re-number the parts and assemblies. They then had to re-work every part, sub-assembly, weldment and the general arrangement drawing.

Now, with DriveWorks Solo, this whole process is automated inside SOLIDWORKS.

Implementing DriveWorks

Since implementing DriveWorks, David says that one of the key benefits he’s experienced is ‘a colossal time saving once the configurator is set up, which translates to more work done in less time. This directly impacts the bottom line.’

David adds:

Products ready for dispatch

“The most important thing is that DriveWorks takes away a lot of the manual work within a new design, allowing us to concentrate on what we are really selling – innovation.”

Using Tables to Drive the Design

David states that the ability to use tabular data to drive the design is one of the most important DriveWorks Solo features that Frangus are currently using.

This feature allows them to, for example, create a model of a standard hydraulic cylinder, complete with all the drawings and data required for procurement with part numbers tailored to the client’s systems, in under three minutes, where previously this could take over three hours.

Time Saving

When asked about the design limitations DriveWorks Solo has helped Frangus to overcome, David says:

“Our most precious resource is time. DriveWorks Solo enables us to do more in the same amount of time, allowing us to punch above our weight.”

Download and Use DriveWorks Solo Free for 30 Days

Follow the 3 easy steps below to download the DriveWorks Solo 30 Day Free Trial and see what time savings you can achieve.

Automate SOLIDWORKS Parts, Assemblies and Drawings.

Save time, reduce errors and innovate more.

Greg’s Mug

But it’s not just members of the DriveWorks team who own DriveWorks mugs!

In the past, we have also been known to send out a personalised mug to say a big thank you to members of our community or to use as giveaways at events.

Last month, SOLIDWORKS user, Greg helped support us at a regional SWUG meeting.

We wanted to say thank you to Greg, so we got a personalised mug printed and sent over to Greg’s house.

Greg was so pleased with his own DriveWorks mug, he sent us a video of it at his desk!

From the mugs we drink from, to the shirts we wear, we are proud of who we are and what we do.

We’re always keen to meet talented people.

If DriveWorks sounds like the kind of place for you, get in touch!

Hauff-Technik GmbH & Co. KG

Germany-based Hauff-Technik GmbH & Co. KG is known far beyond the country’s borders for high-quality solutions when it comes to underground installations of water, electricity, gas or media lines into a building.

Hauff-Technik has the right product for every case – from the foundation to the roof – and seals. In addition to the headquarters in Hermaringen in the Heidenheim district of Baden-Württemberg, Hauff-Technik GmbH & Co. KG has another production site in Switzerland, Hauff-Technik Swiss AG.

The company employs a total of 375 people and supplies the European, Asian and Arab markets with Hauff products – made in Germany.

Innovation and customer proximity are particularly important because with 50,000 unique items per year, Hauff-Technik delivers exactly what the customer wants.

“In order to be able to deliver a high level of individual production in an extremely short time at a fair price, an automation solution must be found!”

– Jörg Schmid , Head of Development and Design at Hauff-Technik GmbH & Co. KG

Automated Custom Products

The Hauff-Technik portfolio includes not only cable and pipe seals, but also complete solutions, such as multi-branch house connections or individual press seals for the reliable sealing of cables and pipes that are or have been placed in core bores or wall sleeves. An individual customer requirement is often associated with a higher design and production effort.

But how do you manage 50,000 individual customer projects per year with an average production time of 24 hours?

The designers at Hauff-Technik have always worked very successfully with the 3D CAD software SOLIDWORKS. With the help of an in-house design guideline, sophisticated design templates and continuously optimized processes, the processing of orders has been significantly accelerated over the years.

However, customer requirements are becoming more and more complex. At the same time, appointment requests are becoming shorter and shorter.

As a rule, a design employee needs around 16-24 hours for the manual design of a component specially designed for the customer. This is time that designers could be spending on important development tasks.

Jörg Schmid, Design and Development Manager at Hauff-Technik, recognized this early on: “In order to be able to deliver a high level of individual production in an extremely short time at a fair price, an automation solution must be found!”

Challenge

Depict countless variants within minutes at the push of a button on the basis of a 3D CAD model.

With simultaneous creation, transfer and management in the ERP system including all production-relevant information and order data as well as common part testing.

Solution

• SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD Premium for construction
• DriveWorks automation software
• SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional for managing design data and process security
• ERPWorks for the synchronization of design data between the ERP system and SOLIDWORKS.

Integrate without Large Detours

The management, Jörg Schmid and his team wanted a solution that went beyond pure construction processing. There are many 3D CAD configurators, but only a few that offer integration with the in-house ERP system and are scalable up to sales.

The choice, therefore, fell quickly on the DriveWorks automation software and the established SOLIDWORKS partner COFFEE.

