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DART Aerospace Ltd.

Manufacturer of aerospace products for the helicopter industry

DART (Design Approval Representation Team) designs, engineers, develops and manufactures aerospace products for the helicopter industry. Customers are located in Canada, U.S.A, Europe, Japan, South America, Mexico and Dubai. DART are currently experiencing constant and rapid market expansion.

Goals

• Replace AutoCAD with 3D Solid modeling
• Speed up overall design process
• Reduce number of prototypes as well as amount of scrap and rework required
• Improve communications

 

Results

• Evaluated and selected SolidWorks over Solid Edge and Catia based on design capabilities, price, ease of migration of AutoCAD files, user friendly interface and part files supported by Surfcam (current CAM product)
• Purchasing decision also influenced by wide network of SolidWorks users (including industry partners, suppliers and some customers), as well as level of support provided by Javelin Technologies
• 2D or 3D AutoCAD drawings/models easily converted
• Reduced overall design time by approximately 30 to 50% Improved product quality as a result of better fit and function between parts, assemblies and sub-assemblies
• Considerably reduced design to manufacture process
• Decreased lead time required while minimizing modeling and programming errors
• Reduced the production of prototypes
• Increased speed of prototyping process by improving internal communications with product development department using SolidWorks eDrawings to visualize concepts and demonstrate interaction of parts (included in SolidWorks Professional bundle)
• Minimized amount of scrap and rework (parts originally destined to scrap, could be reworked after simple verification of the part file using SolidWorks)
• Purchased BlankWorks to accurately generate flat patterns of intricate sheet metal parts (SolidWorks fully integrated add-on)