Case Study
Streamlined die design permits faster delivery of custom products
Serena Manuel
A leading producer of agricultural and animal husbandry equipment reduces development time with NX Progressive Die Wizard
Products and production machinery
Serena Manuel was established in 1963 as the merger of two companies: Serena, which specialized in clamp manufacturing; and Manuel, which made irrigation systems. Today, the company manufactures equipment for animal husbandry and agricultural applications. Its product line includes accessories for milking and milk transfer systems, milking stalls, fencing and cattle pens as well as equipment for stables and greenhouses. These products are sold throughout western Europe.
Serena Manuel manufactures its products as well as its production machinery at its Luzzara facility. All manufacturing processes take place on-site, with the exception of surface treatments such as galvanizing, which are outsourced. Having all this expertise in-house lets Serena Manuel be a competitive player in an increasingly demanding market. In fact, the company’s revenues have grown at the rate of approximately 11 percent for the past two years. The additional market opportunity was made possible by the admission of new member states to the European Union.
Straight CAD had limits for die design
Serena Manuel offers a catalogue of 215 part families, characterized by high levels of repeatability, quality and precision and providing a wide range of customization possibilities. Because the company develops, manufactures and maintains its production tools, it can guarantee a constant supply of parts as well as fast delivery of custom products. The advantage for customers is that they don’t need to stock large quantities of parts.
In the past, when Serena Manuel needed to design a new progressive die, engineers used their standard CAD software. “We developed the dies with the same CAD program that we used for product design, but this solution proved to be limiting and not very flexible, especially for dies for complex components,” explains Marco Pedrazzi, technical manager at Serena Manuel. “So we went shopping again and found NX Progressive DieWizard,” he continues. NX Progressive DieWizard is a module of the NX™ digital product development system from Siemens PLM Software. “The specific functionalities provided by NX Progressive DieWizard brought good results in a very short time,” Pedrazzi says.
During the implementation process,“The Siemens support was of strategic importance,” Pedrazzi adds. “A technician from Siemens PLM Software conducted a training course covering the basic functionality of NX. He also spent three days with us during the start-up for Progressive Die Wizard, providing the specific training we needed to get started.”
Huge reduction in die development time
Serena Manuel quickly noticed a reduction in die development time due to the use of NX, according to Pedrazzi. “Before NX it took twenty hours to define a die’s parts. Now it takes just five hours,” he says.
Other NX advantages have been its ease of use, its optimized graphical interface and its stability. “We have noticed that the NX software is very stable onWindows, and generates more complete and lighter files,” Pedrazzi adds. “With our previous CAD system,we had to generate a file format for the complete die, one for the part and another for the rendering. Using the NX master model concept we can now produce a single format, the .prt, which combines the usual components with the drawing generation and the finite element analysis. With one simple command we can toggle between 3D and 2D visualizations. This technology gives users access to their own files without interfering with one another’s work.”
Serena Manuel is now considering implementing NX Nastran as its FEA solution. This would allow the company to evaluate and handle component thicknesses, and determine the feasibility of rib and special reinforcements insertion before taking components into production.
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Challenges:
- Reduce development time
- Guarantee continuous supplies of customized products
Keys To Success:
- Comprehensive approach to design and manufacturing
- Specific functionality for developing progressive dies
- Software training and implementation support
Results:
- Die definition time reduced from 20 hours to five
- Better ability to handle parts with complex shapes
Industry:
- Machinery & Industrial
Client's Primary Business:
Serena Manuel produces and distributes equipment for animal husbandry and agricultural systems.
Business Initiatives:
- New Product Development
Solutions/Services:
- NX
Client Location:
Luzzara (RE)
Italy
"Before NX it took twenty hours to define a die’s parts. Now it takes just five hours."
Marco Pedrazzi
Technical Manager
Serena Manuel