DriveWorks offers all the advantages of a product configurator, fully integrated in SOLIDWORKS, and the constructions can be connected directly to sales and inventory management.

The creation of models and drawings of products that are the same but different is done automatically in SOLIDWORKS by DriveWorks, including all data and information relevant to production.

In addition, documents accompanying the product (PDFs, Excel, etc.) are created and stored in the PDM system.

“As a SOLIDWORKS designer, it is simply easy because the DriveWorks software is fully integrated.”

 – Christos Delikostas , Sub-Project Manager Variant Design , Hauff-Technik GmbH & Co. KG

“DriveWorks has a simple, logical structure and is user-friendly,” says Mr. Christos Delikostas, sub-project manager for variant design, describing his benefit from the additional software: “As a SOLIDWORKS designer, it is simply easy because the software is fully integrated.”

In merchandise management, articles and materials are automatically created and checked using ERPWorks in the ERP system. Characteristics for the calculation for pricing are delivered directly to SAP and a common part check is carried out in order to avoid creating duplicates.

All of this is initiated by just one process and thus saves considerable time and the designers can use the freed resources for new developments.

The sales employee configures the appropriate quotation data directly from SAP and receives the associated production documents and quotation drawings for the customer as a result.

With the introduction of DriveWorks, the throughput time of a complete job is reduced from 16-24 hours to 5 minutes.

“We were already fast, but with DriveWorks we are even faster!”

– Jörg Schmid proudly reports on the successful implementation in close cooperation with the COFFEE GmbH project team.

Production Starts with the Customer

The management of Hauff-Technik GmbH & Co. KG is already thinking a step further, as Jörg Schmid explains:

“The goal should be for the customer to configure the product themself. DriveWorks creates this product in SAP as an article, transfers a status the work preparation.” 

“Drawings, as well as production-relevant data, are automatically transferred to production – without manual intervention!”

With the SOLIDWORKS software solutions and with COFFEE as a strong partner, Hauff-Technik GmbH will achieve this goal and we look forward to seeing their progress!

See What You Can Achieve with DriveWorks

Explore our online product configurator examples to see the many different ways DriveWorks can be used for design automation and digital selling.

What is DriveWorks? 

Use DriveWorks to build a design automation and custom online sales configurator solution to suit your business needs.

DriveWorks is ideal for manufacturers who design and sell the same but different products.

Automate the creation of sales quotes, documents and manufacturing data including SOLIDWORKS parts, assemblies and drawings.

Through intelligent rules and logic, DriveWorks eliminates errors and enables guided selling.

Reduce repetitive tasks, errors, and rework, increase sales on a global scale, and deliver custom products in record time.

All  DriveWorks products are scalable – any design automation project you create using DriveWorksXpress can be seamlessly migrated to DriveWorks Solo or DriveWorks Pro. Add extra capabilities to your design automation projects as and when you need them.

Get to Know DriveWorks

Explore each level of DriveWorks software.

Starting Small with DriveWorksXpress

Use DriveWorksXpress, free inside SOLIDWORKS to automate your Same but Different product designs.

DriveWorksXpress is the easy-to-use design automation tool included inside every license of SOLIDWORKS. Create multiple variations of your SOLIDWORKS parts, assemblies and drawings quickly and accurately.

If you offer many different product options or every customer order is bespoke, DriveWorksXpress helps you capture your design rules, recreate variations of existing designs, reduce repetitive tasks, save time, and improve product quality.

• One Time Setup – Set up once and run again and again.
• No need for complex macros, design tables or configurations.
• Save Time & Innovate More – Automate repetitive SOLIDWORKS® tasks and free up time to focus on product innovation and development.
• Eliminate Errors – DriveWorksXpress uses rules to eliminate errors and expensive, time-consuming design changes.

Activate your free license of DriveWorksXpress in the SOLIDWORKS® tools menu.

DriveWorks Solo

Use DriveWorks Solo to quickly and easily create and configure custom products inside SOLIDWORKS.

DriveWorks Solo is easy to set up, maintain and use, helping your company deliver custom products faster and with greater accuracy, without using complex macros, design tables or code.

Automate repetitive SOLIDWORKS tasks and free up engineers to focus on product innovation and development.

Reduce the cost of custom designs, respond quickly to sales enquiries, reduce repetitive tasks and enhance product quality.

From one simple input form, DriveWorks Solo quickly generates 3D models, 2D drawings, Bills of Materials, sales quotes, cover letters and more, automatically.

With simple and straightforward rules and decision logic, it’s easy to capture and reuse all of your design, manufacturing and cost estimation knowledge. Generate new variations of your designs with proposal documents over and over again.

