Single product definition – start to finish – slashes development costs

Palm, Inc.

Palm, Inc. cut engineering expenditures in half by developing the Palm i705 handheld exclusively in NX

• Like all Palm handhelds, the i705 was unique, requiring substantial engineering effort. The team faced the usual challenge: create a great product while minimizing development costs.

Each product one-of-a-kind

All Palm handhelds are unique, each requiring the engineering effort of a new product. The Palm i705 was no exception. It’s Palm’s first model to deliver always-on push email from up to eight email accounts; behind-the-firewall email for corporate users; web browsing via Google or URL entry; plus classic Palm features such as date book and address book – all in a sleek silver one-piece package. As with other Palm handhelds, the i705 was developed in collaboration with an outside industrial design firm and produced using the services of an outside tooling vendor and a contract manufacturer. The main challenge was controlling costs. That involved a two-part effort: boosting efficiency in-house and enhancing collaboration with suppliers.

New development strategy

Palm decided to take a new tack with the i705 handheld, adopting Unigraphics (now called NX) in which all product data – from industrial design to mechanical engineering and mold design, through manufacturing and engineering – is created and maintained in NX. Palm engineering created the 3D surfaces based on Lunar’s industrial design sketches. They modeled internal parts and assemblies in NX and gave native NX files to the tooling vendor and manufacturer. To give marketing a head start in promoting the handheld, Palm engineers also used NX to create realistic images of the i705.

Highly successful method

The Palm i705 handheld was the company’s first product developed entirely in NX. Compared to other projects, there were definite advantages. First, the ease of working in NX made individual engineers more productive – so much so that the engineering team for the i705 was half the usual size. This reduced engineering costs by 50 percent compared to previous Palm projects. Second, having a single digital product definition eliminated data incompatibilities that quickly ran up costs on earlier projects. Also, without the need for data translation between Palm and its suppliers, it took much less time to receive development units, evaluation units and sample parts and assemblies.

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Palm, Inc.

Challenges:

• Design the first always-on, wireless handheld computer
• Coordinate development with outside suppliers: industrial design firm, tooling vendor and contract manufacturer
• Hold down costs

Keys To Success:

• Create and maintain all product data – from industrial design, to assembly and mold design, through manufacturing and engineering – in NX® software

Results:

• Engineering team for the i705 handheld was half the usual size; engineering costs were down 50 percent compared to previous Palm projects
• Single digital product definition enhanced compatibility with suppliers for faster availability of development units, evaluation units and sample parts

Industry:

• Consumer Products
• High Tech & Electronics

Client's Primary Business:

Palm, Inc. is the world leader in handheld computing.

Business Initiatives:

• New Product Development
• Value Chain Synchronization

Solutions/Services:

• NX
• NX Design (CAD)
• NX Digital Lifecycle Simulation (CAE)
• Tecnomatix

Client Location:

Milpitas, California
United States

"We needed fewer engineers on the Palm i705 handheld because NX made individuals more productive, and eliminated data translation issues.The Palm i705 handheld was so successful that other products are now being created with NX."

Gregg Zehr

VP, Hardware Engineering

Palm, Inc.