Case Study
Simple, smart and productive
Kässbohrer Transport Technik GmbH
With 3D, productivity is better and more design alternatives can be considered
A leader in vehicle transport
Kässbohrer Transport Technik ranks among Europe’s most renowned automotive manufacturers. The company has an extensive product line that covers just about any conceivable requirement when it comes to transporting wheeled vehicles. Kässbohrer holds approximately a one third share of the European market for this equipment and employs approximately 300 people; 13 Solid Edge seats are currently used in the development department. Their total turnover is about 105 million Euro. The Kässbohrer facility in Eugendorf, Austria is currently manufacturing the Metago, Variotrans, Supertrans, Citytrans and Ecotrans vehicles. Every year, approximately 1000 units are produced and marketed worldwide. The Metago accounts for the lion’s share of production.
Extremely easy-to-use application
For more than fifty years, Kässbohrer has been designing vehicles to meet customers’ unique requirements. When it was time to upgrade to solid modeling, the company chose Solid Edge® software after testing it for two months. “After we’d tested various CAD products, we decided in favor of Solid Edge because, in our opinion, it was and still is the best product on the market for our purposes,” explains Christian Winkler, CAD administrator/development at Kässbohrer.
Designers learned to use Solid Edge by working with its tutorials. “We also get the necessary support from our Siemens support person of many years’ standing, Mr. Günter Kraft from PBU CAD-Systeme GmbH, and from our hardware partner, Fujitsu Siemens,” Winkler adds. “Our partnership with both firms is exemplary.”
Regarding the successful implementation of Solid Edge, Winkler continues, “The foundation for our present success in design was laid as early as the introductory phase. Thanks to the clearly structured approach, many an unpleasant surprise that might occur during an implementation of a 3D CAD system was avoided.” Helmut Kranzmayer, business unit manager at Siemens Linz, also credits “the competent customer support provided by our local sales partner.”
A fresh start
Solid Edge has been in use at Kässbohrer for several years now. “We use a large number of its features,” says Winkler. Following the migration to Solid Edge, Kässbohrer established a new, highly structured process that included a design manual for the creation of vehicle prototypes. All parts designed in Solid Edge now have an article number and are stored on a server, providing access for all authorized users.
“In the past, the assembly structures were completely different. There were only part lists,” Winkler continues. “Using the Solid Edge 3D CAD program, our team changed over to precisely structured plans, the complete steel structure, the hydraulics, lines, the entire electrics including cabling.”
“One essential advantage now is that a drawing is produced for everything, even the smallest part, down to the pure metal sheet cut to size,” Winkler says. “In this way, every change can be tracked and there are installation drawings for everything. This wasn’t possible before because we didn’t have the capacities to plot everything in 2D CAD.”
Modular design process
Depending on the customer, Kässbohrer vehicles can be manufactured using a modular design that takes into account the requirements of the market and legally stipulated dimensions. Total weight, axle loads, width, height and length are crucial. “If you imagine a truck chassis with cars as its cargo, you must be able to transport these cars within the scope of legal requirements,” explains Winkler. “We must constantly optimize and adjust the superstructure because cars are also constantly changing. This is now no longer feasible without a 3D system.”
Desginers must also find room for all components such as cylinders, hoses, cables and so on. “Solid Edge assists us in doing this because you can clearly see everything,” Winkler adds. “On a computer screen, we can hydraulically raise our transporters, and we can move them longitudinally, up and down. All that can be simulated using Solid Edge.”
Smart assemblies
Solid Edge’s System Design technology assists with the development of intelligent assemblies. Systems Design places additional emphasis on function as well as how parts fit together,allowing the designer to create intelligent digital prototypes that emulate the real-world situations for which they are being designed. Sensors monitor critical design variables keeping projects on time and on budget by checking for manufacturability, build errors, cost increases and more. Solid Edge supports both top-down and bottomup design methods where it is important to be able to create associative up links and down links with adjacent components that allow design changes to ripple through the entire assembly. Moreover, thanks to efficient system performance, more product alternatives can be tested in a shorter time.
Integrated kinematics analysis helps avoid errors and permits design optimization. Using the integrated Simply Motion kinematics analysis package, designers can easily run checks on their designs. The program automatically generates dynamic results for mechanical motion and collision analysis from the Solid Edge data. If individual parts within a design are moved, Solid Edge automatically detects collisions, marks the areas involved and issues an audible warning. For electric and pneumatic diagrams, Kässbohrer uses the SmartSketch 2D CAD system because parametric drafting capabilities and block diagram functions with cargo loading simulations can also be run.
Overall, Kässbohrer finds that Solid Edge, with its tools for modeling, administering and mapping modules, creates a productivity advantage.
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Kässbohrer Transport Technik GmbH
Challenges:
- Design transport equipment to customers unique requirements
- Comply with all legal requirements
Keys To Success:
- Easy-to-use software with tutorials
- Excellent support from local reseller
- Smart assembly models
- Integrated kinematics analysis
Results:
- Higher productivity
- More design alternatives can be tested in a shorter amount of time
- Reduced errors
- Optimized motion
Industry:
- Automotive & Transportation
Client's Primary Business:
Kässbohrer Transport Technik GmbH is a leading European manufacturer of vehicle transportation equipment.
Business Initiatives:
- New Product Development
- Regulatory Compliance
Solutions/Services:
- Solid Edge
- Velocity Series
Client Location:
Eugendorf
Austria
"After we’d tested various CAD products, we decided in favor of Solid Edge because, in our opinion, it was and still is the best product on the market for our purposes."
Christian Winkler
CAD Administrator / Development
Kässbohrer Transport Technik GmbH