Create new product designs and sales quotes quickly using DriveWorks Solo.

• Eliminate Errors- DriveWorks rules-based SOLIDWORKS® automation eliminates errors and expensive, time-consuming design changes.
• Save Time & Innovate More – Automate repetitive SOLIDWORKS tasks and free up engineers to focus on product innovation and development.
• Easy to Setup, Maintain & Use – Deliver custom products faster and with greater accuracy, without using complex macros, design tables or code.

Get a head start by trying DriveWorks Solo free for 30 days.

DriveWorks Pro

Use DriveWorks Pro to build your own SOLIDWORKS automation and online 3D product configurator solution.

Suitable for any manufacturer designing same but different products.

DriveWorks Pro is the ideal design automation and online sales configurator solution to help you meet the increasing demand for custom, bespoke, and personalized products.

By enabling your customers to configure products, get instant quotes, and place orders online, and by streamlining many of your time-consuming sales, engineering, and manufacturing processes, DriveWorks Pro gives you a competitive edge and turns mass customization into a cost-effective business strategy.

DriveWorks Pro is structured into individual software modules, each designed to address specific business needs.

Additional modules can be added as and when you need them to extend the benefits of design automation to your engineers, sales teams, distributors, dealers, and customers.

• Connect sales and manufacturing to deliver custom products faster
• Ensure customers and sales teams configure the ideal solution every time with intelligent rules-based guided selling.
• Enable customers and sales teams to configure custom products on any device.
• Integrate seamlessly with other company systems, helping you work more efficiently and effectively.
• Rules-based validation ensures you only offer products that can be manufactured, eliminating errors and boosting quality.
• DriveWorks SOLIDWORKS® automation eliminates errors and expensive, time-consuming design changes.
• It’s easy to set up, maintain & use so you can create a custom solution that suits your needs.
• DriveWorks is flexible and scalable – add to your solution as and when you need to.

Explore what’s possible with our configurator examples on www.driveworkslive.com

DriveWorksXpress

Free entry level design automation included in every seat of SOLIDWORKS.

Upscale to DriveWorks Solo or DriveWorks Pro anytime.

DriveWorks Solo

Powerful SOLIDWORKS part, assembly and drawing automation.

Download your 30 day free trial of DriveWorks Solo and get started today.

DriveWorks Pro

Complete SOLIDWORKS automation and online 3D CPQ configurator software.

Explore our configurator examples to see how flexible DriveWorks is.

Find Out More About DriveWorks

Get in touch with us to find out more about DriveWorks and take your first steps towards design automation and improving customer experiences.

Read Glen’s Virtual Event Feature in October’s DEVELOP3D Magazine

Technology has come a long way since Glen first attended a virtual trade show back in 2010, where opening up conversation with a fellow attendee meant opening a chat window and hoping they would reply.

Over the past year, we have all become very accustomed to online meetings. With more people using webcams and having the ability to share screens, it has become a normal part of our working day to join a meeting online.

This use of technology has now been applied to virtual events and online conferences to improve the way we connect with each other virtually.

“10 years on and I’m looking forward to seeing how the latest technology is being harnessed to make virtual events engaging and valuable.”

“The uptake in virtual meetings this year has been huge. They’ve become the norm in work and for engaging with family and friends. Technology has helped us all stay connected.”

“More people are using webcams, making it easier to gauge reactions through body language -albeit on-screen and looking slightly ridiculous in oversized headphones.”

DEVELOP3D Magazine is free to read online, read the full article on page 15.

Customer Success Stories

DriveWorks is used by manufacturing companies from a range of industries.
DriveWorks is modular, scalable and incredibly versatile so our customers use DriveWorks in many different ways, customising their Design Automation and CPQ solutions to suit their needs.
We’re always interested to hear the different ways our customers use the software we’re proud of, we regularly post customer case studies on our blog. Here are a selection of quotes from some of those case studies…

“What I knew of DriveWorks was that it was a CAD automation system. But, once we started exploring the product, it became very obvious that it could do much more —reaching into our existing business systems to reuse data that could change how we connect with end-users and distributors to drive more sales.”

-Pete Robinson, Manager of Engineering Systems with WernerCo

“We really believe that it has made it very easy to specify a system, so our biggest benefit from implementing design automation into our company is the user experience, giving the customer the ability to configure our product and be able to see all the different configurations available from that product in real-time. ”

– Jonathan Beattie, Managing Director, Dolphin Solutions

Introducing DriveWorks has revolutionised the way IMA design their products. They have now configured DriveWorks for layout and component designing.

“DriveWorks has played a crucial role in our day to day work, helping us to achieve two important goals; time-saving and accuracy.”

– Mr Mayur Patil, Manager, IMA PG

HSI has been using DriveWorks since 2017, to automate the design process of their cranes. They started initially using DriveWorks Solo.

“End users are so happy that they don’t have to sit around waiting for a quote, that they keep returning faster and they can do it on the site too”

– Michael Townsend, Lead Mechanical Designer, Handling Systems International Inc

“Thanks to DriveWorks, we provide quotes and drawings for each custom order, at no extra cost. Customers can get a quote anytime they want it, 24/7/365. With every order, customers receive everything they need. We are building customer loyalty, increasing sales and avoiding mistakes.”

– Richard Twiddy, Design Office Manager, F.H.Brundle 

“For us, the most important thing about DriveWorks is the ability to create custom bespoke software utilising visual wizards rather than heavy coding. This allows our company to build and customize quickly and easily. We now have more time to focus on our workflow and business analytics ”

– Adam Baker, Operations and IT Manager, BKW Instruments 

“DriveWorks has allowed us to automate the routine processes that we undertake day in and day out, with traditional bridge design. This automatic creation of models and drawings rapidly improves the turnaround time to reach sign-off on designs and makes all downstream benefits possible”

– Dr Scott McGovern, Digital Engineering Lead, Laing O’Rourke

“For us, the most important thing about DriveWorks is that it helps us to drive consistency and maintain control of our engineering data.

Using DriveWorks, we’ve reduced the amount of time taken to complete forms from half a day to only 30 minutes.”

– Martin Clenick, Engineering Manager, Shotton Group 

“We use DriveWorks for quoting and approval drawings for almost 160 teams and 530 users. We also use DriveWorks for production part component generation for various product lines and a whole bunch of other great stuff!”

– Christopher Zona, Manager – Systems Automation, Blue Giant

“We value many things about DriveWorks.
Most importantly is the ability to take a design standard and use the configurator software to produce an error free streamlined custom
bearing design.”

– Ray McDaniel, CAD Engineer, Oiles America Corporation

“For us, the most important thing about DriveWorks is definitely the time saving benefits. We can accommodate much tighter delivery schedules and still have the room to innovate and adapt to meet our customers’ requirements.”

– Chris Kinder,
Design Department,
Pattern Forme Ltd

“With DriveWorks Pro, we have been able to design our products with greater accuracy, consistency and productivity. We’re pleased with our experience so far and we’re excited about where we can take this experience in the future.”

– Design Team,
ZCL Composites
Inc.

“Before using DriveWorks
we would create 20 quotes in a month, now we can do 20 in a day.
The process in the past was labour intensive as prices need to be calculated each time and
drawings all had to be prepared manually.”

– David Martin, Managing Director, Elite Balustrades

“In its current state, DriveWorks outputs 245 files, 60 of which are assemblies, 85 are drawings and the rest are parts files. With DriveWorks handling repetitive tasks, our engineers are freed up to focus on customized aspects of our designs, such as the internal cabinets of the vehicle.”

– Shawn Casebolt, Engineering Lead, PL Custom Body.

“There was the need for a time saving process to reduce engineering time, so called Zero Effort Engineering (ZEE). When implementing DriveWorks Pro, our target for order-engineering was to go back from 2 hours to 15 minutes. This target has been achieved with DriveWorks.”

– Rob Beffers, Manager Integrated Process Control, Rademaker BV

“We implemented DriveWorks Pro and saw a 55-minute process go down to 30 minutes. The benefits of Design Automation are very, very real.”

– Dave Mandl, New Product Development Engineer,
Séura

“At NGI, my main challenge is to create documents
for a lot of parts, and this has proven pretty
difficult to do
without DriveWorks.”

– Tomas Hecht Olsen,
R&D Manager,
NGI A/S

“One consistent software package that simplifies quoting and ordering and is easy to use, for our in-house customer service and our external distributors.”

– Terry McGowan, President and CEO at Thordon Bearings

“We truly hope and believe DriveWorks will generate
an extremely short
pay-back in getting
Clear Vision Cooling off the ground”

– Jurnjan van den Bremer, Commercial Direction, Clear Vision Cooling

Try DriveWorks

DriveWorksXpress

If you’ve got SOLIDWORKS, you’ve already got DriveWorks! Our free design automation tool, DriveWorksXpress is included under the tools menu in every license of SOLIDWORKS. All you need to do is activate it.

DriveWorks Solo

Download a 30 day free trial of DriveWorks Solo to try out the full functionality for yourself. Get access to all of our handy online resources to help you get the most from your trial.

DriveWorks Pro

Have a go with our many online configurator examples to see how versatile and customizable DriveWorks Pro is. Enter your email address to get the full experience, receive quotes and view your designs in 3